The Prophecy of Peace

Happy Sunday and merry Christmas. Last week we looked at the birth of John the Baptist. It's found in Luke chapter 1. It's a long chapter and it ends with prophecy from John's father, the once mute priest Zachchariah.

You should watch last week's message if you missed it. I want to read verses 78 and 79. There, Zechariah wrote about the upcoming birth of Jesus. Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace.

That's pretty amazing stuff. Jesus has not been born yet. And Zechariah is giving us some spot-on descriptions. By the way, we are told this in Luke 1:67.

We're told Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. Listen to verse 78. How verse 78 began. Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us.

That is a great great story, a great love story. Because of God's love, because of God's tender mercy, the dawn from on high will break upon us. We know from Luke that Zechariah was a priest. And we know because of that, he would have been wellversed in the Old Testament.

His language, the dawn from on high will break upon us, is also connected to prophecy from Isaiah and Malachi. Isaiah 9:2 says, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who lived in a land of deep darkness. On them light has shined."

And Malachi 4:2 begins this way. But for you who rever my name, the son of righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings. Zechariah has to be on cloud9. Everything is coming together.

The Messiah is about to come. The verse from Isaiah that Zechariah mentioned was written over 700 years before this moment. The verse from Malachi had been around around for over 400 years. And Zechariah is right in the middle of prophecy coming true.

And he had to be ecstatic. And look what he says next. He said, "Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us." And we've talked about that first part and put it into context.

Listen to the following words. To shine upon those who sit in darkness and then the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. Zechariah said that Jesus will come to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. The description that Zechariah uses of this world is sad but true.

It's spot-on. He says that people sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. The Bible talks about darkness in a couple of different ways. Intellectually and morally.

In intellectually darkness means ignorance and morally darkness means sinfulness. Mankind is pictured in darkness and it's the truth. Let me repeat Isaiah 9:2. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

Those who lived in a land of deep darkness, on them light has shined. Zechariah can now see an end to the darkness in the world. Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. The great news that Zechariah had to share was that Jesus was on the way.

There was a way out, a way out of the darkness, a way away from the death. All prophecy was coming true and peace was about to be attainable. He ends verse 79 saying this about the coming of Jesus. Jesus was coming to guide our feet into the way of peace.

The Greek word for peace here is arene. It means peace with God, closeness, quietness, rest. And this peace came 2,000 years ago. And I am so thankful.

I hurt for those who have chosen to continue to sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. The peace that the coming of Jesus brings is a choice. You can accept it and you can ignore it. It's up to you.

I have a friend that recently was in charge of a memorial service for a young child. The child was tragically murdered by a family member. I had opportunity to take part in the memorial service and it was a tough situation and after the service was over my friend said the only way I got through this is because I am a Christian. He was right.

The only way to cope with the chaos around us is to accept the peace that Jesus brings. Let me close with these words from Jesus. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.

I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." Merry Christmas. I pray the peace of Christ dwells in your heart richly.

Pray with me. Lord, for those that are hurting, we pray for peace. For those that are still in darkness, we pray for light. For those that doubt, we pray for confidence.

For those that hurt, we pray for healing. For all of us, we pray for closeness, for quietness, for rest, for peace. And thank you for coming and bringing us peace in Jesus' name. Amen.

God bless. Have a peaceful week.