The Tender Mercy of Our God
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Introduction
Introduction
Back in the 90s to the early 2000s, I was a card-carrying, chart-making, conspiracy-believing dispensationalist. I had watch all four of the Thief in the Night movies and read The Third Millennium and The Fourth Millennium by Paul Meier. I read all the Left Behind Series up to The Glorious Appearing. I had Tim LeHaye’s book on Revelation. I had studied Clarence Larkin’s Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth and Dispensational Truth. Every book I could get on the Tribulation and the Second Coming, I bought and devoured. Why? Because I was convinced that Jesus would soon rapture his church. I was convinced that everything that needed to happen for Jesus to rapture his church had been done. Now, I still believe that there is nothing keeping Jesus from returning; I just don’t believe in the secret rapture of the Church.
Now, take that type of enthusiasm that I had in the 90s and 2000s and transfer that to Zechariah. Israel has been waiting for hundreds of years to hear from God. Malachi was the last prophet of Israel. He promised that the Messiah would come and before him a messenger would come to prepare a people. Nine months before John the Baptist was born, Gabriel told Zechariah that he’d have a son who would be the preparer of the people. Mary had shown up at his door with news that she was carrying the Messiah. But Zechariah couldn’t say a word! Who knows even if he really understood what happened with Mary? But he knew that if his son was the preparer, then the Messiah was close at hand. God’s Kingdom was coming! And the moment he was able to speak, Zechariah sent up a praise to God.
As we open up Zechariah’s song, his prophecy, often called the Benedictus (as that is the first word in the prophecy), we see two inter-related acts of God. The first act is the sending of the Messiah. The second is the sending of the Messenger.
Sending of the Messiah
Sending of the Messenger
And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
The Sending of the Messiah
The Sending of the Messiah
The first act that we see Zechariah prophesying about is God’s act of sending his Messiah. This was not mere speculation on Zechariah’s part. Whether or not he knew why Mary was staying with them for six months or who the baby in her womb was, Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit as he spoke. This is the fourth mention of the Holy Spirit in Luke 1. John the Baptist would be filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb. Mary would be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit as she spoke to Mary. And now Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit when he prophesied. I mentioned when we first began this series that Luke had a desire to show the Holy Spirit at work more than any other Gospel writer. Before we get out of the first chapter, he has already mentioned him and his powerful work four times! May we never be a people who downplays the Holy Spirit as if he is not constantly working behind the scenes.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, Zechariah prophesies and he praises God for his acts. By sending the Messiah, Zechariah tells us three truths about what God is up to.
God’s Power of Salvation
God’s Product of Salvation
God’s Purpose of Salvation
God’s Power of Salvation
God’s Power of Salvation
The first truth that we see is in the Benedictus is God’s Power of Salvation.
And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
As Zechariah prophesies, he actually prophesies a praise. That word bless, as we’ve seen in other verses, is not the “happy” kind of blessing, but the “praise” kind of blessing. “Praise be to the Lord God of Israel.” Why? There’s that word again! “For/Because!” God has visited and redeemed his people.
The word that we have for visited means literally to look after or to look over. Of course, that would imply visiting and caring for his people. He is not simply looking from on high, but is looking out for them in their midst. It’s the verbal form of the word Paul used in 1 Timothy 3 in which we get the word “overseer.” Just as a pastor is to oversee—watch over his flock—so God oversees—watches over his people. A good pastor does not watch over his flock from a distance and a good God does not watch over his people from a distance either.
But there is significance in these words because Zechariah isn’t just talking about God’s general oversight and care. He’s speaking to something specific—specifically redemption. God has watched over his people and has made redemption for them. God was, in this moment, understood to be bringing about salvation for Israel. And look at how he went about it: He raised up a horn of salvation.
When we think of a bull, what do we think of as being its dominant feature? Or a ram or a goat? It’s the horn. The horn is a symbol of the power of the animal. In much the same way, when the Bible speak of the horn of salvation, it is referring to the power of salvation. Except this horn wasn’t from a bull or a goat or ram. This horn was from the house of David. This was royal power. This was kingly power—Messianic Power. So we see then that Zechariah revealed the truth of God’s Messiah being the power of salvation for Israel.
