Introduction

Starting last week, this week, and next week, we are taking some time in our preparation for and anticipation of the holiday season to look at Luke, chapters 1 and 2. We'll study the different songs that came out of people's mouths as a response to the birth of Jesus. Nowhere else in Scripture, in such a small section, are there three songs in such quick succession.

Last week we heard about Mary's song. This morning we're going to focus on Zechariah's song. As the promise of the Messiah began to unfold, Zechariah needed to convey his emotions in a way that words weren't sufficient. So he turned to a song. There's something about a song that has an evocative nature in it when words aren't enough. They're able to convey very strong emotions and thoughts, and you and I are decidedly marked by the songs we hear.

Some of you remember years ago on TV there was a television show called Name That Tune, and you would get three or five notes with which to name that tune. So we're going to have a little fun this morning. We're going to go through some songs to see just how good you are, and what feelings they evoke in you.

All right, so let's start with the first one. [Play a few notes from a song.] That was the Glenn Miller, "In the Mood." The early service got that much quicker than you guys did. The Saturday evening service didn't get it at all last night. There is something about that song for me. I grew up with two parents in the '50s and the '60s who were amazing dancers, and they would go to dance clubs where they would play Big Band music. I was eight years old sipping on my Shirley Temple, watching my mom and dad get up on the dance floor. Literally, just like in the movies, people would back off and form a circle and watch them dance. So when that Glenn Miller song comes on, my whole body just comes alive.

There's something about a song that evokes a time and a place very quickly. There is a certain Johnny Mathis song that when it gets played, it transports John and I in a parked car over Mulholland Drive, and that's enough said right there. Those were good days. In this passage that we're going to look at, leading up to the song of Zechariah, you're going to see God had a plan, and God had a pace for that plan that resulted in a song. And that song had a story behind it, because there is a story behind every song.

The 400 years of silence

When you understand the story leading up to it, the song means even that much more. So this morning, we're going to do the lead up to Zechariah's song. When we go through this passage, I want you to think about the plan and the pace, because it's fascinating what God unfolds in his plan. The history coming into this song was 400 years of silence. The nation of Israel, which always had kings and priests and prophets who were connecting them to God, had experienced four centuries of silence. That was 400 years of wondering and losing hope about the redemption of their nation, and the promise of the Messiah.

All of a sudden, in an unexpected way, God's plan begins to break open and unfold with an old priest, a 15-year-old girl, two babies, and an obscure village. From a strategic marketing point of view, this wasn't very bright. It wasn't the big boom that most people were looking for, and most people overlooked it because of that.

God says in the Old Testament in Zechariah, chapter 4, "Do not despise the day of small things," because it is in the small things that God is renewing his plan. In his plan in this passage you're going to also see a very interesting intersection of corporate and personal. In other words, leading up to Zechariah's song, God was at work in the nation of Israel so he could be at work in the entire world. It was a cosmic plan, but it is never without the individual expression and blessing.

God's plan involves the nation, the world, individual people, and all of it in between. So let's start taking a look and pick up the story in Luke, chapter 1, verse 5, and take a look at this character named Zechariah. "In the time of Herod kind of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly."

Zechariah at that time was one of about 18,000 priests living in the nation of Israel. There were a lot of priests, and because there were so many, they would live out in the country. Twice a year, for one week at a time, they would be called into Jerusalem to serve in the temple. He lived outside of Jerusalem, and he was married to a woman who was also from the line of priests as a descendant of Aaron.

Then Luke wants to know that they were "living the Lord's commands and blameless" (not that they were without sin, of course). The same phrase is also used in Luke, chapter 2 of Simeon, and in Matthew, chapter 1 of Joseph, the father of Jesus, to convey to the readers that they followed God's commands and they lived a righteous life.

Then Luke carries the story a little bit further, and tells us some background on them. They were an old couple, and they were childless because his wife Elizabeth was unable to conceive. Now in those days, that wasn't just an unfortunate circumstance; it really was a reason for questioning the goodness of God in their lives. Luke intentionally puts together with the bit about them living blamelessly before God and not receiving the blessing of God. As a priest, everybody in the village he lived in would be talking about this. How could there be a man of God who is not blessed by God with children?

