Calvary Road Baptist Church
“ZACHARIAS’ BENEDICTUS”
Luke 1.68-79
This is the second of the messages in Luke’s Gospel that considers one of the four hymns related to the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The hymns, the first of which was Mary’s Magnificat, are unique to Luke’s Gospel, and surround the coming of the Savior, with two hymns occurring before and two hymns occurring after His birth in Bethlehem.
To make sure you are up to speed, allow me to restate some facts you may already be familiar with: Luke’s Gospel introduction is found in Luke 1.1-4. In verses five through twenty-five the first scene opens in which we are introduced to an old priest named Zacharias and the appearance to him by the angel Gabriel while he is ministering inside the Temple to tell him that his aged wife Elizabeth would become pregnant and bear him a son who was to be named John.
The next scene Luke presents to his readers is when Elizabeth was six months pregnant, the angel Gabriel appearing again to a young virgin named Mary in Nazareth to the North to inform her that she had been chosen by God to bear Israel’s promised Messiah.
Are any of you aware that some third-wave feminists are now voicing objection to God’s selection of Mary to bear the Christ child, because He did not ask her for permission to use her body in that way, thereby demonstrating the ultimate in patriarchy and violating her rights as a woman to determine the use of her body and to choose whether or not to have a child? Please.
Anyway, Mary was directed by Gabriel to name her child Jesus. Wondering how this would happen, the angel explained to her that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her, and she would deliver the Son of God. This is found in Luke 1.26-38. Shortly after this miraculous event predicted by the angel Gabriel took place, Mary traveled South to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who Gabriel had informed her was by then six months pregnant. It was at this third scene that Mary uttered her Magnificat, verses 39-55, the first of the hymns we looked at.
The fourth scene opened at the same location as the third scene, Zacharias and Elizabeth’s house in the Judean hill country, but with Mary returning to Nazareth as Elizabeth’s pregnancy reached full term. In this scene Elizabeth’s baby was delivered, eight days later at the time of his circumcision Elizabeth and Zacharias broke family tradition and named their son John, and Zacharias’ tongue was loosed after the nine months of silence imposed on him by the angel Gabriel. When that happened, Zacharias broke forth into what is commonly referred to as his Benedictus, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.” Please turn to Luke 1.56:
56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.
57 Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.
58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.
64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.
65 And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea.
66 And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.
67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,
68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
The friends and loved ones of Zacharias and Elizabeth knew God was at work in answering the godly old couple’s prayers. People that advanced in years did not have a child apart from God’s intervention. Did this wonder remind them of Abraham and Sarah having Isaac in their old age? How could it not? Then Zacharias was finally able to speak after nine months, and for a while he praised God.
At some point, the old priest and new dad was filled with the Holy Ghost and began to prophesy. What he said, verses 68-79 has come down to us as his Benedictus. So, what is benedictus? It’s a Latin word from the same root that gives us the word benediction and is the Latin word referring to speaking well of someone or some thing.[1] In many ceremonies, such as weddings and funerals, you will hear the words invocation and benediction used.
I used to from time to time be invited by the Monrovia city council to deliver the invocation to begin the weekly city council meeting, until I rebuked them for secretly allowing an abortion clinic to operate in Monrovia for twenty-five years without anyone knowing about it. Strangely, I have not been invited back to the Monrovia city council chambers to bring an invocation since then.
But invocation refers to an opening prayer asking blessing and benediction referring to a concluding prayer expressing gratitude at the close of an event or ceremony. Like Mary’s Magnificat, Zacharias’ Benedictus features two distinct parts. However, in contrast to Mary’s praise, which began with a specific reference to her and then expanded to refer to multitudes, Zacharias does the reverse. He began by speaking of God, His people, and the house of David, and then turned his audience’s attention to his newborn son, John, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
With your Bible open to that passage, consider the two parts of Zacharias’ Benedictus with me, words spoken by the old priest who was a brand-new dad sixth months before the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ:
First, ZACHARIAS SPOKE PRAISE FOR GOD’S DELIVERANCE THROUGH HIS MESSIAH
In verses 68-75 Zecharias reviewed six key features of the salvation God would accomplish through His Son, Jesus Christ:
First, Zacharias blessed the Lord God of Israel:
68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.
