The End of a Long Wait

Sermon on Luke 1:8-24

This year, we will be looking at the Christmas story from the perspective of Luke. This is something that we will be doing every three years. I think there is great value in looking at Christmas from different angles, because each gospel has its unique flavour and perspective. To better understand Luke, we need to know the two most significant agendas of Luke. Firstly, Luke aims to provide certainty. It is very important for Luke that the gospel rests on solid testable ground. Hence we see that Luke's style is composed of accounts from reliable eye-witnesses and well-attested documents. When we are reading Luke, we can imagine the original readers easily verifying his facts by asking the people involved in the stories and checking the original sources. After understanding this first agenda of Luke, it is important for us to derive certainty for our faith based on what is being written because that is the primary intention. There is a second agenda in Luke that is much more subtle, but still a very touching concern. I believe it stems from Luke’s compassion as a doctor. Luke's second agenda is that the gospel is meant for everybody. This gospel is not just for the more highly educated elite or the critical historian. This gospel is also for those we sometimes call the “ordinary people”, people who are insignificant, especially those who are marginalized by society - the widows, the poor and the sick. Luke has a special message for them, which is the gospel is meant for you too. Therefore, it is from these two angles that I will approach today's text, which starts off Luke's version of the Christmas story.

Luke: 1:5-25 In the time of Herod king 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 upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years. 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. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now 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 proper time." Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favour and taken away my disgrace among the people."

Let us remember the two agendas of Luke again: certainty and a message for all. In what way does the above account give us certainty? To answer that question, we have to answer another question first, which is: why do we need certainty here? Well, the truth is that the identity of Jesus has always been controversial. You must understand that Jesus' public ministry only happened in the span of three years. On top of that, we must add the lack of good communication technology in those days and the extraordinary nature of the events that occurred. It is therefore not surprising that the identity of Jesus then becomes mythical after three to four decades of word-of-mouth distortion, slander and false expectations. Let’s compare this with a contemporary example: we have a 1st world national leader who has served for almost a decade, we have the best of information technology today, this leader has published two memoirs and is still alive, and yet people are still asking, “Who is the real Barack Obama?” So it is important to set things right with regard to the identity of Jesus by ensuring that it is grounded upon good research. Whenever we doubt, we have Luke to give us confidence.

There are a few things that immediately stand out about the authenticity of the story. The dating that is given indicates that the story occurs during the time of Herod. More specifically, the time can be traced exactly to the time in which it was the turn of Zechariah's division (the division of Abijah) to be on duty. The Israelite priests were divided into 24 divisions, and each division served twice a year. A list was compiled of those priests who had never been chosen to enter the sanctuary, and then lots were cast to determine the priests who would bring the sacrifice to the altar and clean the ashes off it. Therefore the original readers could check the priestly duty records to know the exact time this event occurred. The main characters Zechariah and Elizabeth were common folks but they came from reputable priestly families. Because of the importance of those who were serving in the temple, we can expect the genealogy of those who belong to the priestly line to be meticulous. Luke goes on to say that they were upright and blameless. This means that they were well respected in following the laws of Moses. In short, we are talking about very credible witnesses.

The next element of certainty comes from the miraculous nature of the story. Both Elizabeth and Zechariah were well along in years and had no children. Biologically, the odds of Elizabeth becoming pregnant for the first time at such an old age were close to nothing. Yet, this was precisely what happened after Zechariah finished his service. It doesn't take much to deduce that something miraculous must have happened in the temple. Furthermore, the entire event was sealed with a sign. Zechariah could not speak when he came out of the temple. The conclusions from the direct observers tell us what we need to know: that Zechariah had seen a vision in the temple.

The final element is the most crucial. This event is meaningless if it is not interpreted correctly. Based on what the angel Gabriel said to Zechariah, we know that the truth of this event stands on very good grounds. This event, the prophecy of the birth of John the Baptist, is the fulfilment of prophecy of the final prophet Malachi. Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me
Mal 4: 5-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers,

So, we see that in the final prophecy, it is about the coming of Elijah. He will come to prepare the hearts of the people. He is a messenger that prepares the way before the arrival of the God of justice. We know this event stands on solid ground because John the Baptist eventually became the forerunner for Jesus the Messiah.

We have now covered the first agenda of Luke. It gives us great confidence that the Christmas story is not just a made-up myth. In the Greco-Roman world, it is not unusual to hear of legends of the birth of heroes and demigods, like Hercules or Horus. But this is no superficial legend. It is grounded in history, testified with miracles and based on the prophets. We know that this is something we can rely on. It is also equally important for us to appreciate the second agenda of Luke and understand that this message is not just a wonderful story, like a chicken soup tale. This message is also for us.

I have said that Luke, in his gospel, has shown special attention to those who are marginalized. In the ancient society, there was nothing more saddening than an old couple without children. The barrenness of Elizabeth must have been a constant source of disgrace for her. So this was a couple who were constantly longing for the grace of God. The saddest kind of waiting is not the kind where you don't know how long you have to wait such as waiting for a wayward child to mature. As long as there is a day where it will happen, you can hope. Hope is always comforting. The saddest kind of waiting is also not when you have waited in vain such as waiting for a sick person to recover but the person died. Because when the waiting is finally over, you can move on. The saddest kind of waiting is when there is an imaginary deadline such as waiting for a person to be found after being lost at sea. The probability of things happening decreases as you approach the deadline. And when the imaginary deadline passes, the waiting might still not be in vain because there is a very remote possibility of the person returning. There eventually comes a point when you know things are impossible but you still cannot let go because lying to yourself that things are still possible is easier. I think this must have been how Zechariah and Elizabeth felt. This sad wait for the grace of God is something that we can all identify with.

There is beauty in Luke's account in using the hapless wait of this ordinary elderly couple. Their waiting is also paralleled with the waiting of the Israelites. It is true that the Israelites have returned from their exile. It is true that the city of Jerusalem has been rebuilt and the temple restored. But the post-exilic prophets Haggai and Malachi had promised even more. Haggai promised a king with the glory and authority of God's signet ring. (Hag 2:23). Malachi promised a restoration with the coming of Elijah. The Israelites had waited for more than 400 years. I'm sure that at some point they must have felt the pathetic realization of waiting for a lost cause.

To such waiting, God through the angel Gabriel answered, “Your prayer has been heard.” What was Zechariah's prayer? Was he praying for a son or the revival of Israel? I think Luke deliberately left it ambiguous. Because in the giving of a son, John the Baptist, both prayers have been answered. I think this is the point where the message of the gospel connects with us, this message that is for all. For every answered prayer, I'm sure there are thousands of unanswered prayers. For every moment that God acts, there are centuries of God's seeming silence. But the point here is that at the most crucial prayer, at the most important moment, God has answered the prayer. The Christmas story will eventually lead to the coming of Jesus Christ. And he is the answer to all our prayers. All our concerns will pale in significance to his impact in our lives.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were the marginalized of their times because they were considered unflavoured and unblessed by God for being without children. I'm sure that at times we feel the same way. Where is God and why has he abandoned me? But today Luke has given us a message that is delivered with great certainty. It is a story that we can always return to for reliance and dependence. And the message is that your prayers have been heard. For Jesus has come, and he is the answer that matters.