"The Benedictus" Luke 1:68–79

There's something deeply unsettling about darkness.

What might otherwise be a normal room turns into a maze of obstacles, things to avoid.

! You've got to be careful when you're walking through, especially an unfamiliar room.

! If it's really dark, you don't want to stub your toe, you don't want to bang your knee.

You don't want to feel disoriented.

Navigating a familiar space in pitch blackness is one thing,

but what about living in a world of unfamiliar surroundings?

Living with the unknown as the standard to endure a constant state of blindness.

I bring this up because the people of Israel, in the first century, 2,000 years ago,

had lived in a perpetual darkness for some time.

In fact, for centuries.

They had been exiled from the land of Israel to the farthest reaches of the known world.

As far east as India, at least close to it.

By the second century, there were reports of Jews living as far east as India.

In the west, all across North Africa.

In the north, in the Caucasus.

And in the south, parts of Yemen and Ethiopia.

The people of Israel were not in the land of Israel.

They were exiled to the farthest portions of the known world.

There were some that lived in the land, but even those did not live as people that enjoyed the very pinnacle of Israelite rule that King David and King Solomon knew.

Rather, they were under Roman occupation.

And they were led by many religious leaders who claimed to possess the authentic faith.

So, to put it really bluntly, the people of Israel were walking in a perpetual state of confusion and spiritual darkness.

And yet, for the ears that listened intently, the scripture spoke of a sunrise after the darkness.

A light that would pierce the shadow.

Some 400 years before Jesus came, in the closing sentences of the Old Testament canon, the prophet Malachi boldly proclaimed.

This is from Malachi chapter 4, verse 2.

Malachi 4:2

But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.

You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.

And yet, 400 years is a very long time to wait for the dawn to break, is it not?

Many generations had come and gone.

Israel remained in exile, in darkness.

The promised sunrise had not yet come.

There was no joy amongst the people.

So, as we arrive to our second of four songs for the Savior, that are found in Luke's opening chapters,

we find ourselves at the Benedictus of Zechariah, or the blessing of Zechariah.

He is the elderly priest and the father of John the Baptist.

He had been told he would have a miracle son.

That this miracle son would be used by the Lord to turn Israel back to him.

But he did not believe.

He doubted.

And was made mute by God.

And although he was a priest in the temple in Jerusalem, and a spiritual leader himself,

who should have been very, very familiar with the scriptures and a pillar and example of faith,

he was also himself walking in darkness.

Very indicative of the people and their leaders.

He, more than most, should have been familiar with the words of the prophet Malachi.

But could they truly come to pass?

Would the Lord do this?

And through his line, would God keep his promise?

Would he rescue Israel from darkness?

Now, Zechariah lived in a completely different cultural reality than we do here in the 21st century in Canada,

in the New World, in Ottawa.

And yet, the darkness of heart, the disorientation caused by hopelessness,

the fear of the unknown, spiritual lethargy that comes by failing to be able to wait on the promises of God,

they're actually shared not just by people in the first century, but by all humanity.

Shared by us today in this worship space.

So the question of whether God would rescue Israel from darkness

is actually a very poignant one and a very pertinent one for us this morning.

For all people, for all time, will God rescue us from darkness?

The darkness that you might feel, the heaviness, the hopelessness,

the disappointment, the disorientation, the confusion, the difficulty,

the perpetual frustration of trying to change and there's no change,

or to see the people around you suffer,

that is the darkness that we need deliverance from.

And the question is,

will God fulfill his promise in Malachi chapter 4

Malachi 4 · chapter mention

some 24, 2500 years ago?

And like many promises God makes,

there appears to be a remarkable son involved in some kind of way.

Throughout the Bible, there's always,

not in every case, but in a lot of cases,

a son of promise that's connected to the promises that God makes to his people.

Zechariah will notice this and so will we.

So to answer this question,

and the question of will God rescue us from the darkness?

We will look at four sons from Zechariah's song.

We'll look at David's son.

We'll look at Abraham's son.

We'll look at Zechariah's own son.

