#1 [blank]
• I was clearing out my study over the summer. And it was a bit of a deep dive into the corners and cupboards and things. And I came across one or two objects which – I just had no idea what they were or what they were for. I just looked at them every angle – where does that go? What does it do? I was stumped.
• I wonder if you would have done any better than me.
• It’s quiz time. And time for you to chat to your neighbour.
• Obviously introduce yourself if you need to.
• But I’m going to put 4 household appliances on the screen, and I want to see how you do at identifying them. They’re all a bit past their use by date, so maybe not immediately recognisable. But have a go. What were these things used for, do you think? You’ve only got 1 minute. So you’ll need to work fast.
• Are you ready?
• Here they are.
#2
• Go!
• …
• How did you get on? Let me tell you the answer, and we’ll see how you did:
o 1. Making toast
#3
o 2. Cooking – it’s an early microwave oven
#4
o 3. Making hamburgers – it’s a meat press
#5
o 4. Washing clothes.
#6
o It just squeezed the soap and water out.
• So, how did you do? Well, you can brag about your score later on perhaps.
• But the reason I wanted to start there – asking what all these things are for – is that I wanted to introduce tonight’s subject, which is: what is Jesus… for?
#7
• I know that might feel a slightly clunky change of gear.
• But I am serious about that question: what is Jesus for? Or to put it another way, if the gospel, the good news, is all about Jesus, what exactly is the news that makes it so good? Or to put it another way still: why exactly did Jesus come?
• You could answer that question at quite a high level, I suppose: ‘He came to reveal the glory of God’: well, yes – can’t argue with that.
• Or you could go the other way and answer in a more low-level, granular way: ‘he came to do this or that.
• But my question here is; what’s at the centre of what he came to achieve? What was his mission all about?
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• Now, here’s what makes the question tricky. It’s that in effect your starting point – in terms of where your head is before you even get to Jesus – will seriously affect your answer to the question
• I mean think, about some ways that question has been answered over recent decades
• Some have started with the idea that the key problem human beings have to contend with is where they fit in the state: are you a winner or a loser, an oppressor or a victim. It’s a Marxist starting point really.
#8
• But it’s hardly surprising that people who are in that zone will latch on to maybe a verse like Luke 4:18 which talks about Jesus coming ‘to set the oppressed free’. And they’ll figure that what Jesus was really about was removing oppression and levelling the playing field. And so you get what’s been called the social gospel.
#9
• Do you see what’s happening? To the person with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. The framework dictates what they make of Jesus
• What about if you start with materialism? The idea that you’re defined by the stuff you have?
#10
• Well, it won’t be long before you dig out a verse like 2 Corinthians 8:9 which talks about Jesus becoming poor ‘so that you through his poverty might become rich’. There you go.
#11
• Jesus obviously came to make you healthy and wealthy: the so-called ‘prosperity gospel’. There are plenty of places you’ll hear that kind of thing.
• What’s another starting point? How about the world of pop psychology?
#12
• What does Jesus become when you look at him against that backdrop? Well the letter to Romans talks a lot about Jesus. And on the back of that, what does paul say: ‘be transformed by the renewing of your mind’. Well, there it is.
#13
• Jesus came to deliver meaning and purpose and significance and inner healing and validation – and so on. It’s sometimes called the therapeutic gospel. And again, it’s everywhere!
•
• But do you see my point here? It’s not complicated. It’s that whatever backdrop you have when you’re looking at Jesus will inevitably shape what you think he was really about. You’ll find those Bible verses, and rip them out of context, and make them say things they don’t actually say. Why? Because your background – in terms of what seems most important to you – has already decided what you think Jesus is about.
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• So where do you go with this? Is there any way out of the problem? We’ve all got our heads in different places. So how do you come to a more objectively correct answer to the question of why Jesus came?
•
• Well there is one way forward.
#14
• And that is to see if we can fill in the background box with what God himself asks us to use to understand Jesus. And that’s what we’re going to try and do this evening as we look at this song of Zechariah in Luke chapter 1.
