In Zacharias’ prophecy on the occasion of the birth of his son, he prophesied that God would send a Deliverer into the world because of His tender mercy. This Deliverer would redeem, save, forgive, and illumine His people.
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The Tender Mercy Of God
Luke 1:57-80
We come this morning to one of the great events in the history of redemption – the birth of the forerunner of Jesus Christ. The angel Gabriel has come to Zacharias as he was ministering at the golden altar of incense in the temple, and informed him that his wife would bear a son and that they would name him John. They would have joy and gladness because of him, and he would be great in the sight of the Lord. In fact, He would be used by God to turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord. However, instead of responding in joyful affirming faith, Zacharias responded in unbelief, asking for a sign. He said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years?” And for this unbelief, Gabriel rebuked Zacharias and made him deaf and dumb for the next 9 months. Imagine Zacharias, unable to speak or hear for nine solid months. Imagine how he was shut up to communion with God alone. Oh, he got his sign, to be sure. And though it wasn’t the kind of sign he wanted, it was the kind of sign he needed.
Now, fast forward six month. Elizabeth’s relative, Mary, pays her a visit because she has had a visit from Gabriel telling her she would bear a son, who would be called the Son of the Most High and would reign on David’s throne forever. Further, he told her that Elizabeth had conceived a son in her old age and was in her sixth month of pregnancy. Well, Mary had to come and see Elizabeth and confirm the wonderful news of the angel. When she arrived, Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and begins to prophesy, telling her that her son had leaped in her womb for joy because the mother of her Lord had come to her. In response Mary gives a beautiful song of praise to God for His goodness toward her. Mary stays with her for three months, presumably until Elizabeth has given birth, and then returns home.
Then we are given the actual details of John’s birth. They are simple and brief. Zacharias and Elizabeth’s neighbors and relatives rejoice with them at his birth, fulfilling the word of Gabriel in 1:14. On the 8th day, when John was to be circumcised, there was a dispute about what the boy should be called. The neighbors and relatives thought he should be called Zacharias, but Elizabeth responded that his name should be called John. They argued with her, telling her that there were no relatives called John in the family. Then, they came to Zacharias and made signs, asking him what the boy was to be called. Zacharias, in response, wrote out, “His name is John.” He didn’t say, we are going to name him John, because it wasn’t his decision to choose a name. The angel had already told him what his name was to be. Zacharias was just announcing the name that had been given to him from heaven – “His name is John.” And at that moment, his tongue was loosed, and he began to prophesy. And we have that prophecy recorded for us in Luke 1:68-79. When Zacharias disbelieved the word from God, he became mute, but when he declared the word from God, he was able to speak the wonderful works of God. I imagine that it was as if a dam had broke. For nine months, he had communed with God, meditated on the angel’s visit to him, and Mary’s visit to their home, and on God’s Word. Then, when his speech was given back, he gushed forth in praise of God as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
This morning we are going to spend our time on Zacharias’ prophecy, which has been called “The Benedictus”, just as Mary’s utterance has been called “The Magnificat.” You might think that when Zacharias could speak again, he might speak to his neighbors and relatives about his son. Actually, he does speak of John in verses 76-77, 2 verses out of 12. However, the great majority of this prophecy is devoted to Jesus Christ and His glorious work on our behalf.
The phrase that I think unlocks this prophecy is given to us in verse 78, “the tender mercy of our God.” Literally, it should be rendered “the bowels of compassion of our God.” The word “mercy” is repeated many times in the first chapter of Luke:
Luke 1:50 “His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him”
Luke 1:54 “He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy”
Luke 1:58 “Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her”
Luke 1:72 “To show mercy toward our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant”
Luke 1:78 “Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us”
Mercy and grace are very similar in meaning – speaking of God’s undeserved favor. However, mercy also carries the idea of compassion to those in great misery. The theme of Zacharias’ prophecy is that because of God’s tender mercy, He has sent a Savior for this enslaved, perishing, ruined world. Think of that phrase, “tender mercy.” What a beautiful thought that God has “tender mercy” toward His people. Tender mercy, must mean that God loves His people, is moved by their miserable condition, and acts toward them out of the bowels of His compassion.