And then finally, God's own son.

Verses 78 and 79.

If you have a Bible, follow with me.

I think we still have some Bibles at the welcome table.

Grab it.

Follow along.

Please, it would do me a great service.

It would do you a great service.

We'll look at chapter one, starting in verse 68.

Zechariah's son, John, was born.

This is just before Zechariah is praising the Lord.

Zechariah's muteness was lifted and he broke into song.

And this is how he opens it up.

And this is where we get the title for this song,

the Benedictus.

It's Latin for blessed.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel.

And before we go on, I want to stop here.

Because he opens up by saying,

blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel.

Very specifically, the God of Israel.

He honors God.

But specifically, in God's role as the God of Israel.

And this is a significant point to recognize.

Because this entire song, which is actually one long prayer,

one long sentence in the original language,

it is absolutely full of Old Testament references.

Some scholars say that there's up to 30 plus different references or allusions,

scripture quotations from the Old Testament.

And this is an important thing for us to think through.

Why?

Because it highlights to us that Christianity wasn't invented 2,000 years ago.

It wasn't this dynamic leader, Jesus of Nazareth,

who came onto the scene,

started this new kind of version of Judaism,

but really not Judaism, his own thing.

And then his followers kind of perpetuated it across the known land.

And rather, what we see here is the continuation

of the story of God's interaction with mankind

that goes right back to the beginning.

So for Zechariah to say,

blessed be the Lord, God of Israel,

it is for us to understand

that this is the same one true God

that has always existed,

that has always dealt with humanity

from the opening verses of Genesis chapter 1

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

all the way up into Leviticus,

or Leviticus, sorry, Luke 68 on,

and then all the way into the end of Revelation.

This is no cultic religion

for a regional people,

but the one true faith for all people for all time.

So let's continue on.

We'll start in verse 68 again,

and we'll read down to verse 71.

Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel,

for he has visited and redeemed his people

and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David,

as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets

from of old,

that we should be saved from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us.

The Lord has visited and redeemed his people,

Zechariah says.

Like Mary's song,

the future that Zechariah is prophesying,

even though it is coming in the future,

is spoken of in the past tense.

It's a foregone conclusion.

He is so sure that the victory

that the Lord will do through this child Jesus,

that he speaks of it like it's already happened.

The visitation and redemption,

they have occurred because the Lord

has fulfilled the prophecy

given to King David,

and this is where this connection of David's son

comes into play.

The prophecy given to King David

by the prophet Nathan,

a thousand years earlier,

so if Malachi is 400 years earlier,

this prophecy goes back 600 years before that,

a thousand years before Jesus comes on the scene.

King David's at the height of his power,

and the prophet Nathan says to him the following.

This is from 2 Samuel chapter 7.

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

The Lord declares to you

that the Lord will make you a house.

When your days are fulfilled

and you lie down with your fathers,

I will raise up your offspring after you,

who shall come from your body,

and I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build a house for my name,

and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

You see, the promise is for David,

but really it's for his son,

one of David's line,

who will establish a kingdom

that will exist forever.

His enemies will be defeated

because David's son,

this mysterious ultimate king,

will be a horn of salvation

raised up for the Lord.

The horn being this image

and symbol of strength and vengeance,

but it's also an ornament of beauty.

So we have here

a symbol of complete victory,

but also complete blessing.

But here's the thing,

David's son is Solomon.

Solomon does indeed build a temple for the Lord,

but Solomon very quickly falls into idolatry

and abandons the Lord,

and David's line that follows

kind of ebbs and flows

between like all right kings

and absolutely horrific kings.

So it would seem that David's king,

David's line,

it is not a forever line.

Eventually, exile happens to the people of God.

They are taken away.

First, the kingdom splits into two kingdoms,

the rival kingdoms,

and then exile happens.

And exile continues on for centuries.

David's line is not given to worshiping the Lord

or blessing the nations.

Rather, it's given to extortion

and infighting and violence,

polygamy, dissension,

even child sacrifice.

They did not become an example

to the people around them.