Though it was not yet apparent to many people, God had already begun His great work among His people. The Lord Jesus Christ had already left heaven’s glory and had taken up residence in human flesh with a fully human nature in the womb of Mary, though He would not be born for another six months. However, the impossible feat of the God who is greater than the universe He has created and that He sustains is in a woman’s womb. But not just any woman’s womb. The Virgin Mary’s womb. Miracle piled on top of miracle! It had always been God’s desire to dwell among His people. He communed with Adam in the Garden of Eden until Adam sinned.[2] Then He arranged for a Tabernacle and then a Temple so that He could dwell in the midst of His people in the holy of holies.[3] And now He dwelled in the midst of His people, first, in Mary’s womb, and later, walking among men. Why did He do that? He did that so that He might redeem His people. And though the reference to “his people” here speaks directly to the elect among the Jewish people, it applies to the redemption of His people wherever they are and whoever they might be, Jewish or Gentile. And part of the reason for redeeming His people? Though Zacharias made direct reference to “being delivered out of the hand of our enemies” to serve Him without fear, another reason for redeeming His people was to save them from their sins. Yet another reason was to dwell with His people by yet another means, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit of God, who was Christ’s ascension gift to His people.[4] To describe how God would accomplish these feats Zacharias said, in verse 69,
“And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.”
Of course, the horn of salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ, from the house of David, our Lord’s physical ancestor through the bloodline of His mother, Mary.[5]
Next, Zacharias testified that the Lord God of Israel is trustworthy and true:
70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began.
God has frequently called and equipped men to speak on His behalf. Before the Flood there was Enoch, mentioned in Jude’s short letter:
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
There was also righteous Noah, a preacher of righteousness, just to name two.[6] After the Flood, of course, God raised up such men as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Jonah, Daniel, Hosea, and many more. Each of those men was witness to God’s faithfulness and gave testimony to what God planned to do in the execution of His great drama of redemption.
The third key feature Zacharias made mention of is found in verse 71:
“That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us.”
Here we see what was so prominent in the minds of Jewish people. Their nation was born in slavery and surrounded by Egyptians. They were delivered into the Promised Land, though still surrounded by Gentiles who sought their destruction. Thousands of years later, how much has changed? Therefore, it was no wonder deliverance from the hand of all that hate them figured so prominently in his thinking.
Fourth, there is the underlying mercy of God and His covenant, verse 72:
“To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant.”
Mercy to the fathers, specifically to Abraham, and to Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve tribes. And God’s mercy was extended in the form of the Abrahamic Covenant.
Fifth, Zacharias made mention of the oath God swore to father Abraham, verse 73:
“The oath which he sware to our father Abraham.”
What is the oath God swore to Abraham? It is found in several places, with the first place being Genesis chapter 12. Let me read just the most salient features, found in Genesis 12.1-3:
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
This is the core feature of this unconditional covenant, meaning it is a contractual obligation God entered with Abraham with God and only God obligated to fulfill the conditions of the covenant, regardless of the personal conduct of Abraham or his descendants.
