Preached in Markham Baptist Church, December 17, 2006

Of all the characters that surround the birth of Christ one of the most interesting is a man by the name of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, husband to Mary’s relative Elizabeth.  Here is a man I can relate to.  He is a minister, a priest, a believer, one who knows the truth about God but he is also a man who is slow to believe and slow to obey. 

I like to think that if God would ever send one of his angels to me to give me such an obvious message from God that I would respond like Mary – “I am the Lord’s servant.  May it be to me as you have said.”  And I know many Christians who would respond that way - many of you in this church are an example to me of faith and obedience and that is how you would respond. 

But for some of us – as we read the story of Zechariah there is another response to God’s word that is often given.  And it is not like Mary’s response.  The story is best told by Luke himself beginning at Luke 1:5-25; 57-66.

Now when I read that – all I can say is, “Wow, isn’t God good?”  I mean when you think of it, here is a man how has been clearly told what God is going to do – “You Zechariah are going to have a son and you are to name him John; The child will bring joy and gladness to Zechariah and Elizabeth and many others; he is to be raised like a Nazarite, that is completely dependent on God; and the child will minister in the spirit of Elijah, who was to appear before the Messiah to prepare for his coming.” (Mal. 4:5)   And Zechariah responds at verse 18 – “You’re joking!  I am an old man, my wife is well along in years – there is no way this is going to happen.  Stop pulling my leg!” 

Here is a man who refuses to recognize God’s power, and God’s graciousness.

As a result of his unbelief he is made mute.  But notice that God doesn’t give up on him.  To be sure, he is struck dumb, and possibly deaf, but even that could be called a blessing as Zechariah is made to live speechless and to reflect on what God had said to him through the angel. 

But more, Zechariah and Elizabeth have a son.  And Zechariah recognizes that God has done a great thing in spite of his doubt, in spite of his hesitation, God blesses Zechariah with a son.  He recognizes God’s grace in the naming of his son at verse 63 he has to write, “His name is John”.  The name John means “God is merciful.”

Isn’t God good?  This is a wonderful truth about God’s persistence, God’s grace and God’s goodness toward us. 

During these last few months in my pastoral visits with many of you I have heard this constant theme.  “I doubted,”  or “I turned my back on God,” or “I turned my back on his church,”  BUT in the midst of it, “I heard God say,” or “God gave me this sign,” or “God sent this person who turned me back,”  and “I realized God was redirecting my path, God was calling me back.  God wasn’t giving up on me, God was teaching me.”

Like Zechariah many of you can say God is merciful.  So, as we go on to study Zechariah’s song this morning we need to keep in mind that it is a response of a man who has had his eyes opened.  He has had eyes to see God’s wonderful love toward him.  He did not harden his heart but was brought low by God and responded, ultimately in faith and obedience. 

His response to God’s goodness is the song that we read from verses 67 – 79. 

So what we have here is Zechariah’s testimony, his words about what God has done and what he sees God doing in his life.  He is filled with the Holy Spirit as he speaks these words, and he prophesied – that is, spoke God’s word.

He begins at Verse 68 – “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come.”

I almost want to put a full stop there.  O, the beauty of it!  “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come.”  It is the great truth we celebrate every Christmas. God has come.  On that night long ago He came as a baby, grew to be a man went to the cross, rose again and reigns forever and we know Him to be Jesus Christ.  God has come! 

A number of years ago, in my previous pastorate I received a pamphlet written anonymously and slipped into the mail slot of the church entitled,  “Should Christians celebrate Christmas?”  And it made many convincing arguments as to why Christians should not celebrate Christmas.  The fact that Jesus wasn’t born in December and certainly was not born on the 25^th because of the change of calendars – and it went on debunking Christmas trees, lights, candles, and everything else surrounding Christmas. 

