Please turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 1 that can be found on page 1087 in your pew Bibles. Before we turn our attention to our scripture reading this morning, let me first set the context for us just a bit. The purpose for which Luke writes this gospel, he tells us in the first four verses, is to the end that Theophilus and we ourselves might have certainty, that we might have certainty concerning the things that had been fulfilled in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And showing the Lord's faithfulness, showing the Lord's fulfillment of promise, is one of the prominent themes throughout Luke's gospel, and it's especially prominent in the passage we read this morning from Luke chapter one, our focus being on verses five through 25. Luke chapter one, beginning at verse five, this is the word of the Lord. May we read it, hear it, and receive it as such. 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. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now, while he was serving as priest before God, when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he, that is Zechariah, was chosen by Lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 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, and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at the boy's birth, 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. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 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. And Zacharias said to the angel, how shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years. 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. 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." And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 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. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months, she kept herself hidden, saying, thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach. among the people. The grass withers and the flower falls, but not the word of our Lord. It endures forever. Shall we pray for the Spirit's illumination? Gracious Heavenly Father, we pray to you once more this morning, asking that you would so illumine our hearts and our minds. Lord, we pray that you would give to your servant words to speak and give to us, your people, ears to hear. Lord, we pray that you would bless the words of your servant's mouth and the meditations of our hearts. Lord, we pray that you would graciously intervene in our lives here and now as we take a few moments of pause to hear what Christ would say to us through his word. cause us to receive it as such. This we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is often easy for us to fail to see and consider the big picture, especially in a world where it would seem as though we only receive reproach and disgrace from those around us. Sometimes we tend to get so caught up in our own concerns and cares of our individual lives that we fail to consider the big picture. Perhaps some of us are here this morning with too many cares and concerns to count. Perhaps so many cares and concerns that your thoughts become haunted with questions like, in the midst of all my concerns, is God really concerned with me? Has he really looked on me? Has he really concerned himself with me, with my wife, with my husband, with my kids, with my job or my school? Has he really looked on me? Has he really concerned himself with me, with my brokenness, with my hopelessness? Well, people of God, such questions are answered in the passage before us this morning. But in order to find the answers that you seek, you must not fail to recognize the big kingdom picture. Because the failure to see the big pictures that we see happening in our passage this morning, isn't it? As an angel, the Lord appears to Zechariah, an old priest whose faith seems shaken, whose faith begins to falter, so to speak. in reaction to the Lord's announcement of glad tidings of good news. But here already in the first narrative of Luke's gospel, Luke causes us to take a step back, to realize and to consider the big kingdom picture, what's most relevant, what is most significant in our lives. Because that's what Luke is preparing us for at the start of his gospel. To realize that the kingdom of God has indeed come in Jesus Christ our Lord. That all those promises made throughout the Old Testament have finally been fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ. That the wait is over. That fulfillment of promise has finally come. That Israel's spiritual barrenness is about to be overturned. And because of that, you and I and Israel have every reason for joy and gladness. Because what we have before us this morning is an inaugural address of sorts. Hear ye, hear ye, the king and his kingdom are at hand. And Elizabeth will conceive the one who will make his way known, John the Baptist. In the passage before us this morning, our gaze is reoriented to consider the big picture. What we see is that announcing fulfillment, the Lord overturns Israel's barrenness by inaugurating a new era of joy and gladness. That will be our theme for this morning. Announcing fulfillment, the Lord overturns Israel's barrenness. by inaugurating a new era of joy and gladness. This we need to recognize, people of God, is a gospel reality. It's not a maybe you can have joy and gladness someday. No, this is a we can have joy and gladness today. With Theophilus, we can be certain of this. The Lord overturns Israel's barrenness by inaugurating a new era of joy and gladness. This we'll consider in three points, three angles in which we need to see our text this morning. First, we consider the hopeless context, the hopeless context of the Lord's