Sixth, in verses 74-75 Zecharias declared the goal of the deliverance to be wrought by God’s Messiah; to serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness:
74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life,
Until we retire and move to Florida. Oh, it doesn’t say that, does it? The Messiah, the seed of the woman, will bruise the head of the serpent, Genesis 3.15. He will thereby bind the strongman.[7]
Of course, this great deliverance would be accomplished by Christ’s death, burial, resurrection from the dead, and His glorious ascension to God’s right hand on high. Being so delivered by Christ’s victorious substitutionary sacrifice, His people will then be able to serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness, all the days of our life. In the New Testament, it mentions that we have not been given the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and a sound mind.[8]
Then, ZECHARIAS SPOKE PROPHETICALLY ABOUT THE MESSIAH AND HIS SON JOHN
76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
He declared to his son, John, that he would be called the prophet of the Highest, because he would go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways. That is verse 76. Is that not exactly what John the Baptist did as an adult? He was the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ. He prepared the way. And once he pointed the Lord Jesus Christ out to His first disciples, he quickly faded into the background, saying, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”[9]
Let me interject here what I heard yesterday or the day before. I don’t know whether I read it on social media, heard it on YouTube, or somebody said it. It was something along the line of
“If you spoil your children you will raise your grandchildren, but if you raise your children you will be able to spoil your grandchildren.”
Did you get it? Did you get it? You don’t have to be bright to get it, so I hope you got it. One of the aspects of raising children is to prepare them for a life of decreasing so that God may increase. You do not do this by focusing your entire world around your children. Tempting though that might be, that is forbidden. It is destructive to the child to make your child the center and focus of your attention. Your world should not revolve around your child. You should grab your kids, put them on your hip, and bring them with you as you demonstrate to them that your world revolves around the Savior. And then, maybe, as they grow and mature, maybe they will begin to envision themselves as believers someday and will already have in their mind how the Christian life ought to be lived. Please, God, help your children, by not allowing them to be the focus of your attention. Please learn from old and decrepit women how to raise kids. Amen? And you young guys, learn from crotchety old guys how to be good dads. Amen? ... raising your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. But that’s an entire other sermon.
Next, he perfectly summed up John the Baptist’s preaching in verse 77:
“To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins.”
Advance with me some thirty years to John the Baptist’s ministry on the shores of the Jordan River in advance of the Savior’s public ministry commencing. Did not John the Baptist preach to convince people of their sinfulness? Yes, he did. Did he not challenge sinners to repent? Yes, he did. Did he not baptize those who had repented and refused to baptize those who had not repented? Yes, he did. And on top of all that, did he not point men to Christ? Yes, he did. John the Baptist fulfilled in practice the ministry his aged father predicted for him and the ministry that his aged father almost certainly trained him to accomplish as he raised him before he passed off the scene. He handed the baton to his son to continue the race.
Third, in verse 78 Zacharias said,
“Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us.”
This verse shows Zecharias moving from his newborn son’s future ministry to the not yet born Son of God’s ministry. It was the tender mercy of our God that prompted Him to come. And Zacharias identified Him as “the Dayspring from on high.” Such a label refers to something like the first light of the sun to dispel the darkness has come from on high. And He has visited us. Thus, Zacharias understood that, in a sense, the Savior had already arrived, He just hadn’t been born yet.
Finally, verse 79, completing the imagery begun in verse 78, he said,
“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
What an appeal to the senses. If the Lord Jesus Christ was likened to the first rays of the morning sun to chase away the darkness of night in verse 78, He is also shown to be a light to them that sit in darkness. The problem, of course, is that there are some that love darkness more than light. There are people who have sat under the preaching of the Gospel for weeks, for months, for years, for decades, and scores of years, and they are so comfortable with the darkness they close their eyes. But here Zecharias refers to not in darkness only, in the shadow of death. That’s what spiritual darkness is. This is spiritual darkness caused by death’s shadow. And death is the consequence of what? Sin. But that’s not all. He guides our feet into the way of peace. Of course, that suggests conflict, war, trouble, disturbance, and turmoil, which is exactly what sinful men’s lives are like, with the Lord Jesus guiding the feet of His own into the way of peace. This suggests that wherever you are there is darkness, wherever you are there is doom, wherever you are there is death, wherever you are there is destruction, and wherever you are there is desperation. But the Savior brings not only light to see and comprehend reality and danger that cannot otherwise be seen, but He also guides to another place, the way of peace. This is not so much a sinner’s physical removal to another geographical location as it is a spiritual relocation from one kingdom to another entirely, such as the Apostle Paul wrote about in Colossians 1.13:
“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.”