•
• Now, we’ve already covered a bit of ground in this first chapter:
#15
• We’ve had Luke’s introduction.
• We’ve had the angel appearing to Zechariah
• We’ve had the angel appearing to Mary, and her song.
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• And in course of that, three key questions have already been answered:
#16
• First, what is Luke’s purpose in writing a biography of Jesus? Answer: he’s seeking to build people up in their spiritual confidence.
• Second, what is God’s plan in starting to speak to his people again after 400 years of silence? Answer: he’s appointing someone to be a signpost to Jesus.
• Third, what is Jesus’s identity going to be? Answer: He’s going to be both the Son of God (that is God’s king) and God the Son (that is God himself visiting his people) – all at once!
•
• But now, as I say the question is: why is he coming? What for?
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• That’s what we’re looking to discover tonight in this great song, known traditionally as the Benedictus..
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• So first of all, let’s meet the songwriter – in verses 57-67
#17
• These first two chapters of Luke are interesting. Because they’re almost like a musical.
• You know how it works in a musical. You get the characters speaking a bit, taking the plot forward. But about every 5 minutes, whoever’s on stage suddenly bursts into a song about what’s happening and how they feel about it, or whatever.
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• That’s what Luke chapters 1 and 2 are like.
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• The Benedictus at the end of chapter 1 is the second of those songs. But, who’s the one actually singing it and what’s going on in his life that makes him want to grab the microphone?
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• Well, look, verse 57 starts innocently enough. A pregnant woman delivers her child.
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• When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.
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• But this is no ordinary birth. It’s a seemingly impossible birth to a godly couple who have waited decades to have a child, and in truth have long since given up hope. These two have born the shame of childlessness for most of their adult life.
• That’s the way it was in that culture. Who’s going to look after them in their old age?? Who’s going to take forward the family name?
• Shame was the key in which the music of their lives had played out from day to day and year to year.
• But this birth changes everything.
• It’s Sarah and Abraham, or Hannah and Elkanah – if you know your old testament – all over again.
• Life now moves from that minor key to a major one. They have been rescued from that shame. Hence the reaction of people around.
• Verse 58.
• 58 Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
• I bet they did.
• This couple had been rescued from that shame.
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• But that’s not the only rescue going on here. Dad – that is Zechariah – has been in a bad way the past few months. He’s been unable to talk at all. Totally mute.
• And not because of some laryngitis or something. But as a punishment or discipline from God for the sin of unbelief.
• It turns out even a spiritual hero like Zechariah can find his heart sceptical towards God. This is back in verse 20 if you want to glance back.
• It seems – as I say – to have been some sort of discipline from God for him. But it’s about to come to an end. And it’s all bound up with – of all things – the name of the baby.
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• In verse 59, we come to a big day. It’s circumcision day.
• Yes, if you’re a bloke it’s OK to wince and cross your legs at this point. But every godly, faithful, Jewish family would have their male children circumcised just a few days after their birth.
• Get it done early - probably a good shout on balance.
• Well the guests are all assembled for the occasion, all busy writing some lame humorous greetings card – or whatever their equivalent was: ‘Snip snip – Hurray! Congratulations on the birth and circumcision of – what is it? Zechariah Junior’.
• But Mary stops them right there. Verse 60.
• “No! He is to be called John.”
• To which their response is: ‘What? John? Who’s John? You got some great uncle we’ve forgotten about?’
• You see, I know there seems to be almost a competition these days for the wackiest baby name.
o Gwyneth Paltrow went for ‘Apple’
o Beyonce had ‘Blue’
o Elon Musk and Grimes– well – they’re in another league.
#18
o Number 3 was Techno Mechanicus; no. 2 was Exa Dark something; but no. 1 I can’t even pronounce. Looks like a chemical formula or something.
• I guess it’s all about going for something different, something creative, isn’t it?
• But that just wasn’t a thing in this culture here.
#19
• It was a family name or – well, nothing. It was a family name!
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• But Mum says ‘no, it’s John’.
