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Celebrating Advent - December 20

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Sing: Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

Reading: Luke 1:67-80
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.

Summary (for your preparation): It dawned on me today that this section begins focused on John ("and his father Zechariah") yet most of what he says is focused on God's plan of salvation through Jesus. Zechariah does address his son, John, in verse 76. Perhaps we see this as a blessing from a father to a son, anointing him for his role to prepare the way of the messiah.  Zechariah sees many things that we could'nt cover in one sitting so I would like to point out verse 68-69, which says:

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...

Here is a quote from the IVP New Testament Commentaries: "This Messiah is a picture of strength, which is why Zechariah mentions the horn. The horns of an ox are used for protection and for defeating opponents (Deut 33:17). The same image is used for a warrior (2 Sam 22:3; Ps 75:4-5, 10; 148:14) or a king who saves (1 Sam 2:10; Ps 132:17). Luke's starting point for thinking about Jesus is that he is a king."

Teaching Tip: There is a good Bible reading tip that is available to us here. The idea of a horn of salvation won't make any sense to us but it did make sense to the author and his audience. By helping them see what the author meant they will not only gain insight into these passages but they will learn how to rightly handle God's Word. 

Questions/Responses:

What is Zechariah doing? He is blessing God and rejoicing in God's plan of salvation

 Who is Zechariah talking about? Jesus

 What does Zechariah mean when he says that Jesus is a horn of salvation for us? Does he mean that Jesus is a trumpet? A car horn? No, no, no. Zechariah was talking about the horn of an ox, which are big animals. Their horns were used for protection and fighting enemies. Horns in the Bible also remind us of warriors and kings.

 Was Jesus going to be a king? Yes, he was going to be a great king, stronger than all of his enemies and the enemies of all of God's people. 

 Does God ever forget his promises? No, God always remembers his covenant. 

What does salvation mean? It is God's plan to save his people from their enemies, including their greatest enemy of them all: their own sin. Sin is a bigger enemy than sickness and a greater enemy than Satan. God sent Jesus to die on the cross to give his people forgiveness of their sins. 

Prayer and Ending

Prayer: Father in heaven, we give you thanks that you are mighty and strong. You have sent your son, Jesus Christ, and even though he was only a baby, he grew up to trust in you, His Father. We are thankful that he never sinned and that he is greater than all of our enemies. Jesus is greater than Satan and Jesus is able to forgive our sin, our worst enemy because he paid for it when he died on the cross. Help us to believe in Jesus with all of our hearts. AMEN.

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