Rather, they became like the people around them.

So you have to ask,

I have to ask,

who is the true enemy of Israel?

Is it Rome or Greece or Persia

or Babylon or Assyria?

I mean, they actually are enemies.

I don't want to downplay

the real geopolitical reality

of the people of Israel,

but the enemies of Israel,

it's actually the heart of the Israelites.

They are bent towards idolatry,

away from God,

away from glorifying Him

and being His chosen instrument

to proclaim His goodness

and kindness and mercy

and love to the world.

But instead,

they want to elevate themselves

to the highest place

rather than give glory to God

who is in the highest place.

So the enemy of Israel

is Israel.

And friends,

the enemy of mankind

for us today

is our bent heart

that is toward the self

and will ravage and destroy

and lie and cheat and steal

as long as we are taken care of

in some way, shape, or form.

So this mighty horn of salvation,

this son of David

who brings victory,

must ultimately be

not a geopolitical savior

who brings victory for a season

to defeat a certain empire

only to struggle maybe

with the empire to come,

but rather,

this horn of salvation,

this son of David,

seems to be

some kind of spiritual savior,

a victor,

a king

who is going to wage

and win the war

to end all wars,

the war of sin

and death

and the corrupted heart.

The son of David

will surely visit

and redeem God's people,

Zechariah says.

The Davidic king

will bring total victory,

but maybe not in the way

they thought.

Yet to be saved

from one's enemy

is one thing.

But what one really needs

is to be saved

for something,

for a purpose.

The promise made to David

is not the only promise

God made to his people,

for it was built upon

a promise made

hundreds of years earlier

to an old man

who would become

an improbable father.

Somebody actually

quite similar to Zechariah.

And this brings us

to our second point,

Abraham's son.

Look with me

at verses 72 to 75.

To show the mercy

promised to our fathers

and to remember

his holy covenant

to the oath

that he swore

to our father Abraham

to grant us

that we,

being delivered

from the hand

of our enemies,

might serve him

without fear

in holiness

and righteousness

before him

all of our days.

So in the previous section,

Zechariah reminds us

that the Lord spoke

through the prophets.

Here,

he refers specifically

to the promise

made to the fathers,

that is the patriarchs

of Israel,

and specifically Abraham.

God initially

makes a covenant

with Abraham

way back in Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12,

but it's not until

10 chapters later

in Genesis 22

and you start to see

how much Old Testament

is marbled

throughout this prayer.

It's not until

Genesis chapter 22

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

where God swears

an oath,

he swears an oath

to Abraham.

And the story

is found,

Genesis 22,

the binding of Isaac,

a very famous

but also a pretty

difficult passage,

if we're honest.

Difficult because

God is asking

Abraham

to take his son

who is a miracle child

in his old age,

Abraham is to take

his son to go

to Mount Moriah,

to go onto a mountain

to build a pyre,

to sacrifice his son

and burn him,

burn him

as an offering

to the Lord.

And it's difficult

for us because,

well,

it's a child sacrifice,

but also

it goes against

everything

up till

chapter 22

that we've seen

of God.

God is a God

who is

slow to anger.

He is not like

the other gods.

He is a loving God.

He is about life.

He gives life.

He punishes

those who take

away life.

And here we have

a very difficult

situation.

We're not going

to get into

kind of the nitty-gritty

of the binding

of Isaac,

but it's a difficult

one.

And Abraham,

as he's about

to slay his son,

the knife is stopped

and God sees

that Abraham

loves the Lord

even more,

even more than

his own son

that he's been

waiting his entire

life for.

Old man,

his hand

has stayed.

And then God

swears an oath

to him.

And here is

the oath,

starting in verse

16 of Genesis

22.

By myself

I have sworn,

declares the Lord,

because you have

done this

and have not

withheld your son,

your only son,

I will surely

bless you

and I will surely

multiply your offspring

as the stars of heaven

and as the sand

that is on the

seashore.

And your offspring

shall possess

the gate

of his enemies

and in your offspring

shall all the nations

of the earth

be blessed

because you have

obeyed my voice.

