FLIPPING THE CHRISTMAS SCRIPT (2)
Last week we saw a fundamental character of God wanting to raise the forgotten. If you are wanting to know more about that I would encourage you to go back to our previous post and catch up with us. Nevertheless, we now come to our next passage of scripture within the Christmas story were we are able to see how God flips the script, but this time on the grand scale.
“And Mary said:
‘My soul exalts the Lord,
47
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48
For He has had regard for the humble state of His bond-servant;
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
49
For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
50
And His mercy is to generation after generation
Toward those who fear Him.
51
He has done mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52
He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.
53
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And sent the rich away empty-handed.
54
He has given help to His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
55
Just as He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and his descendants forever.’”
Luke 1:46-55.
At first it would seem like just a wonderful prayer of thanksgiving, however, when you look closer you will find out that this is much more than just a prayer. It is a declaration of the gentiles. However, before we get to discussing this, we need to see the next part of how the script is flipped in the Christmas story.
It is finally Zachariah’s turn to exalt the coming arrival of Jesus Christ.
“Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.
59 And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, after his father. 60 And yet his mother responded and said, “No indeed; but he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” 62 And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. 63 And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all amazed. 64 And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began speaking in praise of God. 65 And fear came on all those who lived around them; and all these matters were being talked about in the entire hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.” Luke 1:57-66.
Zachariah is finally given his chance to publicly recognize the Lord’s arrival. His lack of faith caused him to miss out in the beginning, yet God in His amazing love was not about to let Zachariah be forgotten.
However, we now come to a point in our story to where we need to pause and compare the two statements made. First by Mary, and second by Zachariah. Both equal in importance, but both point to a wonderful plot twist that God is about to do.
The Bible is clear that God is not done with Israel, it is unfortunate that many people have fallen for the Kingdom Now Theology and Replacement Theology which both have no scriptural or doctrinal foundation. In 2021 we will tackle this discussion, but for now look at Malachi 3:6. If God does not change, then He has promises to Israel that must be held. If He does not hold to those promises to the Nation of Israel, than what does that mean about you and I? We know that God has a special place in His heart for Israel, but Israel as a nation rejected His first coming. Much like Zachariah, they did not have faith in what was about to happen. So the gospel is turned to the gentiles. The book of Acts is a wonderful story for those who might want to see the transition and focus regarding the gentile world. However, God foreknew this would happen and proclaimed it with the first person to believe and proclaim the coming of the Messiah. Let’s look at Mary’s thanksgiving.
“My soul exalts the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has had regard for the humble state of His bond-servant;
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.”
All generations will call her blessed! All generations, this is not just Israel but the entire world. Now in contrast lets look at the opening of Zachariah’s declaration.
“67 And his father Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying:
68
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
69
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David” Luke 1:67-69.
Do you see the difference? Zachariah has immediately brought the dialogue to point to a relationship between God and Israel, while Mary has directed it towards God and the World. First to the Jew, and second to the gentile. I am immediately reminded by Jesus Christ’s words in Matthew 20:16 “He who is first shall be last.” How ironic that the news of the coming Christ is first given to the priest who offers up incense before the Lord in His temple, someone who could not represent the nation of Israel any better, and yet his faith is so little that he does not believe what is about to happen. While Mary, who is an unknown at this point, believes immediately and is able to declare God’s coming salvation.
Let us continue, Mary states the following which shows more of the relationship God has with the World.
“49
For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
50
And His mercy is to generation after generation
Toward those who fear Him.
51
He has done mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52
He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.
53
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And sent the rich away empty-handed.” Luke 1:49-53.
Mary is pointing to the dynamic of the Lord in how He intercedes into the affairs of the World. Just look at what Daniel says about this, “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding.” Daniel 2:21. God is a very active God, do not let anyone try to convince you otherwise. However, we are not done there. Now we get to review Zachariah’s declaration and see God’s unique relationship with Israel.
“70
Just as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient times—
71
Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
72
To show mercy to our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,
73
The oath which He swore to our father Abraham,
74
To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Would serve Him without fear,
75
In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
76
And you, child, also will be called the prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;
77
To give His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
78
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us.” Luke 1:70-78.
We can clearly see God’s unique relationship that He has with His people. Even though time and time again they have forsaken the way God, in His amazing grace, mercy, and love, has established them to Him. They are saved the same as the gentiles, through faith in Jesus Christ, but they have a special purpose. This purpose can be simplified into two parts. They are there to give the world a focus point on our salvation, but also to be a display nationally of God’s character towards us individually. As a gentile, I know that Christ will keep His promises to me because He is keeping His promises to them. To better understand this significance we must study Eschatology which we will be significantly studying coming up in 2021.
Back to how God has flipped the Christmas script, we see that Zachariah reveals that God had been working with Israel in the past, “Remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to Abraham our father.” He also points to God working with Israel in the present, “To give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins,” and Zachariah shows how God is going to work in the future with Israel, “To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.” God is in no way done with Israel. However, due to their unbelief, much like Zachariah, they have been placed on hold while others get to portray the wonderful news of God. Will they still have their chance OF COURSE! However, for the gentile it is our time to shine and tell the world, like Mary did, of the greatness of our God.
However, this does not mean we as gentiles have anything higher than that of the Jews, for even Mary ends reflecting back to Israel.
“He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers to Abraham and his descendants forever.” Luke 1:54-55.
Mary gives honor back to her people, the Jewish nation, and their distinct relationship with God. Yet, when we look at Zachariah we see how he ends his declaration in like manner going back towards the gentiles.
“To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:79.
The term, “those who sit in darkness” is a great identifying remark regarding the gentiles. Most gentiles, when they first heard the gospel did not even know that they needed a Savior. This does not mean that there were not saved gentiles, but rather the majority of the gentile world were clueless until Jesus Christ’s first appearance. Isaiah prophesied about this in Isaiah 49:6,
“I will also make you a light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Mary and Zachariah are both reflecting honor to the other group, this shows two vitally important things. First, it shows that both groups, no matter who you are, need a savior. That savior is Jesus Christ and it is why Christmas is so important because it celebrates our Savior’s birth and His coming sacrifice for us. Second, it reveals God’s character of wanting to bring those who until that time were forgotten (gentiles) and brings them into a special relationship with Him, while also reminding the world of a coming day in which the Jewish nation will once again be brought to the forefront of human history. This is needed to bring forth God’s final purpose with the nation of Israel.
So remember as we spend time this Christmas season, that God cares for the broken hearted. He humbles the proud and remembers the forgotten. He would bring this into action with how He would be born, humbly becoming a baby in a manger. He would remember the forgotten and bless them by allowing the shepherds to behold the new born King. This time of year reminds us of the majestic God we have. He, being born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, and willingly gave up His life for you and I. Three days later He was resurrected and is now sitting on the right hand of God as our salvation. This Christmas, we would call you to accept that free gift of salvation and see what a magnificent and loving God has done for you.
Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming!
JL