We're starting a new series today though in the Gospel of Luke, and that series is called "Kingdom Come." And so I'm really excited about this series. It's going to be a long series. We're not going to rush our way through Luke's Gospel. So knowing it's going to be a long series, we're going to be taking some breaks every once in a while. This summer we might take a break for a topical series. We're going to be in Luke for a while, and that's a good thing. It's a good place to plant ourselves.
As I was explaining that to someone earlier this week, they just asked a question. It was a good question. They said, So how exactly do you go about picking what we're going to have for a series? Like, how do you decide what to preach from?
Well, in general, we try to keep the main diet of the church here at Providence sequentially expository, which is just a fancy way of saying we take a book of the Bible and we work our way through it from beginning to end. We want the text to guide us. We want to have the guardrails of God's Word holding the pastors accountable to how we preach. So we can't avoid hard texts, we can't avoid tough subjects. And even more than that, as we preach through that way, we as a church get to experience God's word preached within the context that it was written, right? So that's our general idea. We like to stop every once in a while for topical series like we had this fall, the Kingdom Sexuality series. We'll probably be having one this summer as well. But in general, we like to do what we're going to be doing through the Gospel of Luke, preaching this book in its entirety. We also like to balance the Old Testament and the New Testament.
We want to give you as the body of Christ a sense that you can nod and agree with Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16 that all Scripture is breathed out by God. That all Scripture is profitable. We don't just go to epistles. We don't just go to Psalms. We don't just go to the New Testament. We look at the entirety of God's Word and we recognize it is all inspired. It is all inerrant. It is all meant to build up the man, the woman of God into Christlikeness.
And so in looking at that, that kind of helped us to hone in on what we're going to do with this series. So why the Gospel of Luke?
Well, for starters, this summer as we sat as elders brainstorming— and you want to see like a beautiful example of plurality at work? I think one of the great examples is when we sit down to think about these sermons. I'll come with some ideas and having prayed and brainstormed, and then we just sit down in our retreat and we just talk and we discuss and we allow the Spirit to guide us and we work our way through it and we pray. And it's just sweet every year to see how the Lord just, just brings our hearts together as elders to say, I think this is how the Lord would lead us. And so I'm able to lead us in that. But as a plurality of elders, we're able to come together in unity and walk through that and stand up before you and say, we feel confident the Lord is leading us here.
6 · The pastor explains the primary rationale for choosing Luke: in four years at Providence, they have never preached through a Gospel, making it a natural choice to focus on Jesus' life and ministry
And we think he's leading us to the Gospel of Luke because in the 4 years that I've been here at Providence, and it's almost been 4 years now, which seems kind of crazy, we've never done a gospel. This is our first time spending time looking at the life and ministry of Jesus. So I don't know if that was really like a groundbreaking leadership moment as much as a duh leadership moment. Let's do a gospel.
7 · The pastor explains why Luke rather than Matthew, Mark, or John: Matthew is more familiar, Mark is shorter and omits important content, and John, though popular, lacks some of Jesus' most memorable sayings found in Luke
So we're going to be doing that. We're doing Luke because I think most of you are probably more familiar with Matthew's Gospel. It's January, the resolutions are raging in their power, and so you're probably starting in Matthew right now as you read. And maybe you do that each year. Mark's Gospel is a little bit shorter, and so it's missing some of the important aspects that we see in Luke's Gospel we wanted to highlight. And even though John's Gospel is maybe the most popular of all the Gospels, and for good reason, it's got such an incredible way that John works through the themes of those It also omits some of the most memorable sayings of Jesus that we see in Luke's Gospel.
8 · The pastor restates the series title and confirms Luke as the textual home for the coming months
So that's where we're going to spend our series, spend our time in this series called Kingdom Come.
9 · The pastor states the theological purpose of the series: to explore how Jesus the Messiah inaugurates God's kingdom and how that kingdom arrival transforms the identity of God's people
We're going to look at the account of Luke. We're going to consider how the Messiah Jesus marks the onset of the Kingdom of God and how that kingdom's arrival reshapes our notion of what it means to be God's people.
10 · The pastor shifts from series introduction to the specific question of Luke's authorial purpose, setting up the exposition of Luke 1:1-4
So, why did Luke write his Gospel?
11 · The pastor reads Luke 1:1-4 aloud, establishing Luke's stated purpose: to provide Theophilus (and by extension all readers) with an orderly, carefully researched account based on eyewitness testimony so that he may have certainty about what he has been taught
Well, look with me at verses 1-4 of Luke 1. Hear God's holy and authoritative Word. "Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word and ministers of the Word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. Word of the Lord. May it write its truth upon our hearts.
12 · The pastor provides linguistic and stylistic context for Luke 1:1-4, noting that these verses form one highly polished Greek sentence, signaling Luke's education and literary skill
We're going to continue in chapter 1. We're going to read all the way to verse 25 later today, but to start there, we see Luke's purpose in writing the Gospel. Those 4 verses are actually some of the most accomplished Greek you'll find in the New Testament. That's actually one big sentence in the Greek, in the original language. And with it, Luke is signaling his bona fides that he is an educated man. He's an educated writer. There's an eloquence to the way Luke's pen hits the paper.