In this beautiful prophecy, The Spirit of God reveals to us the Person of Christ, the Performance of Christ, and the People of Christ.
1. The Person Of Christ – Who is this One whom God is sending into the world?
Zacharias erupts in praise in verse 68 by declaring, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people.” Who has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people? The Lord God of Israel! Here is a direct reference to the Deity of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Lord God of Israel! And if that is not clear enough for us, verse 76 says about John, “for you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways.” Who is Jesus Christ? He is the Lord. He is the Lord God of Israel.
In fact, Matthew tells us that the name Jesus, which means “Jehovah is salvation”, was given as a fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 which says “they shall call His name Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’”. Who is Jesus? He is God with us! God, because of the bowels of His compassion toward His miserable creatures, came Himself to save them! God came to pay the human race a visit. God didn’t just send a human messenger to relay a message, although He did do that through the prophets. God didn’t just send an angelic messenger to relay a message, although He did do that through Gabriel to Zacharias and Mary. What God was to actually do was come down and come into His world, the world that He Himself had made. Folks this is a stupendous truth! Can you imagine the condescension of God? He is the great I Am, the creator of this unspeakably vast Universe, the One who has no beginning or end. And for Him, to visit His creatures is far more humbling than it would be for you to become a worm and visit a worm farm. Christmas means God in Tender Mercy has come down, down, down, to visit His poor, perishing creatures. Jesus is God manifest in the flesh! Charles Wesley put it like this:
“Christ by highest heaven adored – Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come – Offspring of a virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see – Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with men to dwell – Jesus our Emmanuel
Hark the herald angels sing – glory to the newborn King.”
2. The Performance Of Christ What will He do when He comes? 4 things:
He Will Redeem His People: 1:68, “For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people.” Notice how Zacharias states these things in the past tense as though they were already accomplished, even though Jesus has not even been born yet! I believe he speaks this way because they are so certain of fulfillment, they are as good as already done. It’s like what Paul does in Romans 8:30 when he says, “and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” Because of God’s tender mercy, He visited us and accomplished redemption for us.
Now, what exactly is redemption? It means to be set free by the payment of a price. It conjures up the image of a bunch of slaves or captives that are held captive to a hostile enemy. The only way those slaves can be set free, is if someone rich enough and merciful enough will pay to buy them out of slavery. Actually, Zacharias probably had the children of Israel in mind as he uttered this prophecy. God came down and visited His people when they were groaning in bondage to their Egyptian taskmasters. Then He redeemed them or set them free from their slavery. The price paid in that situation was an unblemished lamb a year old who had to die. As the Israelites all over Egypt slaughtered their lambs, and sprinkled the blood on the lintel of their doors, this was the price that set in motion the freedom of an entire nation. As the destroying angel came through to kill the first-born of every home that did not have the blood on the door, he came to Pharaoh’s home and killed his first-born son, as well as the first-born of all the Egyptian’s families. This was what put the Pharaoh over the edge and caused him to issue the command to let the Israelites go.
Folks, we’ve also been set free from our captors! We were in bondage to sin and Satan, and there was nothing we could do to break free. We would have lived and died willing slaves, had it not been for the tender mercy of God! Jesus Christ paid the price to set us free from sin’s penalty and dominion. The price He paid was His own life. He became the lamb of God who redeems helpless sinners from sin’s condemnation and power.
He Will Save His People: 1:69, “And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant.” The theme of salvation reoccurs through this prophecy several times (1:69,71,74, 77). Just as redemption refers to the release of the captives, so salvation refers to the rescue of the perishing. The picture here is not just that of being held hostage as a captive to an evil enemy. The picture here is that enemy killing you at any moment. Notice in our text that we are saved or rescued from “our enemies and from the hand of all who hates us” (1:71). Satan is the great enemy of our soul. He prowls about seeking whom he may devour. He hates God, and he hates you, because you are a child of God. Notice, that this salvation of Christ puts on display His power and faithfulness.
