The Prophecy of Zecharias

Today we will pick up the Christmas story in Luke 1:57.  Here we are told that Elizabeth had come to full term and birthed John.  Now Mary had stayed with Elizabeth during these 3 months and then, at some point after John’s birth, had gone back to Nazareth.

A Sign

Now we saw how Zecharias had become mute after the angel talked to him in the temple.  The angel had told him that he would not be able to speak until all these things were fulfilled.  That is over 9 months of being unable to speak.  So people obviously knew something happened to Zecharias.  In fact, most likely they believed he was being punished by God.  Zecharias had been given the hope that he would speak again but there was no specific time.  Thus he probably wondered on the day of John’s birth whether he would be able to speak.  Nope.  As the days go by he is being tested further and further.  Why can’t I speak yet?  It is interesting that his speech returns when he confirms that the baby’s name is to be John.  The miracle of speech was connected to this act of faith.  “No, we will not name the baby after me.  We will give it the name that the angel said.”  This faith is a demonstration that Zecharias is surrendered to the will of God in this situation. 

Now this sign of being unable to speak for so long and then suddenly speaking at the naming of the child, caused the people to marvel.  It pointed out something special about this baby in God’s plan.  Yes, Zecharias muteness was a sign, but it also was a discipline.  God’s discipline is not simply about punishment, but rather about teaching us and helping us to become what we really want.  Zecharias wanted to be faithful to God.  Now he had his own personal sign and experience that God will do what He says He will do.  Zecharias will have much stronger faith from now on.

God’s Salvation Has Come

In verses 67-70 he begins to praise God for the salvation that has come.  Now let me just say up front that in all prophetic declarations, it is the Holy Spirit who is actually prophesying.  The person is simply yielding the Spirit.   This first theme of salvation is something that Israel had been waiting to receive for centuries.  Zecharias says that “he has visited.”  God visits His people to deliver and to judge.  Sometimes it is one and sometimes it is the other.  In fact the prophecies about the Messiah point to it as both deliverance and judgment; salvation to those who believe and judgment to those who do not.  Notice that he speaks of it as if it has already happened, or is done.  This can be understood in the context of waiting for a millennium plus.  To have angels declaring that it has begun is to rejoice that it is as good as done.  Will God start something and not complete it?  Rejoice!  The Messiah is here and we are as good as saved!

He also points out that the Messiah will ransom His people.  To redeem or ransom is to buy back in order to free someone.  Thus the picture is that Israel is held ransom by her sins and by Satan.  She cannot be set free without a price being paid.  Jesus points this out in Matthew 20:28, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  It has become common today to diminish the concept of ransom.  It makes God seem less loving.  Yet, if we get rid of this idea of ransom we do so at the expense of diminishing God’s Truthfulness and the badness of our own sin.  If I “make God more loving” by removing the concept of the blood of Jesus being shed to pay the price for my sin, then I am saying that sin is not that big of a deal.  Sin is not nearly as sinful as previous generations thought.  O really?  Where do you suppose they got that idea?  They got it from God Himself.  Here Jesus says that the heart of what he is doing is paying a ransom.  Can we really save God’s reputation from Himself?  No, we will both end up in the ditch.  God doesn’t need us to rescue His reputation from what the Scriptures say.

He also points out that this salvation has come through David’s line.  God had specifically promised David that the Messiah would come through his line.  The reference to a “horn of salvation” was a picture of the dangerous and prominent horn that sticks out from the head of an animal.  This metaphor was used for a strong leader of a people.  This leader, this Messiah would use His strength in order to accomplish salvation in the same way that the Judges of old did.  Or, I should say, in a far better way. 

This is the salvation that all the prophets had spoken about in every generation all the way back to God Himself in the Garden.  It was there that he prophesied that the seed of the woman would one day crush the head of the serpent.  In every age prophets had spoken of this coming salvation and yet, in every age, were those who were cynical, mocked, and scoffed at such foolishness.  Salvation comes to those who make it happen!  Many today, even in the Church, are scoffing and mocking at the things promised by Scripture.  Here Zecharias is rejoicing that in the midst of such scoffing has come the very day that the faithful had waited for.

Salvation From Our Enemies

Verse 71 points out that this is a salvation from our enemies.  It is literally “out from” our enemies.  The picture is more than God coming between us and our enemies.  But, rather we have been surrounded and taken captive.  He comes into the enemy’s camp and rescues us out from our enemy.

Now Israel had many natural enemies.  In fact some of these were even within Israel- King Herod being but one example.  And, of course, the Romans themselves would be high on this list.  Yet, Jesus did not come to lead a revolt against Herod or Caesar.  God was concerned first with the spiritual enemies of His people.  This starts with Satan, but also includes the world system that he has built up in every nation on earth.  It also includes sins hold within our own flesh.  Like a triple-barbed hook, sin cannot be removed without pain in the life of a human.  It is an “enemy within” that we find treacherous over and over again.