13 · The pastor identifies Luke as Paul's physician companion and explains Luke's methodology: interviewing eyewitnesses to Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, and compiling their testimony into a historically accurate, orderly account
If you remember, Luke is Paul's ministry companion. He's a physician. It's the good doctor Luke. And he tells us he intends to give an orderly account. He's gone to the eyewitnesses. He's gone to those who walked with Jesus, who knew Him in His life and ministry, who were there at His death and His burial, who witnessed the resurrection. He's gone to those eyewitnesses. He's compiled all the evidence and all the data. And he's gathered into this historically accurate account.
14 · The pastor refutes the notion that Luke-Acts is mere legendary embellishment of a church origin story, asserting that Luke's purpose is to record facts, history, and the authentic actions and teachings of Jesus
And he is concerned with accuracy. Luke in this Gospel and the compendium volume Acts— there are really two parts to one book. Luke-Acts is how they're often referred to. His purpose in that, he's not trying to embellish a really cool origin story for the new church. Like the church kind of appears on the scene And all of a sudden, it's like, well, we've got to have a good reason for why we're here, right? Luke's eloquent. Let's have him write this really cool description of how we came about. No, that's not what he's doing. That's not at all what he's doing. He wants to relay to us facts and history. The authentic action and the authentic teachings of Jesus.
15 · The pastor explains that Theophilus, whose name means 'friend of God,' is addressed with the title 'most excellent,' indicating he holds an official position and is well-established in society
And he's giving them to this man called Theophilus. It's a man whose name literally means "friend of God." He's some sort of official. We don't know exactly what his position is, but the title "most excellent," "most excellent Theophilus," that's a title you'd give to someone who holds a position. They're well established in society.
16 · The pastor explains that Luke's purpose in writing is to give Theophilus certainty about the oral Christian tradition he has heard, now compiled under the Spirit's inspiration into an ordered written account
And Luke is writing to Theophilus so that he can have certainty concerning the things he's been taught. He's heard the oral tradition and Luke has compiled that oral tradition, and under the inspiration of the Spirit, he now presents to Theophilus an ordered account.
17 · The pastor synthesizes Luke's purpose: to present evidence that Jesus is the Christ so that readers would have unshakable confidence in Jesus' identity and the nature of His kingdom
That's Luke's goal. He wants to present to Theophilus and to us evidence that Jesus is the Christ. That we would have an unshakable confidence in the knowledge of who Jesus was, who Jesus is, and the nature of His kingdom.
18 · The pastor prays, asking God to reveal Himself through the preaching of His Word, that the congregation might see the nature of the kingdom accurately and be shaped into a kingdom people
To that end, would you pray with me? Father, we are in need of Your words. Lord, we want our hearts to be planted firmly on the truth of Your gospel. Lord, that in your Son Jesus we have hope and a future, that in your Son Jesus our sins have been cast aside, you remember them no more, that in your Son Jesus there is life. So God, I ask that you would reveal yourself to us now in your word, in the preaching of your word. Let us see accurately the nature of your kingdom. And let us be shaped to become a kingdom people. For your glory and the glory of your Son Jesus, we pray all this. Amen.
19 · The pastor reads Luke 1:5-25 aloud, the opening narrative of Zechariah and Elizabeth—a righteous, barren, elderly couple to whom the angel Gabriel announces the miraculous birth of John the Baptist, who will prepare the way for the Lord
Well, continue with me in the rest of our passage this morning, verses 5 to 25. The beginning of Luke's orderly account. In the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah. Of the division of Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God, when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared before him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to wisdom, to the wisdom of the just. To make ready for the Lord a people prepared. And Zechariah said to the angel, how shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years. And the angel answered him, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, You will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.' And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went home. And after these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for 5 months she kept herself hidden, saying, 'Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.'
20 · The pastor briefly underscores the remarkable nature of the narrative just read, preparing to unpack its significance
It's quite a story.
21 · The pastor notes that Luke's Gospel is unique among the four in providing the backstory of John the Baptist's birth, whereas the others introduce John without explaining his origins
Luke's Gospel is the only gospel that backs up and gives us the details about how John the Baptist arrives on the scene. The other Gospels tell us about John the Baptist. They don't tell us how he gets there. Luke fills in the background of this remarkable tale.
22 · The pastor explains the organizational structure of the priesthood in Zechariah's day: 24 divisions of priests each serving two weeks per year plus feast times, providing context for Zechariah's service in the temple
We read about Zechariah. Zechariah is this priest. He's serving in the division of Abijah. So that's sort of the priest that's above him. To get kind of an understanding of what they're talking about there, in this day, all the priests were divided up into groups. There's 24 different groups of priests. And they all share the responsibility of serving in the temple. There's so many priests though, they don't all serve at once. Each division serves individually 2 different weeks out of the year, and then they all come together for the time of the feasts. So Passover and Feast of Booths, things like that. So it's Zechariah's turn with his group to serve in the temple.
