Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Luke 1:57-66
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  December 15, 2021

If you didn’t already know the story and you just started reading at verse 57, you wouldn’t see anything unusual. It’s totally normal for neighbors and relatives to rejoice with a new mother at the birth of a child. But this wasn’t just any birth and this wasn’t just any child. “Graced by God,” is what “John” means in Hebrew. And what an understatement. Here’s where the backstory is so important. 

Luke tells us that Elizabeth was from the line of Aaron, the brother of Moses, and she was married to a priest named Zechariah. They were both devout believers in the true God and are described as “righteous,” before him. But they were old. How old, we’re not told, but well along in years. And they were childless. Elizabeth had never been able to have children. But they wanted to. And they prayed about it. But you have to think those prayers stopped some time ago. You have to believe that they had accepted the truth that God’s answer to this prayer was, “No.” But it turns out, God’s answer was “Yes, but not yet.” Well the time came for God to keep his promise to send a forerunner to the Messiah and that forerunner would be called, “Graced by God,” and Zechariah and Elizabeth would be “Graced by God,” to be his parents. 

God sent the angel Gabriel to share this good news with Zechariah one day when he was serving in the temple. Naturally, Zechariah was skeptical, doubtful that this could be true. Like most, he asked for some proof that the impossible would now be possible. His proof was his inability to talk until John was born. And so it happened. Elizabeth conceived. Nine months later, we reach our lesson for today.    “When the time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they were rejoicing with her.”  Again, as we’ve seen already this Advent, this miraculous birth is spoken of so casually. But the reaction of the neighbors and relatives show just how miraculous John’s birth was. They “heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy.” And that mercy was two-fold. Yes, God had shown her mercy and answered her prayer to have a son. For a barren woman who surely thought those prayers were impossible, this was a definite display of mercy. But it wasn’t just that. This unlikely, impossible, miraculous gift of a son wasn’t just any son. He wasn’t just any boy. Luke tells us earlier in chapter one what Gabriel shared with Zechariah. “You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, because he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to drink wine or beer. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, to turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare a people who are ready for the Lord.” 

The true mercy shown by the Lord is that the time had fully come. The Messiah would be born just six months later. And the people who heard about Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy and now childbirth would be following John all his life. People would be watching John for 30 years when he began his public ministry of preparing a people who are ready for the Lord. And we see this truth play out as we hear the rest of the story.

“On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. They wanted to call him Zechariah after the name of the father. But his mother answered, “No. He will be called John.” They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” Cultural custom clearly used certain family names over and over again. It would have made sense that Zechariah would be a suitable name for the boy, especially considering the miraculous circumstances. It may seem odd to us that there was almost a committee that was trying to determine what the name should be. Maybe it’s best to think of the neighbors and family offering helpful suggestions. Also interesting to note is that they waited until the John was eight days old to officially give him his name. Some believe this custom developed as a connection to Abraham, whose name was changed on the day that he was circumcised. In any case, the people there were confused when Elizabeth said, “No. He will be called John.” There was nothing wrong with the name, it just wasn’t a family name. It wasn’t the customary thing to do. But the next step seems a little strange. 

“They made signs to his father, to see what he wanted to name him.” It might seem strange to us, but we have to remember that this was a very patriarchal society. Zechariah would have had the final say. Surely, he would want to keep the family name going. Why did they make signs to him? We can’t say for certain, but some suggest that they thought because he couldn’t talk, he couldn’t hear either or it’s entirely possible that he couldn’t hear very well at his age. Regardless, they got his attention. “He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they were all amazed.” If you imagine this as a movie, we’ve just reached the high point. Here’s the climax where all of the tension that’s built up will finally be released. And in the Greek, we see that drama unfold dramatically as the Greek reads, “John is his name.” John is emphasized. Not Zechariah, John. And the people were blown away. But if they thought that was amazing, what happened next was even more remarkable.

“Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened, his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came on all who lived around them. In the entire hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. And everyone who heard this took it to heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” Clearly, the hand of the Lord was with him.” As soon as Zechariah followed Gabriel’s instructions, God kept his promise. No longer unable to speak, Zechariah immediately praises God. Whatever doubts he had back in the temple nine months ago have been replaced with a faith that completely trusts. And everyone there could hear it and this was more shock than they could handle and they became afraid. And the word about John spread throughout the whole region. And when people heard what had happened, they took it to heart. Look at the question they asked: “What then will this child be?” Not who, but what. There was something different and special about John and everyone knew it.  “Clearly, the hand of the Lord was with him.” 

The connections between John and Jesus are clear. Not only were they cousins, but they were linked together by prophecy and promise. John was the one who was to come before Jesus and prepare his way. For 30 years, John was the famous one, while Jesus lived in relative obscurity and anonymity. John worked to plow up the field, to fix the road, to prepare the way and then when Jesus came, he stepped out of the limelight and into the shadows. As we will hear in our Christmas Gospel, “There was a man, sent from God, whose name was John. He came as an eyewitness to testify about the light so that everyone would believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. The real light that shines on everyone was coming into the world.” 

And that’s what John has done for us today. That’s what this season of Advent is all about. It’s about seeing the Light that’s coming. For the Light of Christ is what shines in us, creating and sustaining faith. We have been “Graced by God,” to hear the good news and to believe. It’s just as much of a miracle that we believe; that we’ve been brought into God’s family as it was for John to be born. It was just as impossible for us to be saved as it was for Elizabeth to have a child. But as we’ve seen through this whole Advent season, God works the impossible through the unlikely to accomplish his purposes. 

Certainly, there are times, that like Zechariah, we’ve doubted God’s promises. It doesn’t look like God’s in control. It doesn’t seem like God is hearing our prayers. And there are times when we, like the crowds, want to do things our own way. But as the story of the birth of John has shown us, God always keeps his promises. He always hears and answers our prayers, not on our schedule, but his. And in spite of what it may seem, God is always in control. His ways are always best.  

When John was born, Elizabeth’s relatives were “rejoicing with her.” It’s the same word Jesus uses when describing those who found the items they lost in the parables in Luke 15. How much greater our joy at the birth of our Savior! May we rejoice that we have been “Johned,” graced by God as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Amen.