Luke 1:68: The Kingdom of Jesus

Benedictus
The Prophecy of Zechariah


67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel!

He has taken care of his people and has set them free.

69 He has raised up a mighty Savior[u] for us

from the family of his servant David,

70 just as he promised long ago

through the mouth of his holy prophets

71 that he would save us from our enemies

and from the grip of all who hate us.

72 He has shown mercy to our ancestors

and remembered his holy covenant,

73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham.

He granted us 74deliverance from our enemies' grip

so that we could serve him without fear

75 and be holy and righteous before him all of our days.

76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,

because you will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his way

77 and to give his people knowledge of salvation

through forgiveness of their sins.

78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,

his light[v] from on high has visited us,

79 to shine on those who sit in darkness and in death's shadow,

and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”







(section of a sermon by Monte Asbury)

This is the significance of the tearing of the temple curtain. It doesn’t function as a symbol of open access to God in Luke’s narrative. It’s function is to show us that the Holy of Holies is empty! God is not there! God is not in the place kept sterile and uncontaminated. God is in the very place where God has no place being: on Golgotha! And this is Luke’s point. Because of the new kairos in Gethsemane, Jesus on the cross is the priest of the new covenant, dispensing forgiveness and acceptance, and bringing God to where we are – lost and in darkness. Where is God when most needed? God, in grace, is with us, forgiving us, saving us.

The child who is born in the manger is the liberating power of Yahweh incarnate. This is the Messiah – the King. He has come with a mission – the establishment of peace and justice. He has come to dethrone the powers that hold the world hostage to sin, despair and death. This is the beginning of the End – the fulfilment of all that God has promised. To us is born in the City of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. This is the King of the Universe, in whom the fullness of God dwells bodily. This is the King promised of old. He has come, and nothing will be able ultimately to stand against him. Why? Not because he comes at the head of armies to crush and destroy his enemies, but because he comes in grace, breathing forgiveness, giving hope to the hopeless and the guilty. He comes as Servant, Shepherd, and crucified Lord. Behold your King!

I don’t know who you are praying for; I don’t know how many times you’ve prayed. But I know something about our Jesus: He prays, “Father, forgive him or her - they don’t know what they’re doing.” And I know wherever they are, when the lights go on, Jesus will be close.


Colossians 1:11-20
9-12Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven’t stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—[and can't you feel that here today?] not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.

13-14God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.
Christ Holds It All Together

15-18We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

18-20He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson