Luke 1:5-20

Good morning, Saylorville Church! If you have a copy of God’s Word, you can find the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, verse 5. We’re gonna continue on in our brand new sermon series entitled Certainty which really is a great title, because if you read verses 3 and 4 of this Gospel, that’s Luke’s goal, to provide certainty to the most excellent Theophilus. And as Pastor [Pat] was unpacking that last week, I asked myself, why? Why does Theophilus need certainty? Well, it’s the same reason that you and I need certainty in our day and day life, because often we are uncertain people, aren’t we? Certainty is most needed in times of un-certainty.

So as we hop in this morning, I just wanna ask you, do you right now have certainty? I think it’s fair to say that we live, you and I, in uncertain times. And if you don’t believe me, who in here is sick of political ads? It’s like the Wild West out there, guys! I mean, it’s crazy! Right? You hop on YouTube, You hop on the TV, the first ad is saying, ‘This person is the best person that’s ever graced God’s green earth!’ — and then the next ad is the same person actually, ‘… the worst person you’ve ever met!’ That way and this way. And if you watch the news all day… which some of you might do that, I hope not… but if you watch the news all day, you might be convicted and you might be… not really blamed for thinking that we live in an uncertain time. Certainty is most needed in times of uncertainty.

So how does Luke begin his Gospel on certainty? He starts it with a doubter. How about that? That being said, please go ahead and stand for the reading of God’s Word. Starting in Luke chapter 1, verse 5.

Acts 1:5-20
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.
7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8 Now while he (Zechariah) was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,
9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.
11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,
17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”
19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

Would you pray with me? Father God, Lord, would You bless the reading and proclamation of Your Word, Lord, to an uncertain people? Father, show us the certainty that You give for us in Your promises, Lord. Show us the certainty that we have in Your Son, Jesus, who’s name we pray. Amen. You may be seated.

So if you start a Gospel about certainty, Zechariah seems like a really weird choice to start the Gospel with. Right? In fact, Luke is the only writer that even mentioned Zechariah in this whole story. As Pastor [Pat] said last week, he might have gotten some of this pre-birth story of Christ from Mary, Jesus’ mother, but when we really consider Zechariah’s experience, when we really think about what happens in his story, I think there’s a major theme that can bring all of us certainty this morning. And here it is. God’s promises, according to His Word, remain certain even when his people, when you and I, struggle with uncertainty. Now I have three reasons for you straight from the text. Here’s the first one.

First, God’s promises are certain, even in uncertain circumstances. Take a look at verse 5.

Luke 1:5, “In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.”

It says that in the days of Herod, the king of Judea is when this happened. Immediately Luke, in the effort of certainty, he anchors his account in history. He anchors his account in a historical time period that you and I can go and look at even today. But if you’re like me, when you read that opening line, you might just kind of gloss over it. Right? ‘Okay, let’s get to the good stuff.’ But that line is full of context. Herod is referring to Herod the Great. And Herod was basically just a puppet king over Judea. He was a proxy king put there by the Roman Empire who were the true rulers of Judea. And people actually did call him Herod the Great, because he was a great builder. He actually helped build the temple that the Jews would worship at. But that’s about it. There was nothing else great about Herod the Great. In fact, he was a brutal man. He was a paranoid man. When he first took power, he actually murdered a lot of the Jewish Sanhedrin because of they’re opposition to his rule. He murdered his wife. He even murdered 3 of his sons. The Jewish historian, Josephus, says:

“It was better to be one of Herod’s pigs than his son.” Josephus

That’s how bad it was. But perhaps the worst atrocity is recorded in our Gospels, Matthew chapter 2, verse 16.

[Matthew 2:16, “Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.”]

Remember, Herod can’t find Jesus and he’s fearful of Christ, because Christ is the promised Messiah of the Jewish nation. And when he can’t find Jesus, he murders all the infant boys of Bethlehem. This man was a wicked, despotic ruler. So in Zechariah’s day, to Zechariah and the Jews, the golden age of David, the age of honor, the age of dignity, it’s long gone. And to make matters worse, if you just flip back to the Old Testament, it had been 400 years since the Prophet Malachi had spoken to God’s people. 400 years and there’s been no new prophetic revelation to God’s people. 400 years… of silence. The days of Herod were days of darkness, silence, and yes… uncertainty. So it’s no surprise later on in the passage when John the Baptist is actually born and Zechariah does receive his voice back. He says that God has come…

[Luke 1:79] “… to give light to those who live in darkness.”

And I think it’s probably a fair guess to ask you… maybe that’s you this morning. If you look at our culture, if you look at the world that we inhabit, maybe you would be convinced to call our days similar to the days of Herod. Maybe you think that our days are full of darkness, full of broken promises. And maybe this morning you are mourning the broken promise of the American dream.

See, I remember just a couple years ago I had a friend in high school that I was meeting with, and he was, he was already way farther ahead in life than I was. Okay? And we were getting together, and this guy, I mean, he owned a home. He was dating someone, He owned his own construction company. This guy even owned a plane! I mean, he was a pilot! He was a super cool dude! And I remember I was sitting across the table from him, and with tears in his eyes he said to me, “Colton, I have everything that I could possibly ever want, and for some reason, I’m still empty.”

Maybe that’s you. Maybe some of you this morning are mourning the broken promises of politics, ’cause that’s the season we’re in right now. I remember clearly as day back when I was in high school, 2008: “Yes We Can!” Optimism. 2016, “Make America Great Again!” Optimism. Looking back on the past, different slogans, different parties, and the same broken promises on both sides.

Or maybe you’re mourning the broken promise of technology. Remember the 90s? Remember how cool the 90s were? Remember when the internet, “Wah-uh, wah-uh…” Remember that? That was so cool! I mean, I remember when I was doing all this stuff, hanging out with all this new technology. I think no one could blame you for thinking that the future was bright! We were optimistic about technology. We thought that technology would set us free. But we know today that many people are enslaved by it.

I remember many, many years ago when I was a kid, I sat across the table from my Grandma Marge. She’s a member of the Greatest Generation. She grew up in the Great Depression. She grew up in World War II. Wonderful lady! She’s in heaven now. But I asked her, “Grandma, what was the world like before telephones?” — and she looked at me with a glimmer in her eye, and she said, “It was wonderful!” I’m from a small town, and she said every Friday night, her and all of her friends, all of her family, they’d all meet in the same place, ’cause that’s where you’d go to find people, because you can’t call them. Right? Everyone met on the Square and they would just hang out, talk, swap stories all into the night. And as a millennial, I mourn those days that I never actually saw. Maybe that’s you if you’re young like me, or maybe some of you have been around the track a couple times, and you actually remember those days. Perhaps like the Jews in the days of Herod, you too this morning are yearning for better days, days where community and justice still seem to matter.

But Zechariah’s story reminds you and I this morning that often… often, God’s promises shine brightest in the darkest times. Remember how our holy Scriptures begin? It says that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters in the darkness, [Genesis 1:2] and then God said, “Let there be light,” [Genesis 1:3] Remember, the Hebrews were slaves before the Exodus out of Egypt. Remember, Israel was in constant states of rebellion before God sent a judge. Remember, King Saul reigned before King David, and remember when Jesus came to this broken world He called Himself “the Light of the World.” [John 8:12] If you’re sitting here this morning and you’re mourning the darkness of our age, you need to remember that this is actually the exact environment where God most often reveals Himself.

I love a passage that my brother Kyhl, pastor Kyhl, reminds me of often, Hosea, chapter 2, verse 14. God is speaking about Israel and He says:

Hosea 2:14, ‘I will allure her into the wilderness, (Why?) so that I might speak tenderly to her.’

400 years of silence, and then in the days of Herod, an angel appears bearing Good News. I think Brad Bigney put it best when he says:

“This day and age is not the worst day and age to be a Christian. It’s the best day and age because of the darkness within it.” Brad Bigney

The angel to Zechariah came bringing Good News, and brothers and sisters in Christ, we have Good News to share as well.

Secondly, God’s promises are certain even when our faith isn’t. Look at verse 6:

[Luke 1:6, “And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.”]

