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And as we open the Bible, read some text, and we’re going to work ourselves right back through the text afterwards, so we do this prayer teaching. So my hope, my goal is just to let God’s word speak. Do my best to communicate what this text says to you.
So Luke 1 starting verse 5. And I’m going to read the entire passage all the way through verse 25. I’ll be reading that.
Please hear the words of the Lord. Look at this. In the days of Herod, King of Judah, there’s a priest named Zechariah of the vision of I. And he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking glimpse in all the grand sections of the Lord.
They had no sh. Or they had no cow, Elizabeth barren and both were dancing. Now he was serving as a priest before God when his vision was on duty. According to the custom of the priesthood. He was chosen by Allah to enter the temple of the Lord and burnt incense.
And whole multitude of people were praying outside the hour of incense. There appeared to him an angel standing on the right side of the altar of incense. Zachariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah, when your prayer has been heard in your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and shall call child. Then who have joy, gladness, and many who rejoice at his birth, he will be great before the Lord.
They must not drink wine or strong drink. And he will be filled with holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of children of Israel to the Lord their God. And we go before him in spirit and talk. Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers children and his disobedience to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the Lord.
A people prepared. Zechariah said to the angel, how should I know this? For I’m an old man and my wife is a man’s nearest. The angel said to him, I am Gabriel, I stand in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you, to bring you this good news.
Behold, you’ll be silent, unable to speak until the day that these things take place. Do not believe my words which they filled in their time. 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, kept making signs to them and remained mute.
When his time of service was ended he went to his home. These days wed Elizabeth conceived For five months she kept herself hidden saying thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked upon me to take away my reproach.
To speak to us into the following of PG feature word rightly and correctly Spirit would be very powerful and active in this time.
To lean in to your word. Jesus can bring us Lord.
When it comes to movies or books, often at the beginning of the story things may start a little slowly. As a writer, the author’s story needs a little bit more time to start to introduce some of the central characters, help set the story or set the stage for us. The story up unfold. And this morning we come to our second sermon in the Gospel of Luke. It kind of feels like that in our passage today.
The author is trying to like slowly kick off this book with a little bit of like a character introduction that’s going to help set us up for the rest of this narrative. I do want to remind us we talked about last week we started this study in Duke last week. We heard this as like Silver Sunday. Give you a whole bunch of background information on the Gospel of Luke. I don’t want to revisit all we talked through last week, but do remind us a little bit about how and the why of this book, which is what our text was last week in verses one through four.
So by the way, just remind us of the Gospel of Luke. It’s actually the longest book in the New Testament in terms of words. And this Gospel of Luke called Luke is part one of a two word volume written by the same authority. That’s paired with the book of Acts, which so happens to be the second longest book New Testament in terms of verse. Now this two volume work was written by a man named Luke who we see in scripture was a missionary and a physician.
And he was the one who done last week was paying close attention to all things like revolving on the spread of Christianity that are gradually spreading around the region starting from the time of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to when Luke wrote this Gospel accounts somewhere around 60 to 65 or so AD and as the Christian faith was rapidly spreading naturally, records of what was taking place was being written down. However, the last week of Luke was paying close attention what seemed to be happening, these records were being recorded. There’s almost a bit of like a telephone game taking place. So as the records are being recorded, they’re being passed down telephone. The stories would start to change, particularly stories concerning like the life, the ministry, the death, resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So what Luke decided what would be good to do was to go around to talk to eyewitnesses, not just those who are like somewhere down the line on the telephone thing, but to go to the ones who were there from the start, like eyewitnesses, to hear from them all that had happened and then to write down an orderly account of the things that happened that Jesus Christ accomplished. It’s a little bit of like how of this Gospel, how Luke is able to record all these things, all the things received from those who were eyewitnesses, to give an orderly account of things that took place. Well, I’m sure Luke wrote this orderly account for any and all three who also looked at last week his early account when Luke was further to a man named Giapas, who Luke called most excellent, Theophilus, which seems to imply that Theophilus is some type of like noteworthy or influential person. And as Luke wrote this orally called to Theophilus, we read last week the real why behind him doing that. But still Theophilus would have like a deeper assurance, a deeper certainty concerning the things of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This little bit of review from where we were last week, coming from verses 1 through 4 of Luke 4, a little bit of how, a little bit of why, of this longest book in New Testament today. As the narrative starts to begin, we see Luke start out this holy account with a little character development. In this character development, we see Luke at the beginning of the account is tying this narrative to the Old Testament scripture, which we talk about really kind of throughout this sermon. So that was interesting. All the fact we starting first topic, since we’re going to be working all the way back through the text with us in verses 5 to 25.