A Performance of Mercy

In verses 72 and 73 he speaks of God’s mercy.  Yes, God had made an unconditional promise to Abraham.  Yet, we can lose sight of the fact that God didn’t have to do that.  He chose to do so by His mercy and grace.  So the Promises of Abraham and even the Law of Moses itself stand upon a foundation of the grace and mercy of God.  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.  His mercies never come to an end.  They are new every morning!  Great is Thy faithfulness!  The coming of Jesus is something greater than God keeping up His side of a bargain.  No!  It is pure, unadulterated mercy flowing down from the throne of God.  “Have mercy on me, Son of David!”  This is the cry of a person and a people who are captured by a sin sickness, within themselves and without, pleading for deliverance.  God does not owe us salvation.  But His mercy and grace has brought it to us. 

Zecharias reminds them that God didn’t just make a promise, but also swore an oath to Abram and David.  Though God doesn’t need to swear, He swore by Himself.  So that we could understand that even though He cannot lie, He swears by Himself that He will do what He has promised.  This makes our hopes doubly sure.  Like Jesus saying, “verily, verily,” it underlines and puts in bold the reliability of such statements.  God will not go back on this, nor has He.  Rather He has fulfilled it.

Delivered To Serve God

In verses 74-75 he declares that God has granted our deliverance so that we can serve Him.  Now some might disdain the idea of being saved so that we can serve God.  But, think about who this God has proven Himself to be.  To serve God is not to peel His grapes and wash His feet.  To serve God is to serve on behalf of the Greatest Servant.  You can’t out serve God.  He in fact sends us to serve others on His behalf, not wash His feet.

He wants us to be able to serve without fear.  He has dealt with our sins and our enemy.  We need not be afraid again.  However, that does not mean that He ceases to be God and that rebellion ceases to be scary stuff.  We should be afraid to turn our back on so great a salvation and usurp His position as God and the only source of Truth.  To the degree that our heart is towards God is the degree to which we can walk without fear.  But to the degree that we walk away from Him, is to the degree that we ought to have a fear of God rise up in our heart and turn us back to His righteous path.

We are to serve in holiness and righteousness.  God has not changed this desire.  However, in the gospel we are shown that our holiness and righteousness without God is unworthy.  So our service must be marked with the foundational holiness and righteousness of Jesus as our ransom.  He is our legal righteousness and the only reason we can now stand in service to the King.  Secondly, our service should be marked with a growing ability to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, i.e. practical righteousness.  This is unworthy on its own merits, but if we are in Christ it is accepted as a sweet offering unto God.

The Task of John

In verses 76-80, Zecharias turns to his son John.  John would prepare the way for the Messiah.  He would call people to repentance.  Christ can only enter a heart by the path of repentance.  Until we see that our sins separate us from God and weep over that, we will never be able to ask the Lord to come and save us. 

John also would teach Israel the truth of God’s salvation.  It is not just winning wars and having lots of gold coming into the Treasury.  God’s salvation is one that will not overlook our sin, whether 2,000 years ago or today.  May God help us to go forth in the same spirit and ministry of John.  May we call out to people to “repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  May we be a faithful servant to Jesus our King by turning people from their sin back towards Him.  Amen!

Prophecy Zecharias audio

Serving the Head Shepherd

Today we will be looking at 1 Peter 5:1-4.  In this passage Peter speaks to the elders within the Christian body.  Although you may not be an elder in the Church it is instructive to all of us how God would have us serve in any position of authority, whether as a parent, Sunday School Teacher, or fellow Christian.

Called To Be Elders And Overseers

Peter first lets us know that God calls some within his people to serve as Elders and Overseers.  The word elder refers to someone who is spiritually mature and wise.  Although it has an age aspect, the spiritual maturity is the emphasis not as much as age.  Thus Paul warns Timothy not to make a new Christian an elder, even though they may be physically older than others who are serving as elders.  The Greek word that is translated as elder is where we get the word presbyter or Presbyterian—more on that later.  Overseer is mentioned in verse 2.  It is more of a reference to one of the duties of an elder.  However it quickly became a title.  The Greek here is where we get the word Episcopalian.  The word bishop also comes from this word.  Throughout the New Testament the words elders and bishop or elders and overseers are used interchangeably.  However throughout history they have taken on different forms from one another.

Peter reminds them that he is a fellow elder, although a “special” kind of elder.  He is also an apostle of Jesus.  He was a witness of the teachings, life, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ.  He is not just an witness in that he saw it all.  But he is also a witness in that he is actively telling others what he saw and heard.  Peter was also a “partaker of the glory that will be revealed” (verse 1).  To be a “partaker” is to be one who has a share or portion in an endeavor.  Much like an inheritance, Peter has a portion that belongs to him in the glory that will be revealed.  This is clearly looking forward to that great unveiling of Christ at his Second Coming.  The curtain will be pulled back and the full Glory of Christ will be revealed to the nations.  However, Peter had “partaken” or had a “taste test” at the Transfiguration.  This event can be read about in the gospels.  Peter also speaks of it in 2 Peter 1:16-19.  Peter says that they were eye witnesses of his “majesty.”  What Peter had a taste of the other elders could only imagine and wait for the Second Coming.