So they were living a very public life, with a kind of shame they carried around, and just to drill the point home one more time, Luke puts in this story the fact that they were both very old. There are a lot of similarities here to the story of Abraham and Sarah when they gave birth to Isaac. "Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside."

So as one of 18,000 people, Zechariah comes to his duties for about a week in Jerusalem. Then, in anticipation of the big service on Saturday in the temple, they draw lots, and one priest is chosen to carry the incense and the prayers for the redemption of Israel and the coming of the Messiah into the Holy of Holies. Zechariah's name was chosen quite by chance, so for Zechariah this moment was the culmination of his priestly career. He knew there was a chance he would go to his grave and never be chosen. He knew for sure it would never happen again, because once you'd served, your name was taken out of the lottery.

So with great pride and excitement, I'm sure, he decided to go in and burn the incense. What happened is the whole nation of Israel would join together on Saturdays outside the walls of the temple and pray. The priests would pray with them, and then the priests would move into the holy place and sacrifice on behalf of the nation of Israel and offer prayers. Then one priest was chosen from that group to go into the Holy of Holies, waving the incense burner, and offering prayers for the entire nation. So that's what Zechariah was doing.

Now Zechariah had never been in the Holy of Holies before, but he had certainly sat and listened to the priests who had been chosen, and they had told him what to expect: what the Holy of Holies looks like, where everything was, how to swing the incense burner. The prayers were to be given, and then he was to come out. If there was a manual for it, he had read through the pages of that, and he knew what to expect. So when he went in, he got him a little surprise, because there was an angel in there, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

An unexpected messenger and message

Now he wasn't expecting an angel, because typically there wasn't an angel in there. None of the priests had told him about this. When he went through the manual and looked up "altar of incense," there was no angel there. So as you can imagine, Zechariah was surprised. "When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah … '" That's very similar to the story about Mary where this same angel tells Mary that she will be with child and her child will be the Messiah. It says that she was troubled, and Gabriel said to her, "Do not be afraid."

So the angel knows this is a little out of the ordinary, and he calms Zechariah down, and then this next section is fascinating. The angel says to Zechariah, "' … your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.'" Now when you first read that, you think the two are connected. You think the angel is saying, "Zechariah, I have heard you pray for years that you and Elizabeth would have a son, and now you're going to have a son." But that's not what's happening at all.

The aorist tense the writer Luke uses for the prayer is to declare one singular event that has happened in the recent past, so the angel is referring to the prayer that Zechariah just prayed in the Holy of Holies for the redemption of Israel and the coming of the Messiah. This is a beautiful example of where God is at work corporately and personally at the same time. Zechariah could never have imagined that the answer to his prayer for the redemption of Israel and the coming of the Messiah would be found in the answer to another prayer that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a child.

So what's going on here is deeply profound. The angel is saying, "God is working in the nation of Israel, and God is working in the whole world, and God is going to do his cosmic work by giving you, Zechariah, a baby." Now as if it wasn't enough (that there's an angel in the Holy of Holies) , Zechariah is also told that the one prayer he offered in the Holy of Holies is going to get answered after hundreds of years of people praying for it, and that it was going to be connected to his wife who was over 80 (menopause was in the distant past for her). She was going to have a child.

Now let's take this out of the category of verses in the Bible and a flannel graph story, and let's remind ourselves this story really happened. When Zechariah was taking all of this in, and hearing Elizabeth was going to have a son, this must have been the picture in his mind. We are literally talking about an 80-year-old woman going into the bathroom with a stick, and coming out with a plus sign that says you're pregnant. It was hard to imagine how Zechariah could absorb all of this information.

Then as if it's not enough, Gabriel goes on, probably letting Zechariah settle down a little bit, and give him a little bit more information. "'He will be a joy and delight to you … '" In the redemption of the whole world, in all that grandiose sweep of history, Gabriel does not forget to mention, "Oh and by the way, you and Elizabeth are going to get your socks knocked off, because you're going to be so in love with your baby boy. His prophecy and his messenger role aside, there's joy and delight for you in this child, and many besides you will rejoice because of his birth, because he will be great in the sight of the Lord. And because this child is being set apart for a special purpose, Zechariah, I want you to know from the beginning of his life, I want you and your wife to keep him away from wine or fermented drink, so that everyone will understand that what fills him is the power of the Holy Spirit, and that power will be in him before he is even born."