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• And Dad? Well it’s the same thing. You can see them handing him this tablet (not an iPad, by the way…), and then crowding round and watching him write out his answer: ‘His - name - is - John’
• Huh
• I guess they’re left still scratching their heads. But it’s the next thing that happens which really gets the tongues wagging.
• Verse 64.
• Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.
• What’s happened? His time of discipline is over! He’s rescued from the consequences of his sin, and restored to a life given over to God.
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• There’s a good reminder, here, isnt’t there, that God is in the business of doing whatever needs to be to be done in order to grow his people and mature them and restore them to himself. And that category of ‘whatever needs doing’ might well include using pain and difficult circumstances.
• You might think of Paul in 2 Corinthians. And his ‘thorn in the flesh’ – which probably refers to some kind of illness. ‘I was put through that experience’ – he says – ‘to stop me from becoming conceited’. Or in fact his persecutions. Why did God allow them to happen? ‘So that we might rely not on ourselves but on God.’
• God is in the business of growing his people and restoring them to himself.
• And that’s what seems to have happened with John.
• When he gives the baby the name God’s angel told him to give the baby, that’s the sign that he’s back on track with God’s plans. And the time of discipline is over.
• V.64
• 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.
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• Everyone around is astonished, and wondering – rightly - what all this says about this tiny kid in front of them. Verse 66:
• “What then is this child going to be?”
•
• But let’s stay with John for just a moment – and that disciplinary experience of his that is now over.
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• I wonder if that might be something you’ve experienced.
• When tough times come in life – a health thing, a time of unemployment, a friend issue, a family issue, a bereavement, or something affecting a person you’re close to – it’s very hard to know exactly why it’s come about. What God is doing. Could be all sorts of things.
• But sometimes, just sometimes, it is possible, I think, to look back and see God’s hand of fatherly discipline: he was using that time of hardship as an exercise in training us and moulding us in our spiritual walk. I think I’ve seen that in my own life. And I wouldn’t be surprised if some of us here who’ve been around for a little while might also recognise that too.
•
• But there it is. We’ve met the songwriter here – this rescued man.
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• Let’s move on to look at the song itself, and notice its subject: it’s all about a rescuing God.
#20
• Verse 67
• 67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
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• Up he gets, then, and takes the stage. Taps his glass perhaps – ting ting. And everyone goes quiet so they can listen to what he has to say.
• But here’s the slightly awkward thing here.
• It’s the baby’s big day – and in fact the question on everyone’s lips is: ‘what then is this child going to be?’ and now John is apparently going to prophesy
• So what are you expecting him to talk about?
• You’re expecting that he’s going to speak about the little guy, John, and his possible future. Something like that. Aren’t you?
• But in the 12 verses of his song, only 2 of them – 76 and 77 – are actually about John. The rest are all about helping people to understand – of all people – John’s cousin
• It’s like the father of the bride standing up and giving his speech, and maybe mentioning his daughter briefly but actually spending almost the whole speech talking about someone else – one of the bridesmaids perhaps.
• Actually that might be a bit creepy!
• But someone else – maybe the groom.
• If that were to happen, the one who’s meant to be the centre of attention might well feel a bit short-changed. Or in this case, others might feel short-changed on their behalf.
• But … maybe not.
• Not if the whole point about Johhn is that his greatness will come about because he is part of something even greater.
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• Come back to that idea I raised earlier on about whatever background you give to Jesus shaping how you understand Jesus.
#21
• Do you remember that? And do you remember I said that the best thing would presumably be to have God himself provide the correct background, to make sure we got it right?
• Well here it is. Zechariah is full of the Holy Spirit here - we’re told.
• He’s prophesying, we’re told.
• So this is very much a God speaking moment!
• And he shows us exactly the background we need, the framework, that will help us to grasp what Jesus is about.
• In a word: it’s all about rescue.
•
• There it is in verse 68.
• “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
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• Redeem is Bible language for rescue. And what Zechariah is saying is that with the birth of John, God has now set in motion a whole a whole train of events which amount to rescuing his people.