23 · The pastor clarifies that Luke's description of Zechariah and Elizabeth as righteous and blameless is not to present them as spiritual elites but to provide context for understanding what follows
Luke tells us more details. He says that Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, they're righteous. And they're blameless. Luke's point in telling us that isn't to make us think that Zechariah and Elizabeth are like some sort of super Jews, right? That they're like this elite class of religious faithful people. That's why they're part of the story. That's not what Luke is doing.
24 · The pastor reveals the interpretive purpose of Luke's description: to set up the contrast between their righteousness and their childlessness, which would have been seen in their culture as divine disfavor
It's to give us context for understanding what he writes immediately after that. Zechariah and Elizabeth are righteous and blameless Verse 7: But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
25 · The pastor draws on contemporary experiences of infertility to help the congregation feel the depth of Elizabeth's suffering—years, then decades of unfulfilled longing, with no medical recourse and no one to care for them in old age
I have a hard time thinking of things in life that are as difficult as suffering through a lifelong inability to have children. It's hard. Infertility is hard. It's hard when a couple suffers through it only for a season of 5, 6, or 7 years. It's hard when that goes on for a prolonged period and they have to enter into adoption. It's especially hard if there's no other options or recourse for them and it just keeps going on and on. And as they age and as they start to near their own death, they realize we're going to die, we're going to enter our own age, and there will be no one to care for us. We have no children.
26 · The pastor contrasts modern euphemistic language around infertility with the blunt cultural language of Elizabeth's day—'barren'—a word that stigmatized her as defective and shameful
Children. And if we think it's hard today, think of what it's like in Elizabeth's day. This is a culture devoid of politically correct references to things. Are they gentle in the account, saying Elizabeth was unable to have kids? Elizabeth is barren. What a hard word. She's barren. That aspect of her womanhood, it doesn't function correctly. It's like this, this, this stain that she has to carry around with the people.
27 · The pastor shares a personal story of experiencing social pressure about children early in marriage—even without infertility—to illustrate how much more unbearable such pressure would be for a couple truly struggling
I remember when Hannah and I first got married, we had loved ones, well-meaning people, friends and family constantly asking, so when are you guys going to have kids? We were just waiting. I was in seminary. We weren't struggling with infertility, and it was still kind of annoying. It was just like, quit bugging us, get off our back. It'll happen.
28 · The pastor paints a detailed emotional picture of the compounding pressures and pain experienced by couples struggling with infertility—social expectations, self-imposed pressure, guilt over not feeling joy for others, and the constant reminders at Mother's Day, baby showers, and social media
I can't imagine what the expectation and the pressure is like for that couple who wants to have babies, and they've been trying to have babies. Those expectations and pressures from family aren't going away, but now they've become expectations and pressures even from the couple themselves, and it builds and it increases, and it comes to that point where it's just unbearable. Every Mother's Day is a fresh reminder. The baby showers in your care group and in the church hurt. You want to be happy for that woman. You feel terrible in your heart that you're not happy for her. And so you're guilt-ridden as well as wondering why it's happening. You see your best friend's sonogram pictures on Facebook and there's just tears. It's an act of faith to hit like on the picture itself.
29 · The pastor contrasts modern medical options for infertility with Elizabeth's total lack of recourse—no specialists, no tests, no treatments, no explanations—only the blunt, final verdict: barren
Now you think of Elizabeth's situation. There's no fertility specialist. There's no one you get to visit. There's no doctor who can run tests. There isn't a special hormone they can hone in on that if you take this hormone, it might be a breakthrough. There aren't answers even to tell you what the problem is. It's him, it's her, it's just She's barren.
30 · The pastor reveals the theological assumption in Elizabeth's culture: barrenness was interpreted as divine judgment for hidden sin, adding shame and accusation to the physical and emotional suffering
Barren in a culture that has the added assumption from neighbors and loved ones no longer asking, "When are you going to have kids?" but now whispering to each other, "How did they sin? What did they do that her womb is closed?"
31 · The pastor returns to Luke's description of Zechariah and Elizabeth as righteous and blameless, now revealing its full purpose: to refute the cultural assumption that barrenness was punishment for sin and to signal God's sovereign purpose in their situation
That's why Luke puts in there, righteous and blameless. Luke also reveals in this a providential purpose in her barrenness. God's sovereign hand is all over these verses.
32 · The pastor announces the first major point of the sermon: Luke's opening narrative demonstrates the importance of prayer and the pervasive presence of God's providence, even when initially hidden from view
The first thing I want us to see, our first point, is that Luke shows us the importance of prayer and providence as he opens his Gospel. There's a providential purpose happening in this letter. God's everywhere, even when we first don't see Him.
33 · The pastor corrects a common misconception about priestly service: with so many priests, an individual priest might only once in his lifetime have the honor of offering incense in the inner area of the temple
Zechariah's serving in the temple. In that day, they've got more priests than they know what to do with. So a priest actually getting to go in and make the sacrifice, make the sacrifice of incense, that maybe happens once in a priest's lifetime. I kind of have this image, you probably do too. If you're a priest in the Old Testament or in Jesus' day, aren't you kind of always offering sacrifices? Isn't it just like this constant kind of rhythm to life? Sure, you do other things, but you're consistently in the temple. You're consistently doing— no. There's so many priests that you only serve a couple of weeks a year, and maybe once in your entire life do you actually get the privilege of going in to offer the sacrifices on behalf of the people.
