Introduction to Joy (Luke 1:5-17)

Yesterday I got to give an advent talk at church. The idea was that I would do the Sunday service so the other ministers can focus on their Christmas talks. We also have a Christmas theme of Joy and to try and keep with the tone of that, I tried to be funny and light... I am not sure I pulled that off.

Below is pretty much what I said, or you can listen to it online.

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Hello, let me introduce myself. I am Andrew Vella, I am the Youth Minister here at this church. That was a pretty bland introduction and some of you already know me. But throughout history there have been some pretty important and significant introductions between people.

Joseph was brought to the Pharaoh, King of Egypt because of previously meeting the king’s cupbearer in prison. The cupbearer introduced the two, and this introduction helped avoid great starvation of a nation and had far-reaching consequences for both countries of Egypt and Israel, and we don’t even know the cupbearer’s name.

In the late 1970s, President Jimmy Carter was key in getting Sadat and Begin, both leaders of Egypt and Israel to cease their 30-year war. This brought about peace and saved many lives. Sadat and Begin both shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize, even though it was Carter who brought these countries together to shake on a deal.

And closer to home, <some matchmaking stories in my small group in the past>

You may have your own story too, about being introduced to someone who changed the course of your life. It could be how you ended up in Canberra, or how you met your spouse or got your current job. As they say, sometimes it’s not what you know, but who you know.

In our story today, it is one of Advent, one of expectation, fulfilment and joy. The Gospel of Luke has been called the “Gospel of Joy” for Luke mentions joy over 53 times[1]. The start of this book just breaks out in joy. In the two birth stories of John and Jesus, joy is mentioned throughout and there are four songs of praise[2]. There is this repeated pattern of promise, fulfilment and a joyful response within the Gospel of Luke. And more broadly, Luke is continuing the story of the Old Testament, with those promises, and their fulfilment. Today we are just going to touch on one small aspect of this.

We are introduced to Zechariah and Elizabeth in the time of Herod the Great. When these events took place, they were nearing the end of this king’s rule[3]. Herod wasn’t the nicest of rulers. He ruled over the land of Palestine, so he was literally the King of the Jews, and he had worked hard for that title[4]. While he did help to build the temple in Jerusalem, he also built other pagan temples and introduce pagan games to society at large[5]. He was ruthless and would crush any sign of opposition to his sovereignty. He would suppress the public and especially Jews with as much force as he could. When he died, his family did not even mourn him[6]. The fact that he put two of his own sons to death because he saw them a threat may have had something to do with that[7]. Not long after our story, this same Herod would order the death of all the babies under two in Bethlehem because of a rumour that future king was born there. Politically, it was not a bright and happy time for the Jews in this period, they were under harsh Roman rule.

But the couple we meet, Zechariah and Elizabeth are godly people. They are called righteous and blameless. This doesn’t mean they were perfect or sinless but rather they were obedient to the Lords commands (1:6). Zechariah was a priest and was on about following God’s commands in a religious setting where most of it was about routine and show. This couple were righteous, while others in their circles were self-righteous. Jesus routinely pointed out the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. Priests at this time were pious doing things to be noticed and to look good like, tithing their own spices but failing to love others. They once had a go at Jesus for not washing His hands before a meal[8], Jesus then points out to them how their own crazy rules break God’s actual commandments. There was this oath where if you promised you would give your wealth to God some time in the future, you then could break the fifth commanded by not honour your parents by providing for them in the present (Mark 7:6-13). They were more worried about dirty hands before a meal than the elderly.

Not only were Zechariah and Elizabeth mixed up in this religion, but it has been 400 years since God has spoken. They were living in a drought of God’s involvement with His people, and yet this couple, regardless of cultural pressure to just go through the motions of religious duty, and the silence of God, they have stuck with Him. Being a priest, Zechariah would have known the old old story and that one day the Jewish people would be free. He would have been looking forward to this, especially under Herod the Great and surrounded by hypocrisy.

But things weren’t just hard politically or religiously, things were hard biologically. This couple were unable to have children. This would have been a hard thing for them to deal with. They must have struggled with this when they were younger. These guys had been obeying God and yet He didn’t bless them with children. What is going on here? They must have thought why is this happening to them, they have been faithful and obedient. Surly God owes them something? Where is God in all this? But now they are older and still with God, they have adjusted to this fact that they can’t have children. They will have no descendants to carry their name into the future and no one to look after them in their old age. I think their faith is probably now stronger in trusting God in the hard times knowing that they only need God and no one and nothing else[9]. It is in the hard times when faith is tested and strengthened. Tree roots only grow deep in the face of strong winds. This elderly couple have stuck with God, even in the hard times.