Then just to emphasize the prophetic role of John the Baptist, he says, "Like in the spirit of Elijah, your son and his preaching will bring many people back to God." In an interesting description of what it means for a whole community of people to turn back to God, Gabriel tells Zechariah that one of the signs of a whole community of people turning their hearts towards God is the posture of parents toward their children. "The words your son preaches will turn the hearts of the parents back towards their children, and those that are disobedient back to the wisdom of the righteous, because it is very important that people get prepared, and that the world gets made ready for this Jesus who is coming."

Zechariah's unbelief

So now Zechariah says to the angel, "'How can I be sure of this?'" This is where the story hinges and takes a sharp turn, because just a few verses later, when it's Mary's turn to get Gabriel's message to her and she's afraid, she says some similar words with a different outcome. Whereas Zechariah says, "How can I be sure of this?" Mary says, "How can this be since I am a virgin?" So she's asking a little bit of the strategy and how this is going to play out, but somehow in Zechariah's response to Gabriel, he displeases Gabriel to the point that Gabriel steps in to punish him.

So let's look at this a little closer. Zechariah says, "'How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.'" As if the angel didn't know that. "Just in case you weren't seeing me." In asking for a sign, Zechariah is basically challenging what Gabriel said. Imagine you go into the Holy of Holies and you see an angel, and the angel tells you everything we just read, and then you say, "I need a sign." Gabriel is like, "Dude, I am the sign. I'm an angel. What more do you want?"

So Gabriel says, "Let me be clear on who I am in response to your asking for a sign. I am Gabriel," he says. "I stand in the presence of God, Zechariah, and I have been sent from that presence to speak to you, and to tell you this good news, in the Holy of Holies, where for hundreds of years priests have been praying for the redemption of Israel and the coming of the Messiah. And so, Zechariah, you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time." So what is at least partially a response to his unbelief, Gabriel says that for nine months Zechariah will not be able to utter a word.

Certainly there is a component in this piece that is a punishment, but we're also going to see what nine months of silence does to Zechariah's heart. Now in the meantime, while all this is going on, the people and the priests outside know about how long it takes to burn the incense, say the prayers for the redemption of the nation and the coming of the Messiah. So after awhile they start looking at their watches and say, "Zechariah is taking a little too long." So they begin to wonder what is going on inside of the temple. Then when he came out, Zechariah could not speak, and they began to realize that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them and was unable to speak.

Imagine the buzz that must have gone out from that place, where for 400 years, priests had gone into the Holy of Holies, waving the incense and praying the prayers for the redemption of Israel and the coming of the Messiah, and week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, there was a deafening silence. Now on an ordinary day, with an old priest who was near the end of his career, he comes out mouthing without words and making hand signals, and they realize there has been a divine interaction in the Holy of Holies.

My guess is that this story was on the tabloid front cover of the Jerusalem People Magazine for a while, and people were gossiping and buzzing about it. I'm also guessing that when nothing happened dramatically after that, they went on to something else. It says that after his week of service, Zechariah went home and after his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and five months, she went into seclusion. Her response to being pregnant was to say, "'The Lord has done this for me … In these days … '" Catch that. "In these days"—in the day for an 80-year-old woman past hope for a child—"in these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people."

The breakthrough to Good News

So then we don't hear anything else for the nine months of her pregnancy and what the silence was doing in Zechariah's heart, until verse 57 when it came time for Elizabeth to give birth to her son. We'll pick up the story here. "When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy."

They were going to name him after his father, Zechariah, which was completely understandable. Babies, especially firstborn sons, were always either named after their father, or somebody in the lineage of their father. But Elizabeth spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John." So somewhere in these nine months, with his hand gestures and his writing, her husband Zechariah had been able to communicate to her some of what had happened, and that one of the things he remembered was the angel said he was to be called John, meaning "the Lord is gracious."

Now the neighbors still couldn't believe it, because they said, "There's nobody among your family with that name." Already, in the naming of this son, God is stretching their spiritual imagination outside of the box to say, "Something is happening here that you can't even imagine." They fought with her and said, "You can't name him that." They made signs to Zechariah to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, probably a board of smooth wood with wax over it, and he wrote on that tablet, "His name is John."