The Power of Christ: Zachariah prophesies of the Lord raising up a horn of salvation. A horn in Scripture is not talking about a trumpet or trombone. It’s talking about a horn of an animal like a bull. The horn speaks of power and might. It is that which gives that animal the ability to fight off enemies and even to put them to death. Folks, we needed an almighty Savior! Do you know why? It is because our sin was much to powerful for us to ever overcome on our own. Sin is a radical pervasive principle within us. It affects all our faculties – our thoughts, attitudes, actions, mind, emotions, and will. We are born with this inclination to do evil, and no human being is able to root it out of himself. But there is a Champion, who can overcome sin! Is.63:1 speaks of God as the One who is “mighty to save.” “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom.5:6).
The Faithfulness of Christ: Notice verses 70-73, “As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old — salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US; to show mercy toward our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath which He swore to Abraham our father.” God was faithful to His Word. God had spoken through His prophets of a coming Deliverer for His people. God had spoken to Abraham, telling him “In your seed all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Well, God did not just speak those promises into the air. God made good on them. God was faithful to His oath. At the right time, God fulfilled His word and sent His Messiah to save His people from their sins. The salvation of Christ shows God’s power and His faithfulness!
Aren’t you glad, this morning, that God sent you a Savior?! Without Christ, we would be the willing slaves of sin and Satan, and would face eternal destruction in the lake of fire because of our own sin and rebellion. It was as though we were hostages of an evil tyrant, who took several of his hostages out reach morning and lined them up before a firing squad. Our eternal destruction was imminent, just waiting to happen. But because of God’s tender mercy, He sent Christ to rescue the perishing.
He Will Forgive His People: In 1:77 we are told that John the Baptist would “give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” Forgiveness is the canceling or remitting of a debt. In order for God to rescue perishing sinners, he must forgive them. You see, our sins are a great debt to God. That’s why Jesus, in the Lord’s prayer said, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” If you went into God’s debt $1 every time you ever sinned, how much would you owe him today? Our problem is that our debt to God is great, and we are spiritually bankrupt. We have nothing with which to pay off our debt. The only solution is if God Himself absorbs the debt. He must pay the debt we owed. And the way He did it was through offering up His only begotten Son as a payment for sin. You see, even though God freely cancels our debts, it wasn’t free to Him, only to us. The price had to be paid by someone. But because of His tender mercy, He was willing to pay the debt to His justice that we owed, so that our debts would be forever canceled. The first picture was of captives in bondage to their enemy. The second picture was of those captives in imminent danger of perishing at the hands of that enemy. This third picture is that of a man who is hopelessly in debt. In each case, we needed something that we could not provide. We needed freedom. We needed to be rescued. We needed our debt to go away. And praise God, Jesus Christ has done all that for us, freely by His grace, because of His tender mercy toward us!
He Will Illumine His People: 1:78-79 says, “With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” This fourth vignette gives us another picture. This time the picture is that of travelers, who have gotten hopelessly lost, and it has grown dark, and they have no light to find their way. There are steep cliffs on every side, and bears and mountain lions lurking in the shadows. They are cold and frightened. The only thing they can do is huddle together in the cold and wait out the blackness of the night. Every time they hear a rustling in the bushes, they tremble for fear. They are lost, in danger, and have no way of knowing what to do or where to go. Their great need is for light. And that is what the Messiah brings. He comes as a Sunrise from on high. He brings a new day for those in darkness. In Malachi 4:2 we read “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.” Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn. 8:12).
The people that Jesus came to were steeped in the darkness of their own ignorance. There was so much that they did not understand about God and His ways. They had a very fuzzy understanding of life after death. They had a very imperfect view of how they could be forgiven and rescued from damnation. They didn’t understand how God could remain just and justify ungodly sinners.