So,

with David,

his son

will

rescue

God's people

from their enemies.

Here,

the blessing

of God

will go through

Abraham's son.

Abraham's son

will possess

the gate

of his enemies

and the Lord

has declared it.

Zechariah

is simply

recalling this oath

and what's interesting

is that

this oath

is the

only time

in the Bible

where God

swears

by himself.

It's a very intense

oath that God swears.

The highest level

of oath

he swears

and it is bound

to happen

because of it.

And once again,

deliverance is described

as being

so thorough

and certain

that it's referenced

in past tense.

So,

it's a settled matter.

God has declared it.

It is as good as done.

But we see that

the salvation

described here

serves a purpose.

The Lord

saves us

out of his mercy.

Why?

So that we can

serve him.

Now,

we see this

at the second

part of verse

74

if we go back

to Luke chapter 1.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

That we being

delivered from the

hand of our enemies

might serve him

without fear

in holiness

and righteousness

before him

all our days.

That we are saved

by God

so that we may

serve God.

He blesses us

so that we may

be a blessing.

And he does it

in such a way

that the fear

that we might have

will begin

to subside

and we will be made

holy and righteous

not because of

the things we do

but because of

the blessing

that God bestows.

in other words

true Christianity

the true faith

of the Bible

it not only

delivers us

from our enemies

but it infuses us

with lives

of purpose

and meaning

that are directly

connected to God

himself.

Not a project

that lasts

for a year

or ten years

or even this life

but a purpose

tied to him

that continues

on into eternity.

Much of what

we talked about

in our Ecclesiastes

sermon series

was about

finding a purpose

beyond this life

rooted in God

and here we see

this reality

go back to

Genesis chapter 22

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

and continue on

into the New Testament

in verse 74

and 75.

To be delivered

from fear

and evil

and selfishness

it is a wonderful

thing

but it is lacking

ultimately

if we cannot

use this gift

for the benefit

of others.

So you see

the very high point

of human existence

is to serve God

for in doing so

we proclaim

his glory

and his goodness

he is the only

true and worthy God

and this actually

ties back to

the commissioning

that God gave David

for David himself

he was to

create a house

for the Lord

or his son was rather

and that house

was supposed to be

a house of prayer

for all nations

that the

religion

of the one

true God

Father, Son

and Holy Spirit

was to stretch out

all over the world

for all people

through God's servants

like you and I.

God

so he gives us

an eternal purpose

one that is not

faddish

or self-serving

but one that gives us

ultimate meaning

in this life

and the life to come

so we see that

with the Davidic covenant

and now with the

Abrahamic covenant

!

the child of David

the child of Abraham

that God saves us

from

and saves us

for

and yet

as good as this

may sound

salvation

as wonderful

as it is

we find ourselves

still on this

side of salvation

of this side

of putting our

faith and trust

in the Lord

still continuing

to have dark hearts

struggling

with sin

struggling

with the

problem of evil

struggling

with lives

given to

self-exaltation

so

how will

God help us?

where is

the hope?