34 · The pastor paints the emotional context of Zechariah's selection by lot—a once-in-a-lifetime honor generating excitement, celebration, and high anticipation, culminating in the angel's sudden appearance
This is a momentous occasion for Zechariah. It's his one opportunity. They draw lots, it says, to decide who will get the honors. So they cast the lots and Zechariah's name gets drawn. It's finally going to be his day. I have no doubt that Zechariah is not going through the motions of ministry on this day. There's probably this palpable excitement. He goes home and tells Elizabeth that he gets to be the one to do it. They're probably rejoicing and celebrating in anticipation of it. Elizabeth can't wait for him to come home and described what it was like. And on the big day as he enters the inner area to offer incense, an angel of the Lord appears.
35 · The pastor highlights Luke's historical precision, evidenced by the specific detail that the angel appeared to the right of the altar—showing Luke's careful interview methodology
One thing I love about Luke's account is just the little details. You can tell he's a historian. Where does the angel appear? In the inner area? No, the angel appears to the right hand. It's like he knows the details. He sat down. Tell me about it. Describe it to me. To the right hand of the altar, the angel appears.
36 · The pastor asserts that the accumulation of details—the lot falling on Zechariah at this precise moment in redemptive history—reveals God's providential orchestration, not random chance
All of this is just screaming to us that God is providentially present in what's happening to them. It's no random chance that the lot falls on Zechariah.
37 · The pastor uses a humorous hypothetical scenario—God scrambling to make His plan work after the lots fall—to demonstrate by absurdity that God's providence works forward from His eternal plan, not backward from circumstances
It's not like God is working backwards from that point. Well, okay, it looks like, oh, Zechariah is going to be the priest this year. I really would like to have the Messiah come, and that means The new Elijah has to come, and if it's gonna be Zechariah, okay. Oh, his wife is barren. That's a little bit of a curveball, but thankfully I'm God, so I can do a miracle here and we can get John the Baptist on the scene. Now let's look at Zeke's family. I need to have a virgin in this family. I don't wanna make Isaiah's words untrue. Okay, Zeke doesn't have anybody. Elizabeth, Ellie. Oh, okay, good. Mary. Whew, it's all gonna work out. That's not what's happening. Not even close.
38 · The pastor asserts that Gabriel's appearance makes God's providential orchestration unmistakable—this is not coincidence but divine appointment
God's hand is in the lot falling on Zechariah. And if we didn't get it up to this point, it's dead obvious when he walks into the temple and Gabriel bursts onto the scene.
39 · The pastor identifies Gabriel as the same angel who appeared to Daniel in response to prayer, establishing a pattern: Gabriel's appearance signals that God is answering the prayers of His people
Gabriel. Even people who aren't really commonly attending church know the name Gabriel, right? Zechariah would have known the name Gabriel. This is the same Gabriel who was on the scene in Daniel 8 and 9. Daniel, he's crying out in prayer. He's asking God for deliverance. He's confessing his sins and the sins of the people. And he's just crying out and saying, "But I know You are a merciful God. I know You will answer our prayers." And as he's praying, Gabriel appears before him. And Gabriel says to him, promises these prayers, they will be answered.
40 · The pastor asserts that Gabriel's identity itself is theologically significant: his appearance means God is moving in response to the prayers of His people
So an angel shows up. He's freaking out. And then the angel says, oh, by the way, I'm not like just some secondary angel they sent. They didn't have anything better to do today. I'm Gabriel. Gabriel signifies that God is moving. He's heard the cries of the people. Gabriel tells us that God answers prayer.
41 · The pastor makes the central theological claim of the first point: Gabriel's appearance demonstrates that God answers prayer at both the cosmic level (the coming of the Messiah) and the personal level (Zechariah and Elizabeth's barrenness)
And here's what we see in this account that we can lose sight of. Gabriel is telling us that God answers prayers on the macro level, on the big picture level, on the universal worldwide cosmic level, and he's telling us God answers prayers on the micro level, on the personal level.
42 · The pastor demonstrates the macro-micro dynamic: Gabriel announces both the cosmic fulfillment of messianic prophecy and the personal answer to Zechariah's prayer for a child
God cares about the plight of Israel in Daniel's day. He's about to bring to fulfillment the promises He made to Daniel. Huge cosmic kingdom inaugurating answers to prayer are happening. The Messiah is about to arrive. And Gabriel tells Zechariah, "God has answered your prayer. God's heard the cry of your heart."
43 · The pastor recounts a negative example from his college years: a pastor who mocked praying for parking spots, arguing that God is only concerned with 'big picture' matters, not life's details
I remember in college listening to a pastor preach a message. This pastor had a particularly low view of the sovereignty of God. And he made this illustration. It was meant to be convincing. It was a very crass illustration. You're not one of those Christians who drives around the parking lot and prays for a parking spot, are you? That doesn't work. God has bigger fish to fry than you getting a nice parking spot. And it's Minnesota, right? And not being cold as you scurry into the mall. His point he was making is Don't pray these little itty-bitty prayers about the minutia of life. God is sovereign in the sense of the big picture stuff, but He's not concerned about those things.
