Sermon Tone Analysis

Christmas In God’s House

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The First Christmas And God’s House

Luke 1:5-17

 

 

        In my study for the sermon series “The Houses of God,” it dawned on me, or The Holy Spirit revealed to me, the thought that Christmas actually began at The House of the Lord, i.e.

Herod’s Temple.

Since we are suspending the series on “The Houses of God” to do four Christmas messages, it seemed expedient to me to continue to talk about Christmas as it relates to the House of God.

Now you are probably asking yourself, “In what way did Christmas begin at The House of the Lord?”

I believe that you will be able to get your question answered by looking with me at Luke 1:5-17.

Will you turn there with me please?

Let me read this aloud for you, as you follow along.

Instead of moving at the Christmas story from a traditional, more American perspective, let’s move at the Christmas story from the Hebrew perspective, which is the culture in which it originally occurred.

We often forget, and some of us have never known, that although the New Testament was written in /Koine/ Greek, the common language of the people of that time, there is a distinctly Hebrew mindset and culture behind it.

When telling the story of Christmas, we usually miss the Hebrew context that the Bible sets.

*Today, we are going to look at the details of these events through the lenses of the Jewish culture.*

Our historian is Luke.

Luke, the noted physician and historian, is writing a detailed history concerning the oral truths that had been passed down concerning the beginning of all that Jesus both did and said.

The Holy Spirit moved on Luke to write, for the generations to come, a spiritually accurate account of the history of Christianity.

Therefore, he begins with those events leading up to the birth of Christ!!!

        Now I want to point out something that you may have never seen and that God has impressed upon me.

*Luke begins his history at Herod’s Temple.*

Herod’s Temple, almost totally unnoticed by us, comes up or is referred to in numerous passages of Scripture, in the New Testament.

A lot of the action surrounding the life of Jesus took place in one of the courts or in the vicinity of Herod’s Temple.

One of the most fabled actions of Christ, the turning over of the tables of the moneychangers, took place in one of the courts of Herod’s Temple.

Yet, this is almost never mentioned!

Herod’s Temple was called such, because Herod led the rebuilding of the Zerrubbabel’s Temple.

The construction began about 20-19 B.C. and it took 46 years to build.

It wasn’t entirely completed until about A.D. 64.

This was about 6 years, before it was destroyed by Rome.[1]

\\         Zerrubbabel’s Temple was rebuilt after the Babylonian captivity, at the decree of Cyrus.

It was patterned after Solomon’s Temple.

It probably needed some restoration when Herod came into power.

*Herod undertook the task of rebuilding this temple to show off the style of his kingship.*

To do this he rebuilt the Temple bigger and better than it had ever been.

Herod’s most notable contribution was the magnificent stonework of the Temple platform, which was greatly enlarged.

Herod also surrounded the whole enclosure with magnificent porches.[2]

The Temple courts were arranged in terrace form, one court being higher than another, and the Temple highest of all, so as to be easily seen from any part of the city or vicinity, thus presenting an imposing appearance (Mark 13:2-3).

(/Unger’s Bible Dictionary/)  From virtually anywhere in the area and in Jerusalem, one could look up and see the Temple in all of its splendor.

Now, remember that for all of its impressive appearance, neither Zerrubabel’s Temple nor Herod’s Temple had the Ark of the Covenant, The Shekinah Glory, The Sacred Fire, The Urim and Thummim, i.e. the mysterious stones that the High Priest used to discern the mind of God, or Spirit-inspired prophets.[3]

*It had none of the spiritual phenomena of the Tent of David or the Tabernacle Moses, but Jesus still considered it His Father’s house!!!*

 

        This is the backdrop of all that Luke is about to report on.

So, Luke begins his history with the words “In the days of Herod;” in the days of the empire of Rome and her imperial forces; in the days of petty dictatorships and rulers under the strangle hold of Caesar; in the days of Caesar worship, where Caesar was worshipped as God and those who refused were punished.