It is under these political, religious and biological problems that we met this couple. And then Zechariah gets the job of a lifetime. He was on temple duty and by chance, by lot, he got picked to burn the incense. This was a big deal. His division was only on temple duty twice a year, one week at a time. They would burn incense twice a day, meaning there were only 28 chances a year to do this task, and in the first century there were thousands of priests[10]. This literally was a once in a lifetime chance, priest were only allowed to do this task once, and some lived their whole life without doing it[11].

So, Zechariah’s number gets called and he gets to enter the temple alone to pray and to burn incense on the alter. What would you pray at this moment? If you were a righteousness Jew, in this cultural setting and giving a once in a lifetime opportunity to pray like this, what would your prayers be? What did Zechariah pray?

Some think he prayed for a child. However later, he seems to doubt he could even have children anymore due to his age. He talks back to an angle and then gets cursed with being mute because of his unbelief that he could even now have a child. I think, on this auspicious occasion, he did not offer up a private personal prayer, but rather prayed for his nation to be saved[12].

We aren’t actually told what Zechariah’s prayer was, but we do get an answer. An angel of the Lord turns up and scares the bejeezus out of Zechariah. The angel announces that he will have a son and is to call him “John”. And we are told that this son will be like no other. Verse 14:

He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth

But isn’t that like every baby ever? Aren’t all babies a joy and a delight, especially to the parents? Don’t lots of people rejoice because some kid has been born? More people may rejoice if they hear a couple has been having trouble trying to fall pregnant, and maybe even the media will be called in if a couple in their 60’s or 70’s have a child. But that is the nature of kids, right? They are bundles of contagious joy (and germs), but still joy. They are funny to watch, they try to piece things together but don’t understand logic or have a strong spatial awareness. People clap and cheer when they do basic things like walking and saying the word “mum” or “dad”. But when we see these little people we see great potential and hope which gives us joy.

But this is not what the angels means about this child John. The angel goes on from verse 15 and explains why this child will be a joy and a delight to many. John is going to be great in the sight of the Lord, he is going to have the Holy Spirit in utero. John is going to bring the people of Israel back to the Lord their God, and John will be like Elijah the prophet of old. He will turn foolish people back to the wisdom of God and prepare them for the Lord.

This is huge. Two things are going on here.

God has answered the prayers for the liberation of Israel by also blessing Zechariah with a child who will prepare the way for the messiah.

God is fulfilling prophecies from Malachi, 400 years earlier. God has broken His silence and is about to interrupt human history, again.

God is also blessing Zechariah and Elisabeth with a son John, who will make way for the Messiah. John is going to bring the people of Israel back to God and show them the Lord.

John is the introducer of the messiah who is to overcome the political, religious and biological problems of this day.

God would not free them from their Roman rulers but would go one better and free them from their slavery to sin, which condemned them to the second death. God would conquer the powers of this dark world and be victorious over the devil’s schemes.

God is going to shine a light on the religious hypocrisy and show the world how to live a life in complete fulfilment of the law. God will send an example to show what it means to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength and how to love your neighbour as yourself (Luke 10:27).

The coming Messiah would overcome many biological problems. Later He would send back a message to John the Baptist reporting that the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear and the dead are raised (Luke 7:22). God would not just show favour on the Jews but would transcend genetics and family lines and save all peoples from all races and all nations.

This is good news, this is joyous news. Can you see why this John kid would be a joy and a delight, and why many would rejoice because of him?

The promised of John’s birth is fulfilled later in the same chapter. We are told

Her [Elizabeth’s] neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. (Luke 1:58)

In response to this fulfilled promise is joy. God has promised a child, the child is born, the response is joy.

But this baby John, did not stop spreading joy here to just neighbours and relatives.

John goes on to be a voice crying in the wilderness, helping people to make their ways straight to the Lord (Luke 3:4). John would grow up and be called the greatest prophet (Mat 11:9-11) because he personally got to introduce the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

And what I find amazing is how John the Baptist gets a huge write up for introducing the world to Jesus, but you know what? He didn’t get to see the end of the story. In Luke’s gospel, John dies sometime between chapter 7 and 9. In Mark’s gospel John only makes it to chapter 6 before his head is chopped off. John is the introducer of the messiah, but he didn’t get to see how it all pans out for this coming one.

But we do. We know who this Lamb of God is, we know who this person that John prepares us to meet. It is Jesus, and we can see better than John in how Jesus is the Messiah, He is the Christ, He is the fulfilment of the old old story. He died for our sins and rose again, conquering sin and death on our behalf. The only appropriate response to God’s promises being fulfilled is joy.