44 · The pastor refutes the illustration, arguing that limiting God's concern to 'big picture' matters actually minimizes God rather than honoring His sovereignty
That's such a small view of God. He thought it made God big, that God's only concerned about the big significant stuff, but actually minimized Him. Don't be silly praying little puny prayers about things God doesn't care about. That's a short distance from believing God doesn't care about the details of a parking space to thinking He doesn't care about the details of a barren woman's womb.
45 · The pastor reads Luke 1:13 aloud, emphasizing Gabriel's direct statement that Zechariah's personal prayer—not just Israel's corporate prayer—has been heard and answered
Verse 13: But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer, your prayer has been answered. And your wife Elizabeth, she will bear you a son, and you will call his name John.
46 · The pastor synthesizes the macro-micro dynamic into a theological assertion: God's announcement through Gabriel includes both cosmic redemptive history and intimate personal care—and to God, the 'small' prayers are not small
Gabriel doesn't just announce God is breaking 400 years of prophetic silence. He doesn't just announce that the kingdom of the Messiah is about to dawn. Gabriel announces, God hears your small prayers, and to God, they aren't small prayers.
47 · The pastor notes the duration of Zechariah and Elizabeth's prayer life is unspecified but clearly long, evidenced by Zechariah's euphemistic description of their advanced age
It doesn't tell us how long Zechariah and Elizabeth have been praying for a child. But I suspect it was for a long time. I love how the very tactful way that Zechariah describes the problem. Well, I'm old and my wife is advanced in years. Ah, well played. Our prayers are old and they are advanced in years.
48 · The pastor evokes the emotional weight of decades of unanswered prayer—countless nights of weeping and wondering if God was listening
How many times did they cry out for help? How many times did they just sit in their home and weep together, holding each other, wondering if God has heard them?
49 · The pastor asserts that Luke's account teaches that the God who governs cosmic history is the same God who attends to the smallest details of individual lives
Luke is teaching us through Gabriel's answer the great God of human history, the God who commands powerful angel armies, the God who orchestrates the rising of kings and the fall of nations, that God of great providence is He's also the God of life's smallest details.
50 · The pastor asserts that delayed answers to prayer do not indicate divine inattention—God was listening to Zechariah and Elizabeth's prayers throughout all the silent years
God's answer to their prayer was a long time coming. But Luke's also teaching us that a prayer whose answer is a long time coming doesn't mean that God wasn't listening all along.
51 · The pastor emphasizes the radical hopelessness of Elizabeth's situation—barren and postmenopausal—and asserts that God answered even this seemingly impossible prayer
God's answer gives hope to a hopeless situation. A barren woman who's now advanced in age. Barren, and doubly so now she's postmenopausal. In a day before modern medicine, there are few things more hopeless than the horror that Elizabeth has suffered her entire adult life. But God heard their seemingly hopeless prayer. He heard and then He acted.
52 · The pastor applies the theological claim to the congregation: Luke recorded this account so that we would know God still hears seemingly hopeless prayers today, and we should consider the sweetness of answered prayer
And the point for us this morning is that God is still hearing prayers just like that. There's a reason why Luke includes that account. He wants us to know that detail. He wants us to hear that word from Gabriel to Zechariah, "I'm here because your prayer has been answered." And he wants us to think about that and to consider how sweet was that news.
53 · The pastor applies the lesson concretely to specific situations in the congregation's experience: longstanding unanswered prayers about health, children, loved ones far from God—asserting that no situation is hopeless before this God
So even if you've been praying the same prayer for years, even if it seems like He hasn't heard, or that there's no chance that things will change, Luke tells us God is listening. Specifically, he tells us there's no situation There is no circumstance—not an old, barren womb; not a decades-old sickness that just seems it will be with you forever; not a loved one, maybe even a child, who just seems irredeemably distant from God; There's no situation that's hopeless. There is nothing impossible before this God.
54 · The pastor transitions from the first point (prayer and providence) to the second point (fighting unbelieving doubt), noting that Luke's purpose is both to build faith and to warn against unbelief
That's the point of prayer and providence we see in Luke chapter 1. But he also wants to help us not just to have faith, he wants to discourage unbelief. He wants us to fight against unbelieving doubt.
55 · The pastor previews Luke's comparative treatment of doubt in chapters 1-2, noting that both Zechariah and Mary doubt Gabriel's announcement but in fundamentally different ways
He's going to cover doubt in a couple of ways in the first two chapters. We'll see it more in the weeks to come. But there's a ton of comparison and contrast that's going on with Elizabeth and with Mary. Old woman, young virgin, old and barren. She's never even been intimate, right? There's all sorts of comparisons. Well, one of them is the response and the comparison of Zechariah to the angel Gabriel and Mary to the angel Gabriel. They both experience doubt. But they experience it in different ways.