I can’t remember the details because I had little argument with what the author said. Except for the conclusion.  He concluded that Christians should not celebrate Christmas because it was largely a pagan event.  To which I say, poppycock!  Christians should be the greatest celebrators of Christmas of anyone.  For we know that Christmas has nothing to do with a special date, or special decorations, or special symbols – but has everything to do with the people of God raising their voice saying, “Praise to the Lord, the God of Israel has come!”  God in the flesh.   So, we set aside a special time of the year to thank God for this great miracle – that He has come in the flesh.  “Why do we celebrate it every year?”  Because it is the miracle of miracles and being human we need to be intentional about this foundational, life transforming, history altering truth. We forget it at our peril!

God has come.  And doesn’t He continue to come to you and me and to all who call on Him in faith?  But more, consider the wonder of it that He comes to you and me even when we turn our backs on Him.  When we doubt Him – He continues to come and give us those nudges toward Him, He gives us those times when we know His love and forgiveness and life – sometimes through other people, sometimes through a sermon, a song, a situation. 

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel because he has come,” and continues to come to each one of us.

Do you have eyes to see? Do you have eyes to see that he has come in the person of Jesus Christ?  Do you have eyes to see that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself?  (2 Corinthians 5:19).  Do you have eyes to see that He has come so that you might know forgiveness of sin, freedom from guilt and shame, and a life with God and His life in you?  Do you see?

So God’s word says to us, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert.”  And, “Now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

The first part of the song continues to the end of verse 75.  Now understand that these verses are about Jesus Christ.  They are not about John, we know that because verse 69 tells us that this one who is to come is in the line of David.  And we know that John was in the line of Levi, not David and his tribe of Judah.

These verses tell us why God has come, he has come in the person of Jesus Christ to redeem his people.  That word “redeem” means to purchase.  For those of us who stand on this side of the cross and the resurrection we can say, “Truer words were never spoken Zechariah.”  We are able to say, “Zechariah you may have believed that God’s promised one was going to save you from the oppression of the Romans – but Zechariah, your words have a deeper meaning that you may never understood, but the Holy Spirit who filled you certainly did.”

We know that Jesus Christ has come to purchase us out of the household of sin and death and Satan and transfer us into the family of God, into His household of holiness and life and his Lordship. 

He has come, as Zechariah sings (Verse 71 and 74), to rescue us from our enemies and save us from all that seeks to destroy us.

Do you know that the first promise we have of a Saviour from God is written in Genesis 3:15? Adam and Eve have rebelled against God at the prompting of Satan and God turns to Satan, who has taken the from of a serpent, and says, “I will put an enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”

And as we look at the cross we see this prophecy to be true.  There Jesus Christ, the Son of man and the Son of God – hanging on the cross – a work of Satan himself – he thought he has crushed God’s chosen one – but instead he merely struck his heel.  But in the cross Jesus crushed Satan, as He willingly takes your sin and my sin and pays the price for our sin on that cross.  Satan is defeated, all the souls that he thought were his, all the lives that he possessed suddenly had a way out of our slavery to him – through faith in Christ’s sacrifice we are redeemed – we are purchased from the hand of the enemy of Satan. 

And Zechariah makes it clear how this redemption will be done. In verse 69 we read that God has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David. 

Isn’t God good? He keeps coming to us in the midst of sin and doubt and faithlessness and hesitation.  We sometimes think redemption, freedom will come to us through education, or better government, or more wealth – and all these things are good, a means through which to glorify God – but let’s recognize that true transformation, true freedom happens when we have a change of heart.  And we need a Saviour to do that for us. 

Zechariah calls Jesus the horn of salvation here.  This is the only place in the New Testament where this name is used and as we look to the Old Testament we see that it does not refer to a musical instrument but to a deadly weapon.  Psalm 89:9,10 gives us a picture of what the horn stood for in the thinking of the people of God.  “For surely your enemies, O Lord, surely your enemies will perish: all evildoers will be scattered.  You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox …”

The horn was a sign of strength and a means of victory. 