It’s not just first-century Jews who are in darkness. All of us lived in darkness until God shone into our hearts. We didn’t know God, didn’t really understand Him or His ways. We were blind to spiritual truth. We were like a man sitting in the darkness, trying to read a map. He wants to get to his destination. He wants to get out of danger and into a safe place, but it’s impossible without light to read by. When Jesus Christ comes into a person’s life, He brings light! He illumines His people. He brings them into the knowledge of God. “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (Jn. 17:3). “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3). That must mean that when a man is born again, he now sees the kingdom of God for the very first time. He is given the ability to see spiritually. Christ has thrown light upon Him.
There we have 4 pictures of our lost condition. We were captives held hostage. We were in imminent danger of perishing at the hands of our enemy. We were bankrupt and up to our eyeballs in debt. And we were sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. And what did Jesus Christ do? He freed us from captivity. He rescued us from our enemies. He canceled our debts. And He illumined us with His light. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
So, now that we have explored the Person and the Performance of Christ, let’s look at the People of Christ.
3. The People Of Christ
There are two questions that we need to answer about the People of Christ. Who are they? And What do they do? Interestingly, these are the same two questions we answered about Jesus Christ (His Person and Performance).
Who Are The People Of Christ?
His People: Those for whom Christ has done this great work of redemption, salvation, forgiveness, and illumination are His People. But, just who are they? Is this everyone? Not unless everyone ends up being released from their captivity to sin and Satan. Not unless everyone is rescued from perishing. Not unless everyone is forgiven of all their sins. Not unless everyone is brought of darkness into the light of Jesus Christ. No, the testimony of the Bible is very clear on this point. Some will experience these glorious blessings, and others will not. Some will be on Christ’s right hand, and others will be on His left. Some will experience everlasting glory in the presence of God, and others will experience everlasting anguish and torment away from His presence. Jesus Christ came on a mission to accomplish redemption, salvation, forgiveness, and illumination for His people. This is a particular group. Can we identify them more closely? Yes, we can.
Jesus divides all men into two categories in Matthew 25, the sheep and the goats. Christ’s people are His flock, the sheep which will enter His eternal kingdom. Christ’s people are His bride for whom gave Himself up to death. Christ’s people are the members of His body, the living stones in the temple that God is constructing. Well, why are they called His people? The answer is not just that they were created by Him, because all men were created by Him. The answer is not just that they were redeemed by Him, because this prophecy that calls them His people, was given before they were redeemed. The answer is that they are Christ’s people, because they were given to Him by the Father before the foundation of the world. In the gospel of John, Jesus repeatedly speaks of “all that the Father has given Me” (Jn.6:37,39; 10:29; 17:2,9,24). Before time began, before God created the world, He made a choice of certain people and gave them to His Son as a gift. These people would be saved by Him, and conformed into His image. They would worship and praise Him forever in His glorious presence. Just as in the ancient world marriages were often arranged while the children were only a few years old, so God the Father arranged this marriage to His Son from all eternity. The Bible refers to Christ’s people as the elect, the chosen, and says that God’s grace was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. Are you one of Christ’s people?
What Will They Do?
Serve Him: Notice 1:74-75, “To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.” God saves His people so that they can now serve Him! You see, Christ doesn’t release a bunch of captives so that they can serve themselves. He doesn’t release the captives so that they can do their own will, and feed their flesh, and indulge their lusts. No, He redeems a people so that they will now serve Him! Yes, we are set free from sin and Satan, but we have become the slaves of God. Bob Dylan was exactly write when he said, “You gotta serve somebody – it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody.” You see, every person is a slave of someone. No one is free in terms of not bowing to the will of another. Whose slave are you? If you claim to be a Christian, but are not a slave of Jesus Christ, you are deceived. Every true Christian serves God. But, how will he serve? In three ways.