So please keep your eyes in the text, verse 5, we see a little bit of historical timeline of what we’re going to read. We see in verse five that this happened during the day of Herod, when he was the king of Judah. This took place around like 35 to 4 BC during the story of this morning took place at the very end of this period last week. A good amount about is just a historicity of this book and events recorded in this book. So this book, this narrative of Luke, this is an orderly account, one that’s tied to time, to space, to history, the things that happened that took place throughout our text last week.
This is really what our Christian faith is tethered to. To history, to time, to space, to events that took place the Shane is not simply some type of philosophical understandings that are kind of just floating around there. But again, our faith is drawn in history, as God in his wisdom has chosen to work in history, to work in time, work in space, including the time and space when Herod was king over Judah. During the time of history when Herod was ruling as king over Judah, we see in the text that there was a priest named Zechariah, one who served the priesthood in the division of Abijah. There’s some interesting details for us here, details that many commentaries come out, including the preacher word commentary that our small group leaders will be using to help guide their groups.
But during this time period, the priests of the site broke up into church 24 divisions, where divisions were somewhat scaled between like greater and lesser, where greater divisions had a little bit more like prestigious roles, particularly when it comes to the various Old Testament festivals that are taking place. So that being said, the division of Baijan is from this is actually one that’s actually on the lesser end of the scale. And in fact, this is a pretty small division in terms of number of people who are most likely. Is it the point that preach the word commentary label Zechariah from Abijah, almost being like a country preacher when we kind of minister off the beaten path. Which probably meant that Zechariah was not all that noteworthy.
Not a priest of like great influence. More along the lines like a simple punching priest and ordinary super daisy guy, rural Wisconsin and Zachariah and tough guy. But this morning being this narrative of blue, this is kind of interesting information about this first character that we’re being introduced to. Yes, introduced to a priest here. Not a noteworthy priest, at least not from where he was ministry.
It’s kind of average priest. Calling it average division, really special or unique. Pretty ordinary probably is not one of those guys getting asked to speak at major conferences. Probably an author of many popular books. I didn’t have some type of influential podcast.
Pretty Ordinary.
In this orderly account, we read that Zechariah had a wife, the daughter of Aaron, a woman named Elizabeth. And because she was a daughter from the household of Aaron, that means that she would have a priestly lineage and was the first priest. So this would have given Zechariah maybe a little bit more straight pattern. He’s a priest married into a priestly family. So not like super special, but maybe a little special in terms of lineage for six.
Even though Zechariah wasn’t super special in terms of lineage, we do see in the end, both Zechariah his wife was this. So in the end he had that which truly matters. The text tells us they both were righteous before God. They were blameless in all the commandments and the statutes of the Lord. This doesn’t mean that they were like perfect in these things, but it does point that they have that really high moral character that they faithfully walk with the Lord, thus even being content that they’re just kind of ordinary.
Even though they were righteous before God and though they walked blamelessly before the Lord, we see in the text that they had no children. Elizabeth was barren, even though at the point of the story reads to be told, her and Zechariah were advanced demons. I want to see a couple things here. First as it relates to the book of Proverbs which were the great right is the great book of wisdom in the Old Testament. So in the proverbs in mutual Often when we do the right things, we walk ladies before the Lord.