God’s Purpose of Salvation
God’s Purpose of Salvation
But secondly, Zechariah revealed the truth as it dealt with God’s Purpose of Salvation. Why did God save his people? Freedom and Worship!
that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
Israel was under Roman rule. The Romans were certainly occupying enemies of Israel. And eventually, God’s people would be delivered from their enemy Rome through the work of the Messiah and the Holy Spirit. But the greater threat to Israel and to us was the occupying enemy in the human soul. This enemy hates us. It seeks to harm us, hurt us, even kill us if it gets the chance. Zechariah understood that the result of Jesus—the power of salvation—was a deliverance, a salvation from this enemy.
To what end? To serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness. The word “serve” is the same word that Paul used in Romans 12:1, in which he stated that this was our spiritual worship. It’s the word “Latria” and it can be translated as either worship or service because it really means both. One does not worship God without serving and one does not serve God without worship. All of life (Paul’s point!) is a worship service to the Lord.
Zechariah is saying that’s the purpose for Jesus’s salvation is that we are now able to worship—to serve—in holiness and righteousness forever. Our salvation is not fire insurance. It’s not simply a “get out of hell free” card. It’s purpose is to move us away from our enemies so that we may worship freely and fearlessly.
This was what Moses was to do with Israel and what Jesus does with us.
Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son,
and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”
I would warn all of us, God had delivered Israel from Pharaoh and Egypt—those who were their enemies and hated them; those who had enslaved them—the very symbols of sin. Yet Israel did not worship and serve the Lord. Instead, they made sacrifices to a golden calf and celebrated it instead. Let us see that in our salvation, God’s purpose is to make a people who would worship and serve him fearlessly (the main point in the text), which means our worship and service is done in holiness and righteousness.
God’s Product of Salvation
God’s Product of Salvation
Finally, we see God’s Product of Salvation. It is to prove himself faithful and good and true.
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
God had spoken of the coming Messiah through the prophets. He had promised Abraham and Isaac and Jacob that their line would be a blessing to the whole world. He swore to Abraham that he would grant his people mercy. He had made a covenant with the people to save them from their enemies. God would not disappoint. He would be be true to every promise that he made.
I call this God’s product of salvation because it is the result that comes from our deliverance and freedom. As we worship fearlessly, we cannot help but see God’s faithfulness to his promises. Those promises spoken by the Prophets and made to the Patriarchs will be entrenched into our own minds and faith. Again, showing that God’s past grace and faithfulness is indicative of his future grace and faithfulness, as Piper would say.
The Sending of the Messenger
The Sending of the Messenger
So the first half of this song is about the sending of the Messiah, but the second part deals directly with Zechariah’s Son—the sending of the Messenger.
What we have in this sending of the messenger is an explanation as to
The Message of Salvation
The Motivation of Salvation
The Mission of Salvation
The Message of Salvation
The Message of Salvation
The first explanation that we get when God sends his messenger is the message itself. It’s the message of salvation.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,
Remember in verse 79 that Zechariah had talked about the prophets of old. It was as though the age of the prophets had come and gone. Suddenly, here is John his son, who would be called the prophet of the Most High and he would be send with a message. That message would prepare the way for the Messiah. The question is, what would his message be? What message would God bring to his people after 400 years of silence?
It would be a message that prepares people with the knowledge of salvation. This in itself would not be a salvation message, but only a message that prepares people to receive salvation. It’s a message that takes a person from a place of misunderstanding or even no understanding to a place of understanding. Salvation would be available to them. But that’s not the end of the message.
There are people all over the world who believe there is a way to salvation. Buddhists and Hindus look to reincarnation in order to arrive at Nirvana. Islam looks to the five pillars in order to reach paradise. Everyone knows there is something wrong with the world we live in and everyone is seeking to find a way out—a way to escape and be saved from this corruption. But look at John’s message to the people. Salvation is not found in reincarnation. Salvation is not found in the five pillars. It’s not found in obedience to the Ten Commandments. Salvation is found in the forgiveness of sins.
Hear me when I say, you cannot make up for disobeying God’s law by obeying God’s law. It’s not a tit for tat kind of thing. Once the commandment has been broken, we cannot make up for it by obeying it next time. It’s not different than our own laws. If a child steals a candy bar from the grocery store, he can’t say, “But mom, think of all the times I didn’t steal anything at all.” The only way to receive salvation is by the forgiveness of sins committed against God. He must forgive you and me, and God has made it clear: it only comes by the death and resurrection of his Son Jesus.