• But what does that mean? What sort of rescue is it? Rescue from what? For what? Rescue how?
• Well, for a start, the rescuer is a successor to King David himself.
#22
• David was the one – you remember – who conquered the great Goliath and beat back the army of the Philistines. So that Israel could be free of its enemies. Well that’s the kind of rescuer God is sending now – only even greater.
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• Verse 69.
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• He has raised up a horn[c] of salvation for us
o A horn is a symbol of strength, like the horn of an ox or a bull – so it just means this is a strong and mighty saviour that’s being talked about
o (A horn of salvation…)
• in the house of his servant David
• 70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
• 71 salvation from our enemies
• and from the hand of all who hate us—
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• In other words, when Jesus comes, he will be like David but even greater: he will be a defeater of the greatest enemy of God’s people.
#23
• Who – as we know – is the devil himself and his army of spiritual powers and authorities
• They’ll all be defeated.
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• But he goes on. Or backwards in a way. Because Jesus will also be a successor to Abraham
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• #24
• God had promised back in Genesis 22 that Abraham’s descendants would occupy the promised land and live a life enjoying God’s blessing and indeed being a blessing to the nations.
• And it sort of happened in some ways. But never properly.
• But now it will.
• #25
• Verse 72
• (God was planning…)
• to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
• When Jesus comes, he will bring what Abraham looked forward to – a life of enjoying the rich blessings of God
• #26
• Wouldn’t it be great to enjoy the good and joyful life with God we were designed for?
• Jesus will secure that.
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• And we’re not done. Because this is where we finally get to John. Who will be yet another means of explaining what Jesus was about. Specifically when he grows up, his ministry will spotlight the reality that dealing with sin is at the heart of it all.
• #27
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• And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
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• This would be John’s great contribution. To point to Jesus and make clear that - at the heart of what Jesus was about - was dealing with sin.
#28
• You can’t understand the mission of Jesus without grasping that simple reality.
• God’s people Israel had sidelined God. Even while they claimed to be God’s people, they’d disobeyed him, rebelled against him, replaced him with themselves and their own rules.
• Just like you and I do – every day of our lives.
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• But with Jesus would come the opportunity for a new start.
#29
• A new day would dawn. Where people had lived in darkness – cut off from God’s light – and therefore facing death – because they were cut off from God’s life’ – Jesus would come and bring a new dawn and the opportunity for a new start with God
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• because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
• With Jesus would dawn this new day.
• This is what Jesus was for.
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• What the the centre of his mission was all about. He came to save sinners for life with God. Enjoying life and light and peace with God, forever.
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• And 2000 years on, that is what you and I get to celebrate in Jesus.
• This is the theme of Zechariah’s song – and I hope of ours too.
• Break…
[blank screen]
• Just as we finish, I wonder if I could just draw some things together with a couple of brief thoughts.
• First thought is this: if you’re still piecing things together about Jesus, I hope that what you’ve seen tonight, in that song of Zechariah, has been useful for you. That idea of God forgiving sin really is crucial to grasp. The reason it was at the centre of Jesus’ mission is that it’s the deepest of our problems. Yours and mine. We’re all on a level here. We all know the instinct to want to be master of our own lives. But the Bible calls that out as an offence against God. It calls it ‘sin’. And yet what we’ve seen today is that that sin is forgivable. Thanks to Jesus, you and I can just come to God and ask him for that forgiveness. Ask him for that new dawn. That new start. So what’s stopping you?
• The second thought though is for people who’ve done that. The question I want to ask you in the light of Zechariah’s song is: what song are you singing? It never ceases to amaze me the range of things people can get excited about:
o Their new iphone; the latest call of duty game, the new colour range of birkenstocks – or whatever they’re called, the glories of Harry Kane’s right foot,
o Whatever it is: people can wax lyrical about almost anything.
• But what about you? And specifically where does what God has done for you in Jesus feature in the stuff you talk about and think about and generally just celebrate?
• Jesus giving himself to offer you that new dawn of light and life and peace – doesn’t that leave every other subject in the shade? It should do!
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.