56 · The pastor sets up the gravity of Zechariah's moment: this should be the pinnacle of his life—not only serving in the temple but receiving a direct word from God for the first time in 400 years
Luke's account isn't just about how God answers prayer. He's also teaching us how you respond to God. This should be the greatest day of Zechariah's life. He's serving in the temple. He's making the sacrifice. And then an angel appears to him. He's going to walk out of there, not only is he going to be the big man in the temple and the big man around Jerusalem, Man, he was the guy that got to serve in the temple today. No! First time in 400 years God spoke to someone, and it was Zechariah! It's enormous!
57 · The pastor emphasizes the personal relief promised by Gabriel: the decades of sorrow and tears over barrenness are about to be reversed into joy and gladness
And their suffering, it's going to come to an end. The angel says, "You're going to have joy and gladness. All the sorrow and the tears you've experienced, it's going to be flipped."
58 · The pastor reads Zechariah's response to Gabriel and translates it bluntly: in the face of angelic announcement and divine promise, Zechariah demands proof
And here's how he responds. Luke 1:18, "And Zechariah said to the angel, 'How shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.'" To put it in the vernacular, Gabriel says, "The Lord will answer your prayer." And Zechariah says, "Prove it."
59 · The pastor underscores the absurdity of Zechariah's doubt: Gabriel himself standing before him is the evidence, yet Zechariah demands more proof
It's stunning doubt, isn't it? Dude, there's an angel in front of you. Prove it. You just got a personal message from Gabriel. In the hierarchy of big deals in the angelic host, he's way up there. And Zechariah demands evidence. The evidence is kind of right in front of you. It's right there.
60 · The pastor reads Gabriel's response and interprets the tone: Gabriel is not boasting but rebuking Zechariah's foolishness—'I am Gabriel, I stand in God's presence, what more evidence do you need?'
And that's essentially what Gabriel says. Verse 19, and the angel answered him, I am Gabriel. This isn't him being arrogant. This is him being, you fool. I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
61 · The pastor reads Gabriel's judgment on Zechariah—struck mute until the prophecy is fulfilled—and reiterates the gravity of his doubt
And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time. Remarkable doubt.
62 · The pastor connects Luke's stated purpose (providing certainty) with his opening narrative strategy: Luke begins with an account of doubt in the face of overwhelming evidence to warn readers to be wary of their own hearts
Luke chapter 1 is just pregnant with significance, pun intended. He's underscoring with his writing in this Gospel account— why is he writing the Gospel? Remember, what was the reason he said? That you may have certainty concerning the things you've been taught. I want you to have certainty. I want to blow away the doubts. And so he leads off with an account of a man who doubts, even when the evidence is staring him in the face. He's teaching us: be wary of your heart.
63 · The pastor explains the symbolic significance of Zechariah's muteness: after 400 years of God's prophetic silence, Zechariah is told his son will be the new Elijah—the end of silence—and because he doubts, he himself is struck silent
The penalty is filled with significance. What's the discipline for Zechariah's doubt? You're going to be mute until the day this baby is born. Follow along what he just said. The Holy Spirit has departed from Israel for centuries. Gabriel has just told him, You're going to have a son. Your son is going to be the new Elijah. He's echoing the final promise that God gave in Malachi, the series we just finished. Malachi 4:5, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
64 · The pastor synthesizes the irony: Gabriel announces the end of prophetic silence and the coming of the kingdom, but Zechariah's unbelief renders him silent, unable to share the good news
Gabriel just ended 400 years of hearing from God, tells him the prophetic silence is about to be broken. Your son is going to be the prophet, the mouthpiece of God. The day of the Lord is on the verge of coming. His kingdom is going to arrive, and because you don't believe, you will be silent and unable to share this news. This is enormously significant for us today as well.
65 · The pastor describes the cultural valorization of doubt in contemporary society: doubt is seen as intellectual honesty, authenticity, and epistemic humility rather than unbelief
We live in an age of doubt. To be a doubter, that's to be authentic. Right? To disbelieve, to demand evidence, to look evidence square in the eyes and to continue to question. These are marks culturally of epistemological humility. You're just being real. There's almost a sacredness in our culture to being a doubter. To being a cynic, to constantly questioning. He's just, just being honest.
66 · The pastor distinguishes between the presence of doubt (which is universal) and the posture toward doubt (which is the moral issue)
Luke's point isn't that Zechariah is unique in his doubt. As we see Mary's doubt in the coming chapters, we'll realize doubt in general isn't unique. We all have doubts, don't we? The issue is how we carry those doubts. The issue is what we do with them.
67 · The pastor names specific doubts that assault believers: theodicy questions, the reliability of Scripture, and the relevance of God's Word in a secular age
Those haunting questions of why does evil happen? Why is this evil happening to me? Can I trust God's word? Is God's word still relevant in this scientific, postmodern, pluralistic culture?
68 · The pastor defines the proper Christian response to doubt: bring questions to God in humility, then submit to the authority of His Word and His answers
The call of Luke 1 isn't the cessation of all doubt. It's a call to doubt humbly. When doubt assaults us, Luke is calling us to turn to God with our questions and our uncertainty. And then He calls us to humble ourselves before the Word of the Lord and His answers.
69 · The pastor contrasts humble questioning with Zechariah's response: Zechariah's questions were not humble but skeptical, picking away at evidence rather than submitting to God's Word
Zechariah brings questions, but not in humility. He sees evidence and he still picks away at it. Even when the Lord's answers seem incomplete or they seem mysterious or they're a long time coming, God would have us humble ourselves before His Word.