When we first meet Zechariah, we have a very high view of him. Right? The scripture say that him and Elizabeth were righteous. They were walking blamelessly before the Lord. This is a faithful couple. This is a couple that’s doing all the right things. As much as they can, they’re trying to follow God’s will for their life. But then verse seven just hits us like a ton of bricks:

Luke 1:7, “… but they had no child.”

And I know that for some of you this morning that hits you hard, too, ’cause you’re just like Zechariah Elizabeth. You are faithfully serving the Lord. You’re faithfully following His will, and yet God in His mystery and His sovereign will has decided not to bless you with a child. I want you to know this morning that this church loves you, that we care about you, that we see you, and we wanna be here for you.

But consider Zechariah’s struggle here. Right? He’s not just waiting on the liberation of Israel. He’s been waiting for a child. He has experienced both national and personal darkness, which, I think, is what leads us into his response. Notice, verse 5:

[Luke 1:5, “In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.”]

We know a lot about Zechariah. We know that he’s a priest. This guy’s a priest. This guy wasn’t uneducated. Okay? He would have been highly educated in the law of God. He would have known the Torah. He would have known about the Messianic prophecies leading to John the Baptist, leading to Jesus Christ. He would have known all that stuff. And then look at verse 8:

[Luke 1:8, “Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty…”]

There’s kind of a weird ceremony that we tend to just kind of fly over, but it says that Zechariah was chosen by lot to burn incense. And if we just read that without the context, we’re like, ‘Okay, cool!’ Right? But this is actually a huge deal. If you noticed off at verse 5, it said that Zechariah is of the division of Abijah. There were 24 divisions of Levite priests, and each division would serve at the temple about twice a year. And within that division, Abijah, there are about a thousand priests. So when the scriptures say the Zechariah got chosen by lot to burn incense, you could basically equate it with winning the lottery! I mean, this is crazy! In fact, if you look at some Jewish temple law like the Mishnah, it actually says that if you were chosen by lot to burn incense, you could never do it again. This was quite literally a once in a lifetime opportunity!

And I think what’s happening is Luke is building suspense. Right? I mean, this is the best day of Zechariah’s life, and it just gets better and better. Right? And he gets chosen to burn incense and then… Bam! After 400 years of silence, an angel appears to him! And what does the angel say? ‘Zechariah, your prayers have been heard, and your wife will bear a son.’
[Luke 1:13] This is probably the best day of his life!

But let me ask you something. Was Zechariah praying for a child? The scripture doesn’t tell us, but I tend to not think so, first, because I actually think that this child, John the Baptist, I think he’s just an added bonus from a gracious God… but there’s two reasons. First of all, because of Zechariah’s response. It’s not super optimistic. But secondly, if you look at what the angel says to Zechariah, the fathers’ hearts are gonna be changed to the children’s and John the Baptist is gonna make a people prepared for the Lord. Those are both prophecies… watch this… out of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. Malachi 3 and Malachi 4. And they’re all prophecies of God saving Israel, saving His people. I think that Zechariah was praying for the liberation of Israel. He was praying that God would break His silence and kick out the Romans, kick out Herod. And it just so happens that today’s the day that God answers that prayer. And not only that, but He promises him a child, a child that’s going to have the spirit of Elijah who’s going to make way for Jesus, the Messiah. This is His best day, Zechariah. And what’s His response?

[Luke 1:18b] “How shall I know this?”

The New American Standard Bible translates it with, “How will I know this for certain?” You can see it, can’t you? Zechariah, despite all the blessings of that day, had uncertainty in his heart.

I remember exactly where I was… maybe some of you remember, too… on November 2, 2016. November 2nd 2016, I was in my living room at the time. I lived with a bunch of guys and I was watching television with one of my good friends, Kaene, who just happened to be a Chicago Cubs fan. We were watching Game 7 of the Chicago Cubs in the World Series and… I didn’t know this at the time until Kaene talked to me about it… it had been 108 years since they won a World Series! They literally used to call it “the Curse of the Billy Goat.” You can look it up. It’s weird. But at 11:47 that night, the Cub’s pitcher pitches in, the ball’s struck, there’s a ground ball to third, Kris Bryant, the third baseman scoops it up. He throws it into first… Cubs win! And the stadium was, I think, was the Pirates, which Pastor [Pat] told me, because I didn’t know that, of course… they didn’t go crazy, but the Cubs went nuts! — and Kaene went nuts! I think he was crying! I’m pretty sure he was crying. Why? He’s like every other Cubs fan at that time. He had gotten so used to losing that he thought winning was impossible!

I think that’s where Zechariah was. And if you’re honest, I think that’s where many of you are as well. You’re so used to losing that the thought of winning is impossible. Remember, Zechariah is a priest. He knew all the stories. He knew about Abraham and Sarah and Isaac. He knew about Jacob and Rachel. He knew about Hannah and Samuel. He grew up with those stories. He probably memorized those stories. He probably taught those stories… as some of you have. What happened? Why doesn’t he believe? You see, Zechariah, he knew all the stories, but he had forgotten Who the storyteller was.

Just this week, just Wednesday, we had our Community Group… Our Community Group had multiplied out of our old group… and our Community Group has a couple of fairly new Christians in it, specifically two women. And these two women were going back and forth, talking about their lives, talking about their walk with Jesus. And in their conversation, they were talking about their fervency to see their family come to know Christ, their fervency to follow Christ, whatever it might take, their zeal to throw off the old man and to put on Christ. So they were going back and forth. But there was another young woman in our Community Group who had been a Christian for most of her life… got saved at a very young age. And she watched these two women go back and forth, and at the very end of our meeting, she got up. She says, “I’ve got something I’ve gotta say.” And this brave woman, she said, “I am so glad that I get to be in a group with you two, because you put that fire back into my heart! You remind me what it was like to be a Christian when I first believed, and I want that zeal back!”

And I was so touched in the moment, because that’s me too. If I’m honest, God can often be a concept. He can often be a formula that needs to be solved instead of a loving Father giving promises to His children.

Remember Malachi again, the last book of the Old Testament? Malachi chapter 3 verse 6. I think there’s a reason why God says this in Malachi:

Malachi 3:6, “I, the Lord, do not change…”

Brother and sister Christian, God is the same God now as when you first believed. He is the same God that split the Red Sea. He is the same God that fed the 5,000 and the same God that saved your soul. So let me ask you this morning. Can God still do wonders in your life? Notice I’m not asking if He will do wonders. That’s up to Him. What I’m asking you, dear brother and sister, can He? Zechariah, when Gabriel tells him this promise, he says:

[Luke 1:18] “How will I know this?”

But if you go a couple verses later we meet Mary, the mother of Jesus. Same angel comes to her, promises almost the same thing. And Mary says:

[Luke 1:34] “How will this be?”

Her response is different from Zechariah. Mary doesn’t understand how Jesus is going to be born, but unlike Zechariah, she still believes that God can do the impossible. Look at verse 38.
Look at what Mary says. She says, she says to Gabriel:

Luke 1:38b, ‘… may it be done to me according to your word.’

Remember the old hymn, “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus? … just to take Him at His Word.” His promises will not fail.

Let me ask you this morning, what does God, according to His Word, want to do through you? — because only you can answer that. God is asking some of you to lead. God is asking some of you to go. God is asking some of you to rest. And yes, God is asking some of of you to come to Him for the very first time through His Son, Jesus. And listen, you don’t have to understand how God will do something to believe that He can do something. How often can I, a pastor, be just like Zechariah when God is leading me to a new depth of faith, a new depth of trust, and I’m uncertain. Perhaps all of us this week should pray the prayer of Habakkuk in Habakkuk chapter three. Look what Habakkuk says. He says:

Habakkuk 3:2, ‘Lord, I stand in all of your deeds. Revive your work in these years. Make it known in these years…’ because he can.

Finally, God’s promises are certain even when our ability is uncertain. Look at verse 19. You can all but hear the angel’s astonishment. Right?

Luke 1:19,”I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God…”

Right? I mean, he’s like, ‘Hello…! There’s an archangel right in front of you! This hasn’t happened for a while.’ And Zechariah is struck mute! He’s disciplined by God for the sin of unbelief, and listen, we cannot gloss over this. Unbelief in the promises of God is sin. It’s sin… sin that must be addressed. And look at verse 22.