This imagery of light mentioned by Zacharias will figure prominently a half century later when John’s Gospel opens with these words:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
Mary began by speaking about God’s work as it related to her and then she expanded the scope of her praise of God to include His dealings with the multitudes. Additionally, she was a woman, a virgin, and very young. Zecharias was very old, certainly no virgin, and very much a man. What a contrast these two present. And while Mary spoke first of herself and then of God’s dealings with many, Zacharias began with God’s dealings with many and narrowed the focus of his comments to his newborn son and the Savior his son would prepare his people for. Thus, they handled the issues they spoke of in reverse sequence from the other. Mary, you will remember, believed what the angel Gabriel had said to her and the result was a commendation of her faith by her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s husband Zacharias, on the other hand, when confronted by that same angel inside the Temple in Jerusalem, doubted and was then silenced by the angel so that he could not speak until after his son was born.
What great contrasts of individuals Luke presents to us. Other than both being Jewish, they couldn’t be more different — faith and doubt, young and old, woman and man, speaking and dumb, a virgin and a married man. God used them both in a merciful and gracious way as instruments to accomplish His will, achieve His great purpose, and act out their roles in His grand drama.
At the end, the Lord Jesus Christ had to do the saving work all by Himself. No one could suffer with Him or for Him. Only He could be our substitute on the cross of Calvary, the Just for the unjust that He might bring us to God. Before He was born, we find two profoundly diverse people useful to God’s purpose and used by God. Through it all it was God, the merciful God, the mighty God, the covenant-making and keeping God, the truthful and trustworthy God, who dispatched His Son, the Son of the Highest, to do what only He could do to provide so great a salvation.
It was a great salvation that the Virgin Mary was a partaker of. It was a great salvation that both Zacharias and Elizabeth were partakers of, along with their late in life son, John the Baptist. And it is still a great salvation, full and free to whosoever will come to the Savior, Jesus Christ, the crucified, risen, and ascended to glory King of kings and Lord of lords. The question is whether it is a salvation you possess. Do you know Jesus Christ in a saving, which is to say, transformative way? Has God brought you to the end of yourself, so you would turn from your sins, turn from yourself, and lay hold of Christ as your personal Savior?
If not, I urge you to speak to me about such matters. If so, I urge you to speak to me about God’s will for your life, such as believer baptism, such as Church membership, such as service to God while you remain in this life. You might say, “But I am getting on in years.” Is your memory so bad? Is your clutch slipping so badly that you’ve forgotten the phrase that I’ve talked about, “so long as you live,” “so long as you live,” “so long as you live”?
“But pastor, there are other things that I’ve got planned.” It’s not so much important what you’ve got planned as what God has planned for you. So, whether you are young or old, whether you are a man or a woman, whether you are talkative or mute, God has a plan for you. And central to that plan for you is not your hopes, wishes, and aspirations, but the Lord Jesus Christ.
Have you come to the end of yourself so that you might turn to Christ, and embrace Him as your Savior, so that He might give you life, so that He might give you forgiveness, so that He might give you His ascension gift of the Holy Spirit to indwell you, to reproduce the Spirit of God’s personality in you. And one aspect of that personality is faithfulness in service to Him. How about it, my friend? Do you know the Savior? Do you serve the Savior? Do you serve the Savior the way He wants or the way you want?
__________
[1] Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1996), page 172.
[2] Genesis 3.8
[3] Exodus 25.8; 29.45-46
[4] John 16.7; 20.22; Ephesians 1.13
[5] Luke 3.23-31
[6] 2 Peter 2.5
[7] Matthew 12.29; Mark 3.27
[8] 2 Timothy 1.7
[9] John 3.30
Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.
Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church