70 · The pastor reiterates Luke's purpose: God inspired Luke to write an accurate, orderly, historical account precisely because He knows we have doubts and wants to answer them with evidence
This inspired Gospel, this inspired account of Jesus' life, God motivated Luke to write it, to write it accurately, to bring order and make it historical in nature, because he wants to blow away doubts. He knows we have doubts and he wants to answer them. Theophilus has doubts. God inspires Luke with the purpose of writing his gospel, of writing Luke and Acts together, with the purpose of helping to answer those doubts and those questions, to give an accurate evidential account.
71 · The pastor restates the central distinction: the presence of doubt is not the issue; the issue is whether we bring our doubts humbly to God or hold them in prideful skepticism
You see, the issue isn't our doubts themselves, it's what we do with those doubts. Do we bring them humbly before the Lord? Do we cry out for help? Do we ask for an answer? Do we plead for assurance?
72 · The pastor makes a direct personal appeal, sharing his own experience of pleading for assurance during worship and inviting the congregation to identify with the experience of doubt and spiritual assault on Sunday morning
Were you pleading for assurance this morning when Zach was leading us in worship? I was. It's not uncommon to sit here on a Sunday morning mindful of something that's happened in the week before you where you feel like there is a separation between me and God. Satan is assaulting your conscience. He's casting guilt your way. Or you're just coming in and you're just, numb from the week. And in your numbness, you're wondering, "Am I even saved? Is God even real?"
73 · The pastor directs the congregation to use corporate worship as the place to bring doubts and plead for God to speak, reassure, and testify to the reality of the gospel and the forgiveness of sins in Christ
This is the right place to bring those questions and those doubts and to bring them before the Lord and to cry out and ask, "Lord, speak into this. Reassure me. Speak to me." Bring your truth to bear. Testify to my heart in a fresh way that you are real, that you are true, that you are living, that Christ was raised, and that in him and in his blood all my sins have been cast aside and I can approach you.
74 · The pastor asserts that corporate worship functions as the context where believers both confess their doubts and answer each other's doubts with gospel promises through song and Scripture
He wants us to take our doubts, to gather together with God's community, with God's people, and to sing to each other the reality of our doubts and to answer each other with the promises of the gospel.
75 · The pastor recalls a moment from the worship service earlier in the same gathering, using it as an example of gospel truth answering doubt in real time
Were you stirred when Zach read from Micah? He's trodden our iniquities. He remembers our sins no more.
76 · The pastor voices the internal despair of the believer trapped in habitual sin, too ashamed to confess to others or even to approach God, doubting whether God's love still applies
How can God still love me? It's that besetting sin and I did it again and I can't even confess it to my friends or my wife because it's just embarrassing to confess it again. How do I even open my mouth before God?
77 · The pastor asserts that Luke's Gospel will answer the question of how we can approach God despite persistent sin by showing us Jesus, the one who removes doubt and makes a way
Luke's Gospel is going to answer that question. He's going to show us the one that removes the doubt, the one that makes a way.
78 · The pastor issues the central application of the second point: bring doubts humbly to God rather than in prideful resistance to His Word, as Zechariah did
Bring your doubts humbly before the Lord. Don't bring your doubts in pride and in unbelief where you resist faith and you resist God's answers. That's what's happening with Zechariah. He's directly receiving a word from the Lord. And he's intentionally in his heart resisting belief in it.
79 · The pastor references Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus from later in Luke to illustrate that no amount of dramatic evidence (even resurrection) will convince those who refuse to hear God's Word
You go on in Luke's Gospel and he tells the account of Lazarus and a rich man, right? And they die and Lazarus is in heaven and the rich man is in hell and he's pleading, "Give me a drink of water. I can't go to you. We're separated in this life. You had doubts you never resolved." Right? Essentially. And he says, "Well, at least go back and tell my loved ones that you're real God, that they need to believe, that they need to repent so they can be where you're at." And what's the answer they give? It wouldn't matter if I sent Abraham back to them. If they won't hear from the law and the prophets, if they refuse to hear from God's word, What good would an angel do?
80 · The pastor issues a direct application for the coming series: approach Luke's Gospel humbly, bring questions (God is merciful to honest questioning), but then surrender to the authority of Scripture
Come humbly before God's word. As we continue in Luke's gospel, humble yourself before it. Bring your questions. We'll see with Mary, God is merciful in the asking of our questions. But bring them and then surrender your heart to God's word.
81 · The pastor frames the choice before the congregation: will we believe the impossible is possible with God, or will we disbelieve? Luke calls us to disbelieve our unbelief and doubt our doubts
In an age of doubt, will we believe even the impossible is possible with God? That even old women can conceive? That even the dead can be raised? Or will you disbelieve? The call of Luke is to disbelieve your unbelief. To doubt your doubts.
82 · The pastor summarizes the first two points (providence and prayer; battling unbelief) and transitions to the third point, which will preview the nature of the kingdom
Final point by way of preview. What we see in Luke in this opening chapter is this beautiful sense of providence and prayer of a huge providential God caring about personal details, right? We see him calling us to battle against unbelieving, prideful doubt. And we also see the first hint, the first expression of what the kingdom will be like.