[Luke 1:22, “And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute.”]

It says that when Zechariah leaves the temple, he goes outside and he’s unable to speak to the crowds that he should have been ministering to. The irony is that he who did not believe the testimony of God is unable to give a testimony himself. And listen, that’s just as true for you and I today as it was for Zechariah, because you’ve got to hear this. Unbelief… mutes your Gospel witness. It mutes it. But consider how costly this discipline is for Zechariah. Right?

My Community Group again this week, I told them I was preaching on Zechariah, and they said, “Colton, you know what you should do? You should go up there, grab the stand and just start talking mute.” Now I ended up not doing that. Rachel might have wished I did that.

But think about this. Think about a priest of God being mute for nine months. He couldn’t instruct the people. He couldn’t sing praises. He probably felt… sidelined. And maybe some of you right now feel sidelined. You feel sidelined because of a sickness, or some kind of debilitating disease that you’re struggling with. You feel sideline because you’ve been passed over in a job promotion, or one of your relationships has gone sour, or you feel sidelined just because of the season of life you’re in. That’s hard! You don’t have a lot of energy. It seems like everyone else is pushing on for the kingdom of God, but you, you’ve lost your edge and you have uncertainty.

See, the real irony of Zechariah’s silence is that what he felt for nine months, Elizabeth had been feeling for decades. Decades! She felt sidelined. But luckily she serves a gracious God. Look at verse 24. It says:

Luke 1:24-25
24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,
25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

What’s Elizabeth saying? She’s saying something that all of you… many of you, at least… need to hear. God sees you on the sidelines. He sees you. He knows you. But remember, look at what she says. She says that He’s removed her reproach, which is true.

But I think this morning, I think if we look at Zechariah and Elizabeth’s life, I think that they haven’t realized how deep that reproach actually goes, because God did open up Elizabeth’s womb, and He did give Zechariah his voice back. But there’s a deeper reproach to heal. There’s a deeper burden to lift, and God’s in control of all of it.

Many years later after this event, as we’re going to read further on in the sermon series, their son, John the Baptist, will grow up, and he will do exactly what the angel foretold. He would make a people prepared for the Lord. And one day, that very same John the Baptist was baptizing some people on the River Jordan. And he looked up on the banks of the Jordan, and he saw a humble carpenter walking towards him… Jesus Christ. And he points at Jesus. He stops everything he’s doing and he points at Jesus, and he says:

[John 1:29b] “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”

Romans 5:6 says that, ‘… while we were still weak, unable to save ourselves, Christ died for the ungodly.’

Friends, the reality is that if you are living apart from Christ, spiritually speaking, you are just like Zechariah and Elizabeth. You are mute and deaf to a relationship with God. Like Elizabeth, you are barren. You can’t produce any spiritual life in yourself. And like them both, you’re completely under the reproach, under the wrath of God. But thanks be to God that His promises remain certain, even in our lack of ability.

And here’s a promise for you this morning, and it’s a promise that we all need, whether we’ve been Christians for a long time, a couple weeks, or maybe you’ve never even met Jesus. The promise is this:

[John 3:16] ‘God so loved the world… so loved you… that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.’

That’s a promise from a loving Father. It’s a promise that Jesus lived the life you can’t live. He died the death you deserve, in your place, and He rose again. If you were just to put your faith on that work, He’d raise you up, as well. Listen, whatever’s happening out there, whatever is happening in here, and whether you think you can or cannot do something, that promise is certain. Would you pray with me?

Father God in heaven, Lord, we believe. Help us in our unbelief. Lord, I lift up to You the saints that are here today, Lord, those who have accepted the free gift of salvation through Your Son. Lord, I pray that we might be a people that believes that You can do wondrous things, that we rest in the true Lord, that You are the same God today as You’ve always been. And I pray for those in this room right now, Lord, that don’t know You, who are still in darkness, who are purposeless and broken. Lord, they need a Father that can give them promises and a Father that will keep those promises. Lord, all Your promises find their “yes” in Jesus Christ. May You save, and edify, and build up for Your glory, in Jesus’ name. Amen.