It is a joyous thing to be introduced to the saviour of the world. Some of you may even have a mate or family member that you can point to who introduced you to Jesus. And you may have a strong affection for that person. You might feel gratitude, or thankfulness that this person shared with you something about Jesus. That they showed you a gracious God who forgives sins. That person might be very dear to you, because they showed you the Way the Truth and the Life. And we can be like John the Baptist in this sense. We can introduce others to Jesus. What a joyous thing that could be. Although we can’t see Jesus, we can still introduce people to Him. Blessed are those who have not seen Jesus and yet have believed (John 20:29).

But one day we will see Jesus. We are waiting to see Him. We too are looking forward, with joy, to the promised one coming again.

I don’t know if you noticed, but since Jesus’ death and resurrection there are still political, religious and biological problems going on today. Yes, Jesus did conquer sin and death. Jesus did show us the way to live and Jesus did open the door for all people to be saved. But there are still tyrants and dictators and hypocrisy and corruption and diseases and infertility. Where is the joy now?

As one poet said:

“Sometimes joy means you have to be an archaeologist and an astronomer rolled into one. Sometimes you gotta dig deeper, sometimes you gotta see farther.”[13]

Jesus will overcome all injustices and suffering and one day it will all be wrapped up and finalised. And we wait in hope and joy for that day, because we know God keeps His promises. We know this because we know Jesus. He was the fulfilment of many prophecies and He did bring about the salvation of the world for those who believe in Him. We Christians have joy because of Him. We too are still in Advent, waiting for God’s remaining promises to be completed.

Last month Timothy Weeks and Kevin King were released from ISIS captivity after been held in Afghanistan for three years. Timothy spoke with the media at the start of this month describing his own ordeal. The whole thing is fascinating. During his time, he believes US special forces tried to save him and Kevin six times, he could hear the gun fire of people coming to save him, but he was always pushed back deeper underground. In talking about how he made it through this whole experience he said:

“I had hope the whole time. I knew that I would leave that place eventually”[14]

And again:

“I never ever gave up hope and I think in that sort of situation, if you give up hope, there is very little left for you”[15]

Christians wait in hope with joy. Knowing that there is a point to this world, that our rescuer Jesus is going to come back and save us. We wait with meaning and purpose, and joy and praising.

From start to finish Luke’s Gospel is saturated in joy. Right at the end in the last verses of Luke, while Jesus was blessing the disciples, He left them and went to heaven. And the disciple’s response? We read:

Then they worshipped him [Jesus] and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. (Luke 24:52-53)

And while we wait for Jesus to return, we can introduce more people to the Lord, we can help people turn from their ways and follow Jesus, and while we do that, we will have joy, for the saviour of the world has done His job. He has saved the world from sin. He rules over all political domains, he has saved us from hypocritical religious rituals and because of the hope of the resurrection we have rock solid confidence that we will rise again with bodies that will not grow old.

So, we live as 1 Peter 1 says:

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8-9)

John introduced the world to Jesus our saviour and this brought joy to many people. We wait for our saviour to return, and while we do, we wait with joy, praising God, and introducing others to Him, knowing that He is the Lord.

As Pauls says:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom 15:13)

May it be so. Amen.

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[1] William G. Morrice (1984), Joy in the New Testament p91

[2] Some say there are three songs as they don’t count 2:14. The other songs are May’s song (1:46-55), Zechariah’s song (1:68-79) and Simons praise (2:29-32).

[3] Darrell L. Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50 (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) p75

[4] William Hendriksen (1973), The Gospel of Matthew p156

[5] Norval Geldenhuys, The Gospel of Luke (New International Commentary on the New Testament) p61

[6] Norval Geldenhuys, The Gospel of Luke (New International Commentary on the New Testament) p61

[7] William Hendriksen (1973), The Gospel of Matthew p164

[8] At the 10am service I got two of my youth leaders to fill in a talk feedback form (as I may introduce this at youth next year). One pointed out that I conflated the Pharisees and the Priest together. This is a fair comment. They said a better example would be the temple priests paying off Judas to betray Jesus.

[9] I used this line as a throwback to a previous talk, I’m not sure it was clear that I was doing this.

[10] R.T. France (2013), Luke (Teach the Text Commentary Series)

[11] Leon Morris, Luke (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries) p68, citing Mishnah, Tamid 5:2 and William Hendriksen (1978), The Gospel of Luke, p68

[12] I side with Morris, Luke p69 who draws on the singular “your prayer” has been answered taking it to mean the one prayer and not a persistent prayer for children in the past. J. C. Ryle and Hendriksen disagree. Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50 p82-83 doesn’t think the prayer was for a child but does see God tackling both problems of a lack of a son and Israel’s plea for rescue at once. I tried to get this idea across later.

[13] Alysia Harris, Joy

[14] Australian Timothy Weeks never gave up 'hope of release' from Taliban captivity

[15] 'I never ever gave up hope': Wagga academic Timothy Weeks details 1200-day ordeal as Taliban hostage