The Motivation of Salvation
The Motivation of Salvation
Which leads us to God’s Motivation of Salvation. What motivates God to forgive? Or we could ask, why would God forgive us of our sins?
because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
There’s that word again! Because! of the tender mercy of our God. The cause, the reason for salvation is God’s tender mercy, or we could translate it as his compassionate mercy. You might remember when we looked at the Magnificat a couple of weeks ago, Mary also made it a point to speak about God’s mercy. So neither the mother of Jesus, nor the Father of John the Baptist can get away from the reality of God’s tender, compassionate, mercy. And we saw a couple of weeks ago how everything that God does is in line with his character of which mercy is one such attribute.
Now what we see from Zechariah, is that his tender—his compassionate—mercy is the cause, the motivation behind the salvation that he offers, which is (as we just saw) an offer to forgive us of our sins. In case Mary and Zechariah weren’t enough, Paul would be in agreement with them both!
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, is an act of mercy. God’s mercy is the reason for salvation—the forgiveness of sins. Oh that we would learn and love God’s compassionate mercies of forgiveness of sins, that we would not doubt it to be so, that we would not believe that we are the exception to it. And it is with this compassionate mercy that we see Jesus coming. Zechariah calls him the “Rising.” The ESV and the NASB translate it the sunrise. I think this is appropriate as the next verse shows him shining light. But the word basically is the Rising One to oversee, visit us from on high. This is the future tense of what we saw in verse 68. God has visited us, his Messiah will visit. Circle them both and draw a line between them. See the connections Zechariah makes here. He comes in God’s tender mercies. How often do we read of Christ’s compassion in the gospel accounts? That was supposed to be a rhetorical question, but I had to look it up. And as far as I can tell, we see the gospel writers speak of Jesus’s compassion 12 times.
The Mission of Salvation
The Mission of Salvation
Finally, we see the mission of salvation.
because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
In this mercy that brings about salvation found only in the forgiveness of sins, we find its mission. The Rising One, in compassionate mercy comes with the mission to give light and to guide.
In the salvation message, there is light for those in darkness. In this sense, we are not only talking about sin; we’re also talking about despair that sin brings. Where do I get this from? The same place Zechariah got his words from:
Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons,
for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
The affliction that those in darkness were in was a direct result of their rebellion against God. But if that rebellion has been forgiven, then the affliction that leaves them in darkness is given light. This is what we call “attendant circumstances.” Attendant circumstances refers to events that happen at the same time as the main event that make the main event the main event. The main event is the salvation within the confines of the forgiveness of sins. And if that is the case, then the affliction—the darkness, the dark night of the soul as it has been called. Or as Zechariah and the Psalmist described it as sitting in the shadow of death—if it is due to rebellion, if it is due to sin, then the salvation, the forgiveness of those sins, ought then to deliver us from the darkness, the affliction, the shadow of death.
It is the Rising Sun that scatters the darkness. John tells us that Jesus is the light of men and that
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
That is not to say that every darkness, every shadow, every affliction is due to sin. We know that is not the case. Many times it is the case, but not every time. Job was afflicted, but not because of sin. Joseph was afflicted but not because of his sin. The apostles were all afflicted and in darkness but not because of their sin. There is a darkness that is not due to the sin of the shadow-sitter.
But the light also guides. The mission of salvation is to guide a person into the path of peace. And we see that is what Jesus did.
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,
and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
When God sent John the Baptist to be his messenger, he was sending him to prepare the people that they may receive their Redeemer and all that comes with him. Mercy, Light, Peace.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we finish this passage this morning, We’ve seen two inter-related acts of God: God sending his Messiah and God sending his Messenger. Again, like the Magnificat, this has been heavy on teaching and light on application so let me give you two take-aways:
God will send his Messiah again. We are promised that Jesus is coming again. God is always faithful to his promise. Take confidence in his future promises. He has always proven himself faithful; he will always continue to do so as well.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
God is sending his messengers still. We may not think we have the power of Elijah like John the Baptist, but his power was the power of the Spirit, and since we do have the power of the Holy Spirit, we have the power of Elijah. That doesn’t mean we can or will call down fire from heaven or cause a famine in the land. But we’d be amazed what the Spirit will do through us if we but trust him to use us.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Brothers and sisters, let us be God’s messengers.