Often we get like satisfying results throughout life. However, with the proverbs satisfying results, at least in this life, they’re not guaranteed to come our way meaning to trying Proverbs, wisdom proverbs, they’re not like promises or guarantees or some type of formula that when we do things rightly, we’re going to get like the intended results. The principles of principles often do lead to satisfying result in this life. But in this life we can do the right things. We can live with this.
It can be blameless. We can follow the proverbs which we should what we seek to do. Yet things might not come our way in ways that we hope in ways that our viewers satisfying to us. This is how we see verses 6 and 7 of our text here. See in Zechariah Elizabeth.
They’re blameless. They did the right things. They followed after the Lord. Often the text they had no children, which would have been something that’s satisfying that culturally having no children like this in this time. This is actually a significant thing to have no children as children are viewed by scripture as being a blessing from the Lord.
So culturally like individuals, especially during this time, was almost seen as like being a punishment from the Lord. You see there in our text today. Others seem to actually cast reproach on Elizabeth for not having children as if like she did something wrong, like it was her fault that she’s like living with a punishment for doing something she shouldn’t have done. But it may be thought like she obviously is not following the proverbs because now she has no children. Also mentioned that conversation culturally Children are really important practically, particularly as parents got older, advanced in years, as children were to care for their parents in their old age, which no doubt had beyond the minds of this righteous couple.
The point of our text here, so historical details here, verses 6 and 7 of the story. So they’re kind of a bigger story as these details are helping develop the characters of details. Zechariah, Elizabeth. This no doubt would have caught the attention of Yahs and all those who may have read this gospel during this time. Here are two characters don’t seem all that significant.
Average, barren, white. Interesting. Just mentioned Elizabeth being barren. So this not only is Luke giving the orderly account of events, but this is Luke now starting to connect his story, this story to the Old Testament storyline of Scripture. And I think it’s actually really important for us to see this as well and understand this reality this morning.
Let me just share with you some Old Testament stories just to kind of help see this connection. So in the book of Genesis, so we meet a man named Abraham and his wife Sarah. And they both were advanced in age back into the 90s. We see in Scripture, Sarah is barren without child. It is.
And so she gave birth to a son named Isaac who would carry on the family line the promise of God to bless all nations from the family of Abraham and Sarah. In Genesis, Isaac then marries a woman named Rebecca, who Scripture tells us was barren. That is until she gave birth to twins Esau and Jacob. For Jacob had 12 sons owned to become the 12 tribes of Israel, would be used by God to keep the promises of blessing all the nations through the Baron of Arabia. In Genesis, Jacob had a wife named Rachel.
You see, for some time bore no children. It is until she gave birth to sons named Joseph. Later on Benjamin, where Joseph was uniquely used by the Lord to save his people from a terrible drought that kept the dandelion line intact.
The Book of Judges, there’s a story of a man named Manon of Manoah, and he was married. Scripture does not give the name of his wife, but Scripture tells us that his wife was barren and had no children. That is until she gave birth to a son named Samson, who would be a great judge and ruler over Israel. The book of 1st Samuel starts out by introducing to a woman named Hannah, who also was a righteous and godly woman who married man named Elishan. Yet Hannah, barren without child, that is, until she gave birth to a son named Samuel, who she would uniquely dedicate back to the Lord, or in times Samuel would become the great priest over God’s people.
Furthermore, book of First Kings, there’s a story of this Shulamite woman who had a husband who was advanced in years, also had no children. It is until she gave birth to a son, a son that died only to be raised back from the dead in the pocket to Elisha. In the score of our story today, Elizabeth being barren beloved child advanced in age. So this not only is historical details true to her character, they said again, this is Luke. Now connecting Zechariah, Elizabeth, this story here to the Old Testament story time.