announcement. We see that in verses five through 10 of our scripture reading. Secondly, we consider the fulfillment content of the Lord's announcement, the fulfillment content of the Lord's announcement. And thirdly, we consider the mixed reactions or the mixed responses to the Lord's announcement in verses 18 to 25. Since we need to see ourselves in light of our own tendencies towards hopelessness, towards despair, towards unbelief and in doubt, even as Zechariah struggles with in our passage this morning. The Lord overturns Israel's barrenness, and we consider this first in light of the hopeless context of the Lord's announcement. In these first few verses of our passage, Luke clues us into a number of contextual features that are relevant for us to fully grasp what he's trying to do here in this first narrative of his gospel, the significance of what the Lord announces through his angel. Luke illustrates for us the hopeless context of Israel with the characters of Zechariah and Elizabeth, an old couple well advanced in years who were never given a child. And Luke's use of barrenness, this picture of barrenness in Zechariah and Elizabeth was a fitting picture for the people of Israel at large. When Luke wrote his gospel, the people of Israel had been 400 years without new promise, without new prophecy. It's been 400 years since their covenant God has given them a new sign, a new word from a prophet. 400 years have passed since Malachi. Generation after generation waited for a sign. And with each passing generation, the number of faithful diminished in the land as less and less clung to the promises of God. Letting go of God's promises, not clinging to them as precious jewels. Well, that of course is easy for us to do as well, isn't it? because sometimes it seems that in our own lives that all is lost, like all is hopeless, and so we begin to feel like maybe God has forgotten us. That must have been how Israel had begun to feel. Sure, they'd been allowed back into the promised land, and sure, even the temple has been rebuilt, but this new temple is nothing like the glory of the first. And yes, while they've been allowed back into the promised land, are they really free? Are they really no longer in exile? Luke tells us in verse five that these days are the days of King Herod, when King Herod was reigning in Judea. Who is this king? How did he gain the throne? We of course need to recognize that Israel, though back in her own land, is very much yet subject to a foreign power, to the Roman Empire. And while Rome has allowed Israel a sense of self-autonomy, a sense of independence, this autonomy is a far cry from the Davidic monarchy she once knew. And now Herod has been appointed by Rome to reign in Israel. Herod, not a man after God's own heart, Not a man from the line of David, not a man from the tribe of Judah, of whom Jacob promised the scepter would never depart, Herod. It would seem as though Israel had very little reason for joy and gladness, wouldn't it? And yet in these days of Herod, these days of Herod, king of Judea, these days characterized by Israel's unrighteousness, these days characterized by Israel increasingly acting like the world around them, Zechariah and Elizabeth, Luke tells us, were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. Luke gives to Zechariah and Elizabeth a glowing testimony, starry accolades, both were righteous, both were blameless, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years. Oh, how Zechariah and Elizabeth must have prayed earnestly. Not only for a child, but that God's grace might be displayed to them in giving them a child. But it would seem as though their prayers had been left unanswered. Perhaps they sometimes wondered whether God had heard their prayers at all. And now they were both old. Both were advanced in years. That's what Luke tells us. Now the prospect of a child was hopelessly impossible. And so you might wonder, what reason have Zachariah and Elizabeth for joy? What reason have they for gladness? Well, truth be told, they have no reason. They have no reason apart from the Lord's gracious intervention in their lives. And neither do we. Congregation of Christ, perhaps some of us know these, the pains of Zachariah and Elizabeth all too well. Both were righteous before the Lord, both loved God, both loved neighbors. So what gives? Why hasn't the Lord answered them? Why hasn't he given them what they desire? Isn't that how we sometimes think? We cry out, Lord, I've been faithful, so why haven't you answered me? Why haven't you give me those things which I desire, those good desires? Good desires, be they for a spouse or for a stronger marriage or maybe even for a child. What do you do, congregation, when it seems like your life is falling apart, like your life is bursting at the seams, so to speak? What do you do? Where do you turn when your personal faithfulness isn't met with progress and fruitfulness? Where do you turn for a deep-rooted, long-lasting joy and gladness that reorients your perspective to consider the big kingdom picture, the grand scheme of things? You see, brothers and sisters, in their hopeless disappointment, this old couple, well advanced in years, was a picture of Israel at large, whose hope for the seed, the seed of the woman, was by now just barely hanging on by a thread, that hope for the Messiah. And yet notice that there was yet a thread. Though few in number, there were still some holding on, holding fast to the promises of the Lord. There were still some that trusted that God, though having been silent for some time, would bring about the intervention Israel needed. We read about a multitude of people praying outside of the temple, despite their frustration, despite the