and this brings us

to our third point

where we look at

John the Baptist

Zechariah's son

verses 76

and 77

this is Zechariah

speaking to his son

now

and you child

will be called

the prophet

of the most high

for you will go

before the Lord

to prepare his ways

to give knowledge

of salvation

to his people

in the forgiveness

of their sins

what is remarkable

about these two verses

is the placement

in Zechariah's song

listen

okay

Zechariah

like Abraham

he is an elderly man

whose wife is barren

a lot of shame

in the ancient world

with that

a lot of

kind of

divine displeasure

was thought of

for people

in Zechariah's

shoes

I would think

that the moment

his son is born

I would break

into song

about my son

about God

doing this miraculous

thing for me

and yet

it's not until

many many verses

down

many many lines

of the song

does he then

look to his son

he addresses

not his son

first but

the son of David

the son of Abraham

it's not that

Zechariah

doesn't love

his son

at all

rather

he is understanding

the purpose

and place

of his son

in salvation

history

John

a child

of blessing

is ultimately

not the

child of blessing

John the baptizer

was not

the fulfillment

of a covenant

promise

like the

offspring of David

or Abraham

but he would

fulfill a prophecy

found in both

Isaiah and Malachi

that spoke of this

again mysterious

person that would

go before the Lord

and prepare the way

for the Lord

very specifically

that he would turn

people's hearts

towards the Lord

and then towards

each other

he would call

God's people

back

to

himself

to the Lord

in repentance

so by the time

Luke 3

comes about

there's

quite the fast

forward

the narrative

jumps quite

ahead

and we see

John a grown

man

and he's

doing just

this

he is calling

people to

humbly admit

that they are

without hope

apart from God

that both the

self-righteous

and the self-condemned

need to surrender

themselves

to God's mercy

repent

and be baptized

for the forgiveness

of sins

trust yourself

entrust yourself

to the Lord

here we see

that John's

main role

will be

to make

this clear

to his

fellow

Israelites

but he was

quite the character

if you know

anything about

John

we won't read

about him

he was a bit

of a wild

man

he wore

camel's hair

he lived

in the desert

he ate

locusts

he ate

honey

he had

long hair

he was

not exactly

a conventional

religious leader

but he was

Israel's first

prophet

in centuries

and what's

really interesting

here is

his demeanor

the way he

went about

things

he completely

bypassed

the conventional

religion of the

time

and what he

did by doing

that is he

forced

the various

religious sects

those that

claimed to have

the corner

on biblical

faith

to drop

their pretense

of religiosity

and seek

a genuine

and authentic

walk with

the Lord

so John's

words in

ministry

they're significant

and worth

considering

especially for

people

quite frankly

like us

who enjoy

a pretty high

level of

self-sufficiency

being put

together

is

something

that

is something

we pride

ourselves on

and by the way

I will just

say this

being put

together

is totally

fine

the Bible

doesn't

condemn

it

wealth

is not

evil

later in

the Gospels

we have

a very

very prestigious

member

of the

religious elite

who will

risk

reputation

and income

to give

Jesus

an honorable

burial

some of the

earliest

patrons

of the church

were wealthy

people of

high society

so the Bible

doesn't oppose

such people

however

such people

often

mistake

their wealth

for

their own

doing

that they

are the

masters

of

their own

destiny

and the

scriptures

consistently

condemn

this kind

of heart

this kind

of self

righteousness

they're

hypocrites

John calls

such people

a brood of

vipers

and Jesus

will call

them

whitewashed

tombs

so John's

message

is very

pertinent

for us

because

we can

at a moment

presume

that we

cannot

save ourselves

and we

throw ourselves

at the mercy

of God

and then the

next day

that self

righteousness

comes back

in with full

force

and the

darkness

seems to

return

and what

John's

ministry

is

is to

call us

to repent

and to

look back

at the

Lord

and to

always

be about

confession

not

presuming

our own

righteousness

but

asking

humbly

for the

Lord

to make

us

righteous

and to

forgive us

of our

sins

that's a

nature of

repentance

so as we

reflect on

these short

verses

verses

76

and 77

what jumps

out is

an exhortation

to us

to be people

of repentance

to not

presume that

the darkness

is far away

from us

but that

the darkness

is ever

encroaching

that the

shadows

they seek

to cover

us up

but rather

we would

turn our

hearts to

the Lord

so we

have

considered

David's

son

Abraham's

son

and now

Zechariah's

son

we now

turn to

the final

section

which

does not