We’re in the Old Testament some of the most significant stories God in old Old Testament scripture starts with woman being barren without child only until the Lord performed a miracle where a barren woman gives birth. See, the Lord is in unto for us this morning in spiritual development. It’s important for us to see this is Luke than God’s word and open this story. Verse 8.
Zechariah was doing his priestly duty during time that his smaller, less than influential division was on call. You see, according to the custom of that time of the priesthood, we see that Zechariah was chosen by the lot where he was to enter into the temple and burn incense. He would enter into the room just outside of like the holy of holies. And as Zechariah entered into the temple to prove his perform his priestly duties, we read in verse 10 that there’s a whole multitude of people who are standing outside the temple, in the temple court, praying at the hour of incense, which this year all this. So we’ve been like very normal things happening.
This has been normal for Zechariah, this has been normal for the multitude. Nothing out of the ordinary here. However, as you keep reading, you start to see in verse 11 of the text that this is not going to be a normal state because this time as Zechariah entered into the temple, he didn’t perform his duties alone in the room. Because as he entered in see there appeared an angel of the Lord. The angel was standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
Our text tells us this right side is the place of a God given authority. And as Zechariah saw the angel standing with the glory of God in verse 12, Zechariah was like troubled by what he saw, as it feared all upon him.
Really a radiant. But so it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to picture this scene or understand why Zechariah was like gripped with fear going verse 13, Zechariah stood before the angel, troubled, filled with fear. We see the angels spoke like Words of comfort to him to tell Zechariah. They say a couple things. First, Zechariah, Jesus, do not be afraid.
At any palm will I take you up. Zechariah, don’t be afraid. That’s not my point. The second thing, why I am here, Zachary. I’m actually here to deliver some good news to you.
You know all the prayers that you and Elizabeth have prayed for a child, that you prayed year after year after year after year. Those prayers have been heard by the Lord. And your wife Elizabeth one was barren ate heart. She’s going to bear you a son and you shall name him John. And in further good news, Zechariah, I got to tell you this son this may warn you.
Not only will he fill you and Elizabeth with joy and gladness, but this son, many others by him will join in that joy and gladness. Jechariah will tell you the text. The reason why so many are going to rejoice with you over the birth of the Son is because your son John, he’s going to be great before the Lord and he’ll be uniquely used by the Lord. I think that John is the one who’ll be great and uniquely used. Like a book.
The angel tells Zechariah that his son John does not drink wine or strong drink. We just hear this seems to be an angel pointing Zechariah that his son John to take what’s called the Nazarite bow for God’s purposes. In the Old Testament scripture, he would call Saul and human like Samson and Samuel to this Nazarite vowel be uniquely set apart a unique service to the Lord to refrain from certain things, including the drinking of alcohol. I should mention because the angel only says those things here in the text. The Gyrah refrain.
Wine. Shocking. And that’s some of the other things associated with Nazareth vow. There’s a little bit of uncertainty that this actually was a Nazarite vow or maybe something disorder to it. Whatever is here in terms of referring training and strong training, you see, the child is not partaking these things, is he be filled with the Holy Spirit even in his mother’s womb, where he be used by the Lord uniquely to turn many of the children of Israel from their sins and back to the Lord Zarekiah, as the Lord himself will go before John would be filled with spirit and power.
We see that Zechariah was told by the angel the Lord would use John, as he did the great prophet Elijah, to turn the hearts of the Father to the children and the disobedient to wisdom of the just to make ready for the Lord a prepared people. They paused a lot there that just went through. So Jesus try to boil down two primary things.
First, we need to see that this new character being introduced here, John, we need to see that he’s going to be like a great prophet of old who are used by the Lord in unique ways to turn his people back to himself. And this here, this is Luke. Now, further connecting this story to the Old Testament, I actually think one could very argue that John would be like the last Old Testament prophet. The last one comes before Christ, the Old Testament prophet. Second thing, how about Mormon 3 that this John will be the promised one, the one who’s to come to be the forerunner of Christ.