frustrations of Israel. We see in verse 10 that there are still people holding on to the promises of God, expecting an answer to their persistent prayers as the priests served in the temple day after day. In verses eight and nine we read, now while he that is Zechariah was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priest that he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. The priest had to enter into the temple day after day, morning and evening, to offer prayers and burn incense on behalf of the people, a perpetual reminder of Israel's need and our need for a Redeemer. A reminder of Israel's need for the Messiah who would finally tear that veil of the holy place, that the holy place might break forth from the temple walls into the hearts of all God's people. And so despite his greatest concerns in life, Zachariah takes up his priestly privilege to enter into the temple of the Lord. Now being that the priests were so many in number at this time, the casting of lots served to determine whose turn it would be to offer the prayers, to burn the incense and the holy place. This was a once in a lifetime privilege. And so we see the Lord's providential handiwork at play as he's going to make this announcement to Zachariah. where His holiness, where His presence was most eminently known, in the holy place. And so we need to see that this angelic announcement, our passage, this visit from the Lord is nothing short of the Lord breaking into human history, beginning a new age in redemptive history, an age of joy and gladness, an age of fulfillment of promise, an age to give every reason to turn to the Lord. a new era leaving those who refuse to do so without excuse. That's what we see come to pass in our second consideration for this morning, the fulfillment content of the Lord's announcement. Zachariah, the childless priest, enters into the holy place to be in the presence of the Lord, where everything therein, all the furniture, all the furnishings pointed to the glory of the Lord's grace. But was God really gracious? Had God really concerned himself with Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth? Had he really looked on them? Had he really concerned himself with them? Was he really with them as they prayed and prayed earnestly for a child? As they prayed earnestly for the removal of reproach and disgrace, not only for themselves, but for the people of Israel at large? Or had all these priestly duties of going into the temple become nothing but vain and empty formalities? Verse 11, and there appeared to him an angel of the Lord. standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. In his well-known Promise and Deliverance series, Eshti de Graaf says that, in the splendor of that angel, Zechariah saw the glory of the Lord's grace. But it seems as though Zechariah's, the confines, the limits of his humanity keep him or hinder him from fully recognizing what's happening here. and fear falls upon him. But what does the angel of the Lord say to Zachariah? Do not be afraid, Zachariah. Do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard. Beloved God hears every prayer offered to him in faith. God really heard our prayers just a few moments ago. He hears the prayers you say around the dinner table and when you go to bed at night and when you wake up in the morning. Every last one of them, we need to recognize that. He heard Zachariah and Elizabeth's prayers all along. And so the angel says, do not be afraid, Zachariah. Your prayer has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. And you shall call his name John, and you shall have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. The boy's name will be John, a name which means the Lord is gracious. As we approach the rest of this fulfillment content of the glorious announcement, you and I need to recognize that these verses are not ultimately about the family history of Zachariah and Elizabeth, because the point, congregation, is that God's people are given a deep-rooted joy and gladness which faces our human concerns in this life head on, so to speak. A joy and gladness which overturns Israel's and our spiritual barrenness. A deep-rooted joy and gladness that cause us to see the Lord at work despite our human concerns. Our human concerns, be they the longing for a spouse, a broken or a shaken marriage, the longing for a child, or even death itself. But you must not fail to consider the big picture. Because people of God, when you do that, when you focus all your gaze on the immediate concerns of your life, Rather than what the Lord is doing and has done for you in Christ, you can and should expect a cloud to shroud the joy that is yours in Christ. Because God would have you, brothers and sisters, his adopted sons and daughters, to have your gaze rightly oriented. The Lord would have you to have your gaze rightly oriented as you take up your callings, be they in the home or students at school or in the workplace. He would have your gaze to be rightly focused. The angel of the Lord tells Zechariah that many shall rejoice at the boy's birth. The angel of the Lord is not simply promising a well-attended baby shower. He's not guaranteeing a basket full of congratulation cards and more than 100 likes on the Facebook feed. There's a lot more to it than that. No, the angel of the Lord seeks to redirect Zechariah's focus, to redirect our focus to the big kingdom picture. So as to say, Zechariah, Zechariah, fulfillment. The Lord is about to bring fulfillment of promise. For this child, verse 15, will be great before the Lord. He must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb, Zechariah. This is the promised way prepared, the one promised and prophesied in Isaiah. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before him that is Christ and the spirit and power of Elijah. You remember Elijah. John's ministry will be characterized in that manner. And this child says the angel will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, even as Malachi prophesied in the last verses of his prophecy. And all this the child will do, says the angel, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. This, beloved, is the one promised and prophesied. The one who would prepare the way for the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. the one who would instigate the new era of joy and gladness, that we might and that Israel might be ready, they might be prepared. All the waiting, all the praying, all the disappointment and frustration, all of Israel's spiritual barrenness and hopelessness is about to be faced head on and overturned. But Zechariah doesn't see it, does he? No, his faith seems a bit shaken. Yes, he and his wife are both righteous before God, but this news, can it really be as the angel of the Lord has said? See, so focused is Zechariah on these immediate concerns in his life that he fails to take into account what's actually happening here, the big picture, to fully embrace the joy and gladness that ought to be his here and now. Zechariah said to the angel, how shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years. This brings us to our final consideration, the last angle from which we look at our passage this morning. Zechariah really struggles to believe it. And so we see in these last verses the mixed reactions or the mixed responses to the Lord's announcement. Zechariah struggles to believe it. Come on, angel of the Lord, don't you know how old I am? Don't you know that my wife, Elizabeth, is barren and well advanced in years? Give me a break. It's impossible. Me, Elizabeth, a child, hopeless. His gaze needs reorientation. His eyes need readjusting. So it's not lined up to cast the first stone, so to speak. Because aren't we often tempted to respond to the good news in much the same way as Zechariah? Aren't we sometimes tempted to think that the good news of salvation in Christ is too good to be true? The forgiveness of sins, sure. Maybe for the pastor, maybe for grandpa or grandma, they're so devout, but for me? My sins are too great. When I get lonely or frustrated or afraid of what's in store for me, rather than turning to the Lord, I turn to the computer screen, or I turn to the Facebook feed. or to hours and end in the evening news, or to any other kind of worldly escapism in this life, or maybe the current stress in my life, in the home, or at school, or in the workplace creates tension between me and my spouse, between me and my children, between my siblings and I, and I get so angry at them and at God. Of course, I know it's my own sin that's often the fault that has me at odds with those around me. It's hopeless. Can it really be that the Lord has actually concerned himself with a little old me? Can it really be that out of grace and mercy and loving kindness, the Lord has actually looked on me? Impossible. That's sometimes how we think, isn't it? The congregation of Christ, this is the kind of thinking. This is the kind of thing that shows our need and Israel's need for the Lord to break into human history with John the Baptist to ensure that we might be prepared for the Lord Jesus Christ, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. John the Baptist is going to be great before the Lord. He's going to refrain from wine and strong drinks that no one can shrug his words off to the side saying, pay no attention to that man, he's just oiliness drunk. so that all would see that his strength came not from within, not from the things of this earth, that his strength came from the Holy Spirit. And so the people of Israel will thus be left with no excuse for not turning to the Lord of gracious fulfillment. And neither do you have any excuse. Congregation, the coming of Christ, you see Satan's hold on the nations has been loosed. which means that the Gentiles and their descendants of which are you and I have no excuse for not turning to the Lord of gracious fulfillment. Verse 17, fathers are thus left with no excuse for not turning their hearts to the children. The disobedient are left with no excuse for not turning their hearts to the wise. They have no excuse. They can no longer say, we haven't heard from the Lord. He must not care about us anymore because the Lord has removed Israel's approach and disgrace. And yet, Zechariah, every bit as plagued with the same sense of hopelessness that you and I are so easily inclined toward, can hardly believe it. How shall I know this, he asks. Look with me at verse 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 bring you this good news, 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. The angel's announcement was sure. He was God's spokesman. Zechariah knew that. But his faltering faith hindered him from taking to heart the truly good news that God was finally intervening for Israel. His faltering faith hindered him from taking in the joy and the gladness which were his. His faltering faith results in his being made mute, unable to speak. He receives a just sentencing for his doubt and unbelief. And when he came out, verse 22, he was unable to speak to them. But really, Zechariah got exactly what he asked for, didn't he? Zechariah wanted a sign. He wanted proof. And a sign of proof is exactly what he got. Zechariah, in his unbelief, refused to hear the voice of the Lord. And yet God was gracious even in his just sentencing. This sign of mutinous would serve Zechariah as a daily confirmation that all the angel had said would come to pass in their time. That was