*The writer is setting the stage for the coming of another king, the King of kings, Lord of lords, and Prince of princes, but that will have to await another sermon.*

Luke then reveals the protagonist or hero of this story.

The protagonist or hero is Zacharias.

Zacharias was a priest of the division of Abijah and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, by the name of Elizabeth.

You may remember from our study of Solomon’s Temple that there were twenty-four courses of twelve priests.

David, at the Tent of David, had originally established these courses of priests.

They were brought over to the Temple of Solomon and became a part of these subsequent temples.

Abijah’s course was the eighth course.

Even though only four such courses returned from the Babylonian captivity, they were divided into twenty-four and ascribed the old names.

Each of these courses did duty for eight days, Sabbath to Sabbath, twice a year.

On the Sabbaths, the whole course of twelve priests did duty and at the Feast of Tabernacles all twenty-four courses or 288 priests were present.

The fact that Abijah was married to a daughter of Aaron was a double honor.

*It is like the preacher being married to the daughter of a preacher* (/A.

T. Robertson’s Word Pictures In The Greek New Testament/).

\\         Luke, being the excellent historian that he was, not only records the lineage of Zacharias and Elizabeth, but their character.

He records that they are both righteous in the sight of God and walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.

These were devout people of God!

        *But there was one problem:  Elizabeth was barren and they were both advanced in years!!!*  Barrenness was considered a curse to Jewish women for hundreds of years.

This hearkens back to Abraham and Sarah, Elkanah and Hannah, and others.

To be a Jewish woman and barren was a fate worse than death.

Barren Jewish women pined and prayed to God for the blessing of conception and birth.

·        Sarah would *not* wait for God, but talked Abraham into going along with her plan to gain a child through her concubine.

·        Hannah prayed, wept and made a vow at the Tabernacle, when it was stationed at Shiloh.

This is far different from the times that we presently live in, where pregnancy seems to be a fate worse than death.

*Elizabeth’s barrenness is another piece of scenery on the stage that Luke is setting.*

Remember that this was the end of 400 years of silence between the last words of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament, and the preparation for a whole new era and dispensation of God.

*The barrenness of Elizabeth corresponds to the barrenness of God’s people, at that time.*

There was a famine in the land, not only for food, but also for hearing the Word of the Lord.

This was shortly after the beginning of a new century and a new millennium; both of which corresponded to a new move of God and a coming new covenant of God, through Jesus Christ.

*If we had time, we could explore the prophetic implications of Elizabeth’s barrenness.*

Are we not at a similar point in history?

Hasn’t there been a barrenness of the Church?

Are we not seeing at the turn of the century and the dawn of a new millennium a new move of God?

It has been said that history repeats itself!

This saying may have come from some of the speeches of Mark Twain.

Be that as it may, the saying seems to be true and isn’t the stage set for this kind of repetition?

Isn’t there about to be the */Second/* Coming of Jesus Christ.

·        The first time He came against the backdrop of Herod’s Temple.

·        The next time He comes He will come against the backdrop of the Spiritual Temple, i.e. the Church of Jesus Christ.

·        The first time He came as a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes.

·        The next time He will come as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

·        The first time He came as the Servant of God.

·        The next time He will come as the King of kings.

·        The first time He came, He voluntarily gave up the use of His divine attributes.

·        The next time He will come with all power in heaven and in earth.

·        The first time He came to initiate His kingdom.

·        The next time He comes, He will bring the final manifestation of His kingdom.

But Luke is still setting the stage for Christ’s coming.

Remember?

I like the next word in the text, “Now!”

In the Greek, this is a connective or adversative particle.

This is a coordinating conjunction.

It is translated by the words, “also, and, but, moreover, now.”

*This word is the pivotal point in this narrative.*

“Now,” as opposed to “then.”

There is something about to happen here.

*God is about to respond to Zacharias’ and Elizabeth’s barrenness.*

This is a situation for Jehovah God!!!

This word “now” leads into the spiritual conditions that were present, when God decided to do something about Elizabeth’s barrenness.