One would be used by the Lord to keep things in order. This man should be like an Elijah like figure to get things ready to prepare the way for the Lord, the Messiah, the one who was promised to come. Something else Old Testament foretold would happen in the books of Isaiah, even Malachi, that there’d be a prophet to come. One who prepared the way of the Lord. He’s developing the narrative of Luke.
We’re seeing with understanding something incredibly significant is about to take place. There’s an angel who shows up. There’s a barren woman who give birth to a son. A son who is uniquely set aside for the Lord. A son who would be like the promised prophet or would be the promised prophet who would be like Elijah.
You know, this is somewhat an uninteresting start of the narrative. The average ordinary priest and his wife priest doing pretty ordinary duties at temple. Great things are set up for ambulance. This is not going to be like an average ordinary story. Something unique, something incredible is about to take place in the text.
Verse 18. While we might understand something significant is about to take place, I’m sure the obvious understood something significant as well take place. We see that for whatever reason Zechariah had himself. So he goes back to the angel after hearing all this good news. How should I know this?
How should I know what you just said to me about wife giving birth to son? How should I know this to actually be true? I’m old and my wife, she’s advanced in age. Angela, I don’t know which health class you had where you came from, but after a certain age the wonderful childbearing comes to an end. And this is certainly true for us.
That window closed a long time ago. I think this year. This is a little bit of a legitimate concern to be acknowledged here. For Zechariah it’s not normal for barren women who are advancing age to become pregnant. So we can somewhat understand his point of his questions, his objections.
However, if you remember, Zachariah is a priest, one who’s very familiar with Old Testament stories.
He’s not like connecting the dots here. He’s not remembering all the different stories that I’ve been through just a few moments back of God doing this incredible work for barren women. This is what the angel just told Zechariah what happened with his wife. So because I’ve seen the text, the angel reviewed Zechariah and his unbelief, which, thank you, responds back, zechariah, I’m Gabriel. I’m the one who appeared to Daniel in the Old Testament to explain to him his visions, which I’m sure Zechariah is familiar with that story as well.
Zechariah, I am Gabriel and I stand in the presence of God, the very God who sent me to speak to you, to bring to you this good news. You can sense the tone. Here we go. This is the tone of light, condemnation, a rebuke towards Zechariah for him doubting, questioning the message that Gabriel delivered from the Lord. Verse 20.
Behold Zechariah, because of your unbelief, you’re going to be silent. You’re not going to be able to speak until the day that all these things take place, the day that John would be born. And you’re going to be silent, unable to speak. Did you not believe my words concerning this good news that I gave you, Zechariah? You will be silent until the news I gave is fulfilled in its time as this conversation takes place.
Zechariah, Gabriel, verse 21, Luke reminds us what’s going on outside the temple, reminds us that there’s actually a whole multitude of people praying outside at the hour of incense and they’re praying outside the hunger. The conversation took place between Zechariah and Gabriel. Those outside obviously didn’t know what was happening and because of it they began to wonder, what’s the hole up here? In my mind I could see the congregation making some type of posture of prayer, but like even ever so slightly like, you know, looking forward to like the entrance of the temple to see if Zechariah was actually going to come out. You know, you may hear them muttering among themselves how this long winded country preacher taking so much time performing his ministry duties.
So they waited and waited for Zechariah to come out so they can move on to the next Thing on the agenda time continue to drag on that.
What was the delay? Why was this all taking so painfully long wonders verse 22 as Zechariah came out finally of the temple the stand before them as he stood before the crowd Very quickly the crowd understood something significant took place inside the camp as they were in text we could tell that Zechariah is not unable to speak them. He was unable to help them transition the next thing they were doing the ceremony and if they understood that something happened to the point that Zechariah was not able to speak if they started to piece things together of what occurred why there’s such a long building and they started to piece things together they realized that Zechariah just saw some type of vision in the temple. So again be this somewhat ordinary day to start now this is unordinary for everyone involved to see. As the multitude pieced together that Zechariah saw some kind of vision the multitude clearly wanted to know what that vision was.