Zechariah's response. What about the people who he read were praying outside of the temple in verse 10? When Zechariah walks out of the temple, the people of little hope seem to become a little more hopeful. Those people who had been waiting outside began to wonder at his delay. They begin to marvel. They begin to become a little anxious. What's taking Zechariah so long? But when he came out unable to speak, what does Luke tell us? they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. The people of Israel aren't sure what to think, but a vision, at least that's something. Could it be that the Lord is about to intervene for Israel? Oddly, Zechariah's muteness would serve as a far greater confirmation of the Lord's nearness to his people than his words of benediction ever could have. The final response, of course, is that of Elizabeth, Zachariah's wife. And when his time of service was ended, Zachariah goes home and he finds a way to communicate to his barren wife the joy and gladness that were well on the way. And Elizabeth believed and she conceived and the words of promise that the angel brought came to pass, came to be fulfilled. Elizabeth Luke tells us is going to keep herself hidden for five months. Luke doesn't give us her exact motivation, but it would seem as though Luke views her withdrawal as a time of extended praise to the Lord. That's reflected in her confession in the last verse, verse 25, where she exclaims, thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among the people. Perhaps Elizabeth spent many years wondering, has God really looked on me? Has he really concerned himself with me? That might be another way to translate the last verse, thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he concerned himself with me. Elizabeth explicitly and fearlessly declares that she acknowledges the Lord's favor, that she acknowledges the Lord's gracious intervention in her life. And as a symbol of Israel, as a symbol of God's people, the removal of her reproach, the removal of her disgrace is symbolic, is representative of the removal of our reproach and the removal of our disgrace. Because what we need is the same thing that Elizabeth needed, the gracious intervention of the Lord. And so people of God, you can be sure this morning that God has surely concerned himself with you as well. You need to trust that. Sure, God removed Elizabeth's reproach and disgrace for her barrenness, but there was more to it than that. Surely, by receiving the sign of mutinous, Zechariah's focus was reoriented to the big picture, to the kingdom picture that the Lord was going to do a great work for his people, that the Lord was about to intervene and bring about an era of joy and gladness everlasting. which would be the source of many people rejoicing, of which people are you and I this morning. God has removed your reproach and your disgrace among the people by fulfilling the promises, his promises in Jesus Christ. You need to recognize that, you need to consider that. Because as he, our Lord, hung on the cross, he took on all the shame, all the reproach, all the disgrace, on his own shoulders and carried them away. No doubt each one of you has cares and concerns in this life, perhaps too many cares and concerns to count, but know this, that God in Christ says the same thing to you as he said to his people all along, turn to the Lord. Don't turn to yourself, don't turn to wine or strong drink as some would have accused John the Baptist of doing. Don't turn to the computer screen or Netflix or even the conservatives we love so much on Fox News, because such things and such people will not satisfy us, will not give us the joy and gladness that we yearn for. But turning to the Lord will. That's where you'll find joy and gladness. You know, it's easy for us to look at the world around us and see only chaos and turmoil. And perhaps some of us are here this morning worried about the world or the nation that we're leaving to our children and to our grandchildren in the years to come. Beloved King Jesus is on the throne. And from that throne, he's orchestrating all things for the good of his people. And He's coming again to right all the wrongs, to make the peace which we already have fully realized. And so the Lord begs the question of you this morning, is your gaze rightly oriented? Are your eyes fixed on the gospel realities of Jesus Christ and His kingdom? If not, then the call of the gospel is inherent in our passage This morning, it is plain, turn to the Lord. Because that's where you'll see all that God has done and is doing in his son, Jesus Christ. The one for whom John the Baptist was called to prepare the way, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. The wait is over, congregation. Fulfillment of promise has come. Therefore, your confession is Elizabeth's confession. And we can say with her with all certainty, thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among the people. Amen, shall we pray? Gracious God and Heavenly Father, we come unto you once again in the morning hour of this day to thank you and to praise you. that you have indeed inaugurated a new era of joy and gladness in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that you would help cause us each and every day to have our eyes rightly fixed on him, on his kingdom, to have our eyes rightly oriented to the big picture, the big kingdom picture that you have done and are doing a great and marvelous salvation work in and through King Jesus our Lord. Lord, we pray that you'd cause us to recognize this despite our cares and concerns in this life. To know that our reproach and disgrace have indeed been taken away on the cross as Jesus bore them for us. All this we pray in Jesus' name, amen.