Micah 4:13 says, “Rise and thresh, o Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron; I will give you hoofs of bronze and you will break to pieces many nations.”     

In Psalm 132:17 God says, “I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one.” 

Have you ever gone up Ninth Line and stopped in at Chepak’s Barn and Market?  They make the best runny buttertarts in Markham - I know because it says so on his sign outside the barn!  I’ve never stopped there (I make it a general policy not to buy baked goods from a barn!) but I do know that just south of Mr. Chepak’s barn he has two huge oxen with the most amazing horns. And as I drive by I think, “I’m really glad that those oxen are on that side of the fence and I’m in my car zooming by them – because they are such huge animals and their horns are fearsome!”

Listen, Jesus Christ is the great horn of salvation.  He is a deadly weapon against the sin that plagues us – He is a tremendous power against all the forces of evil.  He is the horn of salvation.

That’s quite a different picture from what we usually perceive Jesus at Christmas time – “Gentle Jesus meek and mild,” by which many mean weak and ineffectual.  But Zechariah says here, He is the horn of salvation.  Strong and powerful. 

To be sure Jesus came in humility, but don’t mistake it for weakness.  He is the strong horn of salvation. And whatever sin haunts us we need to know that we are set free from it through faith in Jesus Christ.

Just jump down to verse 78 for a minute because Zechariah picks up this theme of salvation again, and he calls Jesus “the rising sun of who will come from heaven and shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

Long ago God said through His prophet Isaiah, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

My friends, do you have eyes to see that God has sent us the Saviour in the person of Jesus Christ?  Do you have eyes to see that in Him we are lead out of the darkness of despair and defeat and death and brought into the marvellous light of God?     

Do you have eyes to see?  God comes to you – you hear God’s promise forgiveness and cleansing.  You hear Him say, “I can change you, I can cleanse you from sin,” and you say, “Not me – my situation is too dark.”  And God sends you a Redeemer, a strong horn of salvation that is able to save you from the darkest sin and the foulest habit … if you will turn to Him in repentance and faith.

Do you have eyes to see?  You hear God’s promise of peace and you say, “How can this be? Surely God can’t bring peace to this situation, it’s too hard.” But God keeps speaking to you.  He keeps calling to you and says “I have sent you a Redeemer, a strong horn of salvation,” for He can bring peace into your life.  You need to trust Him.  

But the strong horn of salvation is not only able to save but will enable you to serve. Verse 74 – to rescue us from the hand of our enemies and to enable us to serve Him with out fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

Isn’t God good?  Not only does He save us but enables us to serve Him.  Do know every year Fortune magazine publishes a list of the top 100 companies to work for?  As I read the list, I think I really would like to work for Smucker’s Jam company, because with a name like Smuckers they’ve got to be good to work for!  They give good benefits to their employees, profit sharing, it’s a family atmosphere.

But there isn’t any company, there isn’t anyone better to serve with your whole life than God!  You get to know the Ruler of the universe intimately, tough times are faced with the knowledge of that the Master will never leave you alone; character development, holiness, righteousness are assured; and the retirement package is heavenly!

Seriously, God is good.  He keeps coming to us and calling us to Himself.  Offering Jesus Christ as your Saviour, a strong horn of salvation. And enable you to serve, to obey His call with heart and soul and mind.

Do you have eyes to see and ears to hear what God is doing and calling you to?  Do you see all He is doing and wants to do in you?

Zechariah received a message from Gabriel.  He didn’t believe. The people of the New Testament were sent a prophet by the name of John who Zechariah tells us in verse 76 and 77 would be point to the Saviour and the assurance of forgiveness of sins. 

And for us – He sends situations, He sends sermons, songs, people, His very Word to speak to us – to tell us that He has come in the person of Jesus Christ to be our Saviour. 

Will you have ears to hear and eyes to see what God is doing in your midst and for you in Jesus Christ?  I pray that you do, and that Zechariah’s song will become your own – “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.”

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - December 2006

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