At this point it would be helpful to have a brief, historical reminder of the governance of the Church that developed and changed through the centuries.  As Christians spread out and converted others to Jesus the groups began to grow and quickly needed leaders.  Thus we see in the New Testament a development of elders who would serve the spiritual needs of the Church and deacons who would serve the natural needs of the Church.  Generally one of the elders would stand out as a “leading elder.”  In fact generally such lead elders from larger churches would tend to have influence and sway with the elders of smaller or more rural churches.  Over time (500 AD) the Bishops of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Rome, and Constantinople were viewed as having authority over the churches in their areas.  A system had developed where the priest of a small church would answer to a bishop of the area, who would in turn answer to the “arch” bishop from one of these cities.  Of course this is highly simplified.  It the turn of the first millennium the issue of authority over doctrinal matters led to the division of the Eastern catholic church from the Western or Roman Catholic Church.  But it wasn’t until the Protestant reformation that the system of governance was changed at all.  Some Protestant groups retained the hierarchical system of bishops.  Thus the term Episcopalian is a reference to how the Church should be governed, i.e. by individual leaders accountable in series to a supreme leader.  Some felt that this system was too open to abuse through the years and called for a Presbyterian form of governance.  It focused on groups of elders who were accountable to a larger group of presbyters.  Even further groups have what is called a “congregational” governance which treats each individual church as sovereign in its own right.

Now the Bible does not tell us exactly what system should be used.  In fact it could be said that God has left that up to us.  However, it has given clear instruction that those who are spiritually mature and wise (i.e. elders) should watch over the people of God’s Church.  No matter what we are accountable to be leaders in God’s people.

Shepherding the Flock of God

So what are the duties of Church leaders?  Primarily they are to “shepherd” the flock of God.  Peter clearly uses language that Jesus had used personally with him back in John chapter 22.  Jesus told Peter that if Peter loved him then he would feed his sheep (not that Peter wasn’t a sheep himself).  This wording is also found in the Old Testament.  David in Psalms 23 recognized that God was like a shepherd to him.  Why?  He saw that God gave him spiritual drink and food.  He saw that God led him on the paths of righteousness that led to these places.  He saw that God was his protector and rewarder.  Thus the task of Leaders hearkens back to the very character of God.  Jesus had shepherded the disciples and now he wanted them to be like him to those they would be sent.  They would also need to raise up other elders to shepherd the flock of God.  Ultimately we are to help our brothers and sisters in the Lord’s stead.  What a weighty calling and one that we will be accountable to him.

Thus the term Overseer is not about dictatorial control.  Rather, it is about care and concern for well-being.  Perhaps the best example in our modern day would be to compare doctors with government.  A doctor asks all manner of personal, even embarrassing questions, that we put up with because in general we know they are using that information to help us or heal us.  Thus doctors keep personal information confidential and the best ones have good bedside manner.  However, when the government shows up, either as an auditor or a regulator of some sort, we do not have that same feeling that they are there to help us.  We know they are there to control us.  God’s leaders need to be like doctors.  They need to always operate for the spiritual health and well-being of God’s people.   If we lie to ourselves about what that is…well, then we will give account to the head shepherd.

Peter then describes the reasons we should lead and many that we shouldn’t have.  On the “not” side, he warns against serving because you were forced to, or in order to dishonestly gain (financial or otherwise), and not to “lord” leadership over others.  Positively, they need to lead because they are willing to serve their Lord this way and have a ready mind.  We also need to lead by example rather than being a dictator.  It is not our church and they are not our sheep.  We come alongside fellow sheep and point them to Jesus.  Words are cheap, but our life will back up (or not) what we say.

Thus leaders in God’s Church need to watch over the souls of those in their charge and willingly, lovingly help them to keep their eyes on Jesus in the midst of the junk of this life.

Serving Well Will Have Its Reward

God does bless us in this life, but it must never be the ultimate reward we seek.  At his appearing Jesus will bring with him our reward for serving well.  The chief shepherd will not just reward, but will also have some who say, “Lord, we prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and have done many wonders in your name.”    Can you imagine standing before the Lord and hearing, “I never knew you.  Depart from me you who practice lawlessness.”  Ouch!

Peter speaks of a crown of glory.  This crown is not a royal crown, but rather a victor’s crown for accomplishment.  The New Testament mentions several crowns such as: the crown of Life, the crown of righteousness, and the crown of glory.  It is not clear if these are different crowns/honors or if they are different words for the same thing.  However, the point is not the crown itself, but the unfading glory that will be ours when Jesus returns.  Our greatest reward is the fact that when the glorious Jesus shows up, we belong to him and him to us.  We will share in his great glory.

Final Thoughts

We are all a part of the flock of God and should resist those inevitable tricks of the enemy to separate us into clergy versus laity.  Leaders are not better than the people who are not leaders.  In fact they are in a far more precarious position of responsibility, with far more difficult temptations and deceptions to face.  Leaders should serve as a brother and those who are not in leadership should love them and recognize the burden they carry.  God has not given all his gifts to every believer.  We need each other and, if we trust God’s Word, we will help each other to cross the finish line of faith.

Serving Head Shepherd Audio