Christmas 2025
Luke chapter 1 sets the stage for the birth of Christ and the angelic announcement: “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
In Luke 1:67, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.” Everything God does displays his glory, but nothing compares to the glory and splendor exhibited in Christ, who came to save sinners.
In verses 76-77, Zechariah speaks of his son John: “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.”
In Luke 1:17, an angel of the Lord told Zechariah that John would “go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah” to turn hearts and prepare people for the Lord. The fulfillment of Scripture is a major theme of Luke 1. John’s ministry was prophesied in Malachi 4 (Elijah turning hearts) and Isaiah 40 (a voice in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord).
John’s ministry magnifies Christ by proclaiming the sinfulness of man and the necessity of a broken and contrite spirit to receive Christ. Elijah was known for calling down fire from heaven as a warning to recalcitrant sinners. In Acts 2, fire from heaven represented the Holy Spirit resting on the apostles and equipping them with power to proclaim Christ. The same sinners who crucified Christ were “cut to the heart” when Peter preached and they embraced Christ for forgiveness of their sins.
In Isaiah 40, the effects of John’s ministry are described: “Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill made low.” John warned sinners to flee from the wrath of God, to turn from their ways to walk in God’s ways before judgment came. John prepares the way by declaring to men that they have need of salvation from their sin. This is the message we must consider.
Man has little conception of how sinful he is unless God’s word convicts him. The Lord Jesus told the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector going up to pray. The Pharisee was proud of his righteousness; the tax collector asked for mercy. Those two spirits would view Christ’s birth in very different ways: the tax collector, like a valley who has been raised up to praise God for such a Savior; the Pharisee, like a mountain destined to be brought low in judgment.
John’s ministry is like the law of God that condemns and warns. But when God sends one like John, to warn sinners, he intends to have mercy on sinners. It indicates how ready God is to receive them if they turn to him. If someone perishes under the gospel, it is because of their own rebellion and unbelief. It is grave folly to ignore such overtures of mercy from God.
On the other hand, for those who truly hear John -- meaning they become aware of their great need -- Zechariah itemizes how good the news of Christ is to sinners: “to give knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of their sins” (verse 77). John would later say, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). To “take away” means a real purging of sin. It means being fully pardoned, instead of meeting a just God with all your sin exposed.
This gift of grace is “because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from on high shall appear” (verse 78). The dayspring is Christ, who is the “horn of salvation” (verse 69), the sufficient Savior appearing to make sinful man right with the Holy God. If God loves our souls this much, then let us love our own souls by not neglecting so great a gift. Certainly, God delights to heal souls since he has sent such a forerunner as John and such a savior as Christ.
Christ came “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (verse 79). We are naturally in the dark about the sad case of our souls. We sense we need a light to guide us. Christ is such a light -- the only light that leads to reconciliation with God and who holds out the promise of eternal life.