mention

a son

explicitly

but points

to the

very

son of

God

in fact

the entirety

of the

Benedictus

Zechariah's

song

is just

that

look with

me though

at verse

78 and

79

because of

the tender

mercy of

our God

whereby the

sunrise shall

visit us

from on

high

to give

light to

those who

sit in

darkness

and in

the shadow

of death

to guide

our feet

into the

way

of peace

the darkness

will be

gone

for the

sun will

drive it

away

but not

because the

sun shines

interestingly

instead it's

because the

sun will

come to

us

it will

visit us

and now

we see

that

Zechariah's

song is

bookended

with God

visiting us

and then

also

the

sunrise

visiting

us

which is

in a

way a

very strange

kind of

way to

describe

sunlight

what isn't

strange

if we dig

in a bit

deeper

is that

this idea

of

visitation

it shares

the same

root word

as the

term we

use for

bishop

or

episcopate

this

idea of

someone who

examines

and cares

for others

an overseer

with authority

concerned

with

one's

overall

well-being

it is

a position

and function

of a

loving

care

the light

that shines

into the

darkness

is both

this

expression

of God's

mercy

but also

God

himself

it is

God

who will

visit us

it will

be God

who oversees

us

God

who is

concerned

with our

well-being

who cares

for our

souls

so that

we will

no longer

sit in

darkness

and that

death

will not

overshadow

us

so Jesus

Christ

born in

Bethlehem

it's proof

that God

has indeed

visited his

people

and shone

light to

dispel

darkness

once and

for all

and if you

remember

at the

beginning

we talked

about Malachi

Malachi 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

it is a

prophecy

that the

sun

will rise

and we

see that

it is

fulfilled

in Christ

the

sun of

righteousness

that rose

with healing

in his

wings

the sun

has

dawned

the morning

has dawned

the sun

has shone

and yet

and yet

there's a lot

of and yet

and yet

it seems

that darkness

still exists

okay

darkness

still exists

the sun

has shone

he shone

2000 years

ago

he continues

to shine

but darkness

still exists

death

still overshadows

so many

across the

world

and once again

we find

that we

cannot speak

of the

first advent

of Christ

without

thinking about

and speaking

about the

second advent

I'll wrap up

with this

because the

day followed

the night

because the

Lord had

visited us

and redeemed

us

being born

in Bethlehem

and especially

because Jesus

crucified

died and was

buried

did not stay

in the ground

but rose to

new life

we can be

sure that he

will come

again

because the

promise

made to

Abraham

and to

David

and to

Israel

through

Malachi

came

true

2000 years

ago

we can

trust that

it will

happen

when

we don't

know

but that

Jesus

will come

again

and that

when he

comes

he will

fulfill

the sure

victory

that was

a foregone

conclusion

2000 years

ago

we can

have a

great

confidence

that God

has visited

us

that his

desire

is to

oversee

us

and shepherd

our souls

friends

trying to

say is

this is

the life

of faith

we don't

understand

why the

darkness

persists

in the

degree

it does

now

but we

can be

sure

that

because

the light

has shone

in the

past

it will

shine

again

and that

darkness

will be

dispelled

forever

the beautiful

thing about

the end

of the Bible

is this

picture of

what the

new heavens

and the

new earth

will look

like

and I'm

sure it'll

be even

better than

how we can

even imagine

it as we

read about

it

but one

of the

key

characteristics

about it

is that

it will

always be

sunny

it will

always

be

the sun

will always

shine

that God

himself

will be

the source

of light

so we put

our faith

in the

shepherd of

our souls

the one

who oversees

the one

who visits

us

that with

him

the light

of dawn

the bright

morning star

we will

never

walk in

darkness

but have

the light

of life

and then

we go back

to the beginning

of the

benedictus

and if

we're thinking

about this

and dwelling

upon this

and considering

it

and wrestling

with it

and then

by faith

take it

that it

is true

then the

result will

be not

like a

that is

nice

interesting

information

but ought

to result

in us

like

Zechariah

breaking

into song

and praise

blessed

be the

Lord God

of Israel

for he

has visited

and redeemed

his people

our response

is praise

ultimately

one of the

beautiful things

about Christmas

is the

richness

of the

hymns

and carols

we sing

and on that

note

I'll close

us off

by reading

a section

from O Holy

Night

that is just

so wonderful

and connects

so beautifully

with the

benedictus

long lay the

world in

sin and error

pining

till he

appeared

and the

soul felt

its worth

a thrill

of hope

the weary

world rejoices

for yonder

breaks

a new

and glorious

morn