Then the next verse: "Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak … " Just like the angel said, "Until this day occurs, you will be silent." Now I don't know about you, but if I had seen the vision and experienced the promise, and then been struck mute, and my 80-year-old wife became pregnant, as I could open my mouth, I would immediately say, "Oh my gosh! I got to tell you about these last nine months! You cannot believe what's happened!"

But there's always a story behind the song, and in these nine months, this silence has brought about a fresh state of spiritual health in the life of Zechariah, because the immediate thing that came out of his mouth was an unleashing torrent of praise. He could not contain himself. He could not stop his exuberant spirit. In his vision in the Holy of Holies, the end of the silence for Israel had ushered in the beginning of the silence for Zechariah. The corporate and the personal were at work together.

Nine months of being quiet, nine months of listening, nine months of paying attention to God in his heart—it finally began to dawn on him that God's plan was coming to fruition in his lifetime, and that the miracle of his son would be part of the preparation for the coming of the Messiah. In fact, in the book of Luke, there are more references to praising God than there are in the rest of the New Testament combined. From the very first chapter, Luke is saying, "Part of the song we sing because of the understanding of good news is a song of great joy."

Earlier in Luke, we looked at Mary's song. It was theologically deep, but it was also about a subversion of power and the kings losing power and the poor getting special attention. Zechariah's song is also theologically deep and it is about unleashed joy, which should be part of our response to the good news of this holiday season. So let's finish up by looking at Zechariah's song, which has four simple moves to it.

He starts off being overcome with thanksgiving to God. Second, he talks about the amazing deliverance from the enemies that God is putting into play with his plan. Third, he has a section that I call "That's my boy," because he wants to tell everybody the part his son will play in the preparation for the Messiah. Finally, he ends on the note of God's salvation through mercy and light.

Let's go through it quickly and feel a sense of how after nine months of silence and then an incredible miracle Zechariah couldn't contain his joy.

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation … (a reference to the horn of an animal) … the strength of salvation for us through the house of his servant David, just like he said he would; salvation from our enemies and the hand of all who have hated us through the generations, to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy promise, the oath he swore to our father Abraham, and to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness all of our days. And then you, my child, my son, John the Baptist … (who couldn't understand a word his dad was saying, so understand these words were more for us and the people listening to this song of joy) … will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins …

Forgiveness was about much more than a remission of penalty; it was about the restoration of a relationship.

"And this salvation through the forgiveness of sins is because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun into this darkness will come to us from heaven to shine on those of us who have been living in darkness in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." Sometime this week, take verse 68 through the end of the chapter in Luke chapter 1, read it aloud, and practice an expression of great joy to the good news that Jesus is born.

Joy too deep for words

Here's how I want us to finish, because I want to give you something visual that evokes the power of song, the communal nature of song, and how song expresses joy that's too deep for words. I'm going to show you a clip from one of my favorite movies—That Thing You Do. It's the story about a group of ordinary teenagers from a small town who want to be in a band. They want to sing their song, and the father of the guy who heads up the band runs an appliance store. The father thinks that the band is just a silly idea. He wants his son to get more serious about working in the appliance shop.

But these kids have a song to sing and they want to sing it. In this particular video clip, the band members are spread all over town when for the first time they actually hear the song they've recorded being played over the radio. (If you're under 30, Google the word radio. It's a fascinating concept.)

You're going to see a picture of pure, unadulterated joy. It's the kind of joy that might be missing because we're so familiar with the good news of Christ's birth. We're so familiar with the story of the good news of Jesus that we forget the original joy in the story. So while you're watching the incredible joy in this group of teenagers, imagine an 80-year-old pregnant woman, an old priest, a couple of babies in an obscure town, having this same response of joy to some really, really good news.

[Watch the video clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpmnIpAXpig.]

Voice on the radio: "JT Hit time. Ten minutes past the hour. Hey, here's something new. A local Erie band has got a new record out. Just won the Mercyhurst Talent Show a couple of weeks ago. This is Erie's own, Wonders!"

A female band member: "Oh my god! Oh my god!" [she runs off screaming with excitement]

[End of video]

That, ladies and gentlemen, is joy.