What did Zechariah see that now he was not able to speak? Remember Zechariah was unable to speak.
This is what happened. So I went in there doing my duties and Gabriel know that the Gabriel to Daniel while I step in the app with him. You know my wife Elizabeth one who’s advancing age well good news pro time to light up some cigars. I’m going to be a dead all we do in the text is place some type of like ancient form of charades here with the cross. He’s doing the best to communicate to them by making silence to try to explain to them what happened what was told to him in your own minds have come up with two ponders what that might look like eventually neither is able to communicate in sufficient enough ways to multitude multiplace.
Perhaps the universe kind of gave up gave a straight in the text we see that as the time service ended Zechariah decided nothing more we can do from here. I guess it just go back home. Go back to my ordinary life. I’m sure as he headed back home.
Questioning to himself did this actually happen? Did I just make this all up? That I’m sure in some level maybe most of us is still doubting this good news message that was his just beginning because finally we’re going to end our test today after these days his wife Elizabeth Mother child the one who’s advanced in years. You see that she can see just as Gabriel said renowned in the text for five months Elizabeth kept herself dead which hard to know why she did that. She took herself hidden perhaps.
Maybe she’s trying to conserve her energy give birth to a child at an advanced age. Perhaps she’s just trying to avoid all the questionings from others. They found out that she was not expecting. Not sure why she kept herself secluded here, but we do know verse 25 is there that Elizabeth, most righteous woman. She understood that this was the Lord, that the Lord is the one who did this for her in the days when he looked upon her.
She understood this was an evidence of God’s grace on her life as the Lord did this work here, this is a miracle. This is where every part of walking a little grave described to me work like that out this year. This is. This is not like an ordinary work of God. This is.
This is a miracle, a unique work. The text we see that as this happened, Elizabeth felt as if the Lord took her approach way among the people.
So once again hopefully during this time the woman was baring without child the coffin. This is a great shame, great shame to Elizabeth her culture with a misunderstanding of the province. She would have been viewed by many as doing something wrong for not having children. Elizabeth, this cultural approach, this is something she would have lived with endured with a long time. She advanced in age.
So from the time that she was of age, now the time of the advancing age, she meant a lot of time passed there she would have to deal with the approach or the reproach from others.
This phrase take away by reproach. This is actually a very similar phrase that Rachel in the Old Testament used before she gave birth to Joseph as Joseph was born. Genesis is that Rachel said God has taken away my reproach.
This is Luke continuing to further connect this story. Zechariah, Elizabeth the birth of John the storyline of the Old Testament scripture is actually really important to us to see this in effects.
Just three things from our text and let’s give you these three thoughts. I actually don’t want to focus on characters. I don’t even want to focus on who author who compiles historical events of this historical account. But as we close our time here, I do want us to focus on the ultimate call where all this comes the author of all these three things think about the text and the glory. So first be encouraged.
God uses his staple people to accomplish great things.
Again, sometimes it doesn’t seem that Zachary and Elizabeth were really all that noteworthy of people prior to this. It really does feel like they’re just kind of normal God of a pretty ordinary man. They think you and me see these facts how God Used his faith filled people who are righteous before him, who walk blameless in all the commandments and statutes of God. We’re in the goodness of God. God, the truest authority, chose to use them in great ways.
Now for us, we begin to recognize this is a unique story. This is a unique miracle that did take place. Unique to us, different than us. But that being said, I think we still can be encouraged here. And remember, God does use his faithful people at times.
He uses his faithful people in ways that are far more than we could ever ask or think. During that time, we’re just kind of going about doing our ordinary, normal things that even in the ordinary, normal things, how does that work? To do great things. Great things that most of them are accomplished over time.