83 · The pastor announces the third point: Luke's opening narrative reveals that the kingdom Jesus inaugurates is a kingdom entered through repentance
Our series is called Kingdom Come. We see here that we are called to a kingdom of repentance.
84 · The pastor reveals the mercy embedded in Zechariah's judgment: the muteness is temporary, not permanent, and will end with John's birth, allowing Zechariah to praise God—demonstrating God's anticipation of his repentance
There's incredible mercy in the angel's answer. You might not see it at first. It's like he's mute. Like it happens and it's like Discipline right there. But in disbelieving the angel, wouldn't it be just if Zechariah was silent for the rest of his days? The discipline is only temporary though. He promises him, "You're going to be mute and immediately there will be an end to the discipline. When your son is born, you'll be able to speak. Your voice will return. You'll be able to praise the Lord and celebrate with your wife." when John is born. It underscores the very nature of the Kingdom's announcement.
85 · The pastor reads Gabriel's description of John's ministry—turning Israel back to God, turning hearts, preparing a people—highlighting the language of repentance and return
Listen to how John is going to prepare the way. This is what the angel says: John, he, your son, he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord your God. He will turn them. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.
86 · The pastor asserts that John's preparatory ministry is fundamentally a call to repentance, and that the kingdom Jesus brings can only be entered through repentance
John's ministry of preparation is going to be a ministry of calling people to repentance. The Kingdom of Jesus, the Kingdom that is coming in the arrival of Jesus, is a Kingdom that's only entered through repentance. John's ministry is to call people ahead of Jesus to repent. To make way for the Lord, to fight their doubts and to battle unbelief, to turn from rebellion and outright sin, to come back to God.
87 · The pastor connects John's ministry to Malachi's final prophecy, showing that Gabriel's announcement fulfills the promise that one would come to turn hearts before the day of the Lord
Remember the prophecy in Malachi? Very end of Malachi, what does it say? There's one coming who will turn the hearts of the children, right? That's what's happening.
88 · The pastor asserts that the call to repentance is itself a proclamation of mercy: the kingdom's arrival means there is a way back to God for anyone, no matter how far they have strayed
The call to repent is also a proclamation of God's mercy. Luke 1 starts out by declaring, "The kingdom has come!" And the kingdom is filled with mercy. It declares that in Jesus we can still find our way back. There's no one too far off.
89 · The pastor alludes to the parable of the prodigal son (though he doesn't name it) as an illustration of the mercy offered to those who return, previewing themes to come in the series
We're gonna run into that parable later in Luke. Maybe the sweetest parable in the Bible.
90 · The pastor asserts that the very possibility of repentance is evidence of God's mercy: no one is beyond reach, no sin is too great, no life is too far gone—repentance is always possible in the kingdom
Repentance means God is merciful. No matter what you've done, no matter what sin you've committed, no matter how hard you've tried to ignore Him, no matter how entrenched and just wicked your life seems to have been, Repentance is possible. The kingdom is one of repentance, return to God.
91 · The pastor returns to Zechariah's story, showing that God's mercy to him is the same mercy offered in the kingdom: God anticipates repentance and promises restoration
That's the mercy that's offered to Zechariah. In the face of his incredible unbelief, God anticipates his repentance. He anticipates his repentance and he welcomes it. He promises to restore him.
92 · The pastor previews the structure of Luke's Gospel: it is filled with examples of people who respond to the kingdom's call (the despised and outcast) and those who reject it (the religious and respectable)
As we go forward, we're going to see that Luke's Gospel is filled with stories. It's flush with, with parables, with good examples and bad examples. People who respond to the message of the kingdom, the call to repentance, and people who ignore it. Prostitutes, And tax collectors, despised people who hear the message of the kingdom, the call of Jesus, and they see the mercy and the hope that's there. Religious people, people with the well-ordered life, people with all their ducks in a row, wealthy young rulers, members of synagogue leadership. Members of the crowds who even walk with Jesus, one of Jesus' own 12, who hear the constant refrain of the call to repent and they don't answer.
93 · The pastor issues the final application: as we move through Luke, watch for the pattern of response and rejection, and consider how you will respond to the kingdom's call to repent
Be watching for those stories. Luke's Gospel is a Gospel. It's good news of the Kingdom of Repentance. How will you respond?
94 · The pastor closes in prayer, asking God to extend grace for faith, humility before Scripture, and most of all repentance—that the congregation would see the nature of the kingdom in Luke and be changed by the Spirit
Lord, I ask that you would extend grace to your people. Extend the grace of faith to believe that you answer prayers. Extend the grace that battles doubt, that humbles our hearts before your word and before evidence, before the testimony of your scriptures. God, most of all, I pray for the grace of repentance. For every person in this room, God, give us the grace to repent and return to you. Lord, let us see the nature of your kingdom in the Gospel of Luke. And God, we ask that you would send your Spirit and that you would change our hearts. Lord, we pray in the name of Jesus that your kingdom would come. Amen.