1) Fearlessly: “without fear”. Again, this causes us to hearken back to the story of the children of Israel being set free from the bondage of Egypt. Remember that God’s message through Moses was “Set my people free that they might serve Me!” After Pharaoh finally did set them free, he changed his mind and sent his armies after them to kill them or take them captive again. However, God worked on His people’s behalf, and caused them to march through the midst of the Red Sea on dry ground. When the Egyptians chased after them, God brought down the great and mighty waters upon them, and drowned them all. Then, we have that great 15th chapter of Exodus where Moses and all Israel sing a song of praise to God for His mighty deliverance. God had destroyed their enemies, so now they could serve God without fear.
Friends, the same thing is true of us! God has destroyed the power of sin over us. God has broke the back of the devil. He can longer make you do anything. God has taken the sting out of death, and removed our fear of damnation and hell. We don’t serve God because we are afraid of going to hell! We don’t serve God because we are afraid to die! We serve God without fear! This is what Paul wrote of when he said, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” Are you serving God without fear?
2) Righteously: “in holiness and righteousness”. When we were the slaves of sin and Satan, we couldn’t serve God in holiness and righteousness. Everything we did was just a different shade of sin. Nothing was done out of faith in Him, love for Him, and for His glory. Well, all that has changed. Now, by the power of the Spirit, we can live holy and righteous lives. Here is another mark of a saved man. He pursues holiness. He grows in sanctification. He puts off the ways of the old man, and walks in the ways of the new man. He is being transformed by the Lord, the Spirit as he beholds the glory of the Lord. He is becoming in practice what he already is in position. Positionally, he is perfectly righteous. He is becoming righteous in practice. He is putting to death the deeds of the body, and bringing to life the fruit of the Spirit. He is alive in Christ, and the very life of Christ is producing His character in him. Folks, is this true of you? Are you serving God in holiness and righteousness?
3) Continually: “before Him all our days”. When God saves a man He saves him for good. The man who is saved, serves the Lord all his days. Yes, there may be a temporary lapse. There may be a period of backsliding. But the course and tenor of his life from the moment of salvation is to serve God. You ask, “Brian, do you believe in Once Saved, Always Saved?” Well, I would rephrase it a little bit. I believe in Once Saved, Always Being Saved. And part of that being saved aspect of salvation is a continual service of God. Friends, be clear on this point. A mark of a true believer is that he perseveres in faith to the end. This is how the Westminster Confession puts it, “They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.” It’s kind of like driving in the mountains. When we lived in Sonora and would drive to Pinecrest Lake, we knew we were rising in elevation because of the street markers telling us what the elevation was. However, at any given moment, we might be going up a hill, or down the backside of the hill, and then up again. Although there were ups and downs along the way, the general direction and tenor of our trip was up. So it is in the Christian life. We may have our ups and downs, but for the born again child of God, the general direction of His life is ever upwards toward God.
So, who are Christ’s People? They are those the Father has chosen from the foundation of the world. What will they do? They will serve Him fearlessly, righteously, and continually all their days.
Life Application
The blessings I have described to you may seem too good to be true. Set free from our captivity to sin and Satan – rescued from being eternally destroyed – forgiven of every sin – illumined with His knowledge and truth. Why did Jesus do that for you? Was it because you were better than your next door neighbor? No, we were children of wrath even as the rest. Was it because you made the right use of your free will when others didn’t? No, we were not free but held captive to Satan to do his will. Was it because we met God half way, when others made no move toward Him? No, we were dead in our transgressions.
I’ll tell you why Jesus did this for you. He did it because of His tender mercy toward you, and for no other reason! He pitied you in your miserable condition. He was stirred with the bowels of compassion. He cared about you. He chose you. He set His love on you. He visited you. He sought you. He lived for you. He died for you. He rose for you. He ascended for you. He intercedes for you. He reigns for you. He is coming again for you! Oh, let the thought of His tender mercy toward you stir you to serve Him. Serve Him fearlessly, righteously, and continually all your days!
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