The truest author, the Lord himself, he uses, he delights in using people just like us as a normal and ordinary God means for us. We just kind of trust him with this, trust him that he actually can use our lives, minister to others. So church, families, our neighborhood, at work, at school, or wherever else you find yourself, be encouraged. As ordinary and normal as you are, God can use you. It’s like, be patient.
Because God often uses his people over time. Now, in our story, in this narrative, things do kind of evolve quickly in just a few verses. Right from where we first meet the couple of ants in age for this good news being delivered to Zechariah. But in the historical timeline of their lives of Elizabeth and Zechariah, a lot of time took place. We’re over that fact.
Just think how challenging, confusion or confusing, frustrating it had to be for Zachariah and Elizabeth that they waited and waited with the reproach of others as they prayed and prayed and prayed. Yet still no child. You see, over and over Scripture, the Lord Shu’s author is writing the story. This is actually popping how the story goes.
Very patient where he speaks. Time, patience, put things in place, ways that he wants to put in place. Is it the answer to us? Yes. Be encouraged.
Know that God does work for his faithful people. That in that encouragement, be patient, wait upon the Lord. God is very patient as he’s working out his plan is the third problem. Just be mindful that God has a bigger plan, a bigger story that he is. For all of us here, obviously our focus is the story of our own life, how God is at work in our own life, which by the way, isn’t life.
That the Lord itself is very mindful of the Lord, very present and very caring in each of our own lives, in each of our own stories that that being said, as each of our individual lives are being ruined, they’re being done so in ways that they fall in place until they which I do think is what we’re seeing our text today set us up for. So as you’re getting introduced to these great characters, these characters only are there to tell a bigger story that God is running one that is very much 5 is revealed greatness tied to your work preparing his people for the coming of Christ, God’s eternal Son, the one who would patiently come at the right time in history in ways that the Lord would offer actually wrote himself into the story as the Lord Jesus was the one who was born of the most miraculous of all the earths. See in Luke couple weeks he was actually born of a virgin, but he came to be actually the truest, the greatest of prophets that the Old Testament foretold would come. However, as the Lord Jesus Christ entered into time and space and became one of us, most of his life actually seemed to be pretty ordinary. But I think for most of his life one naturally deceived but wasn’t so maybe not all that noteworthy in terms of his human celebrity for it seems that the Lord just toiled as a carpenter in a small village called Nazareth, kind of off the beaten path.
Yet according to God’s patient plan, at the right time, God used his eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to do the grace of all works according to his patient plan. Sinless, righteous, blameless, holy, blameless. Jesus died the most unpleasant death on a cross by which Jesus would take away the reproach of his people, all those who put their faith in Him. He’s on the cross. Jesus took the place punishment of our sin, including all the sins.
All the time we doubted him, we doubted his words. But through his death, through his resurrection from the dead on the third day by grace, through faith, God would turn hearts back to him. This morning is look at this fourthly account of Blue. May we be mindful of this. This is not simply an ordinary account of historical events that took place, but this here, this is account tied to the Old Testament storyline.
It’s an account that’s telling a much bigger, a much grander story of the most central, the most important figure, the Lord Jesus himself. Because may we be mindful of that. May we be mindful that the Lord is doing something even in the nears of our own lives where through all of our own ups and downs, through all of our pleasant and less implicit realities that we all face, the Lord is using our life to tell a much bigger story story about Jesus and His grace and his mercy and his kindness and his love. His mind is closed. Whatever may come and wait in his life may be in hope, but somehow the Lord is using it.
Using it for a part of it also conveys to make much of Jesus Christ that He might pray.
What I do daily help us to set our hearts towards Christ.
Working before you work among the people. They would use people like us in the word of Jesus. So that is our desire as a church ordinary, as small as we are, that uses us to tell the great story of Christ, his death and the threshing as a sin that he offers eternal life.
Reclaim that life.
Create powerful base. Use it to turn many.