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The Benedictus (Luke 1:67-79) · Reformed Thinking

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I want you to imagine, just for a second, sitting in a pitch
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black room. Oh man, yeah, like absolute
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darkness. Right.
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Not just dim, but the kind of suffocating darkness where you
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hold your hand and inch from your face and you see absolutely
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nothing. That is, that is really
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disorienting. It really is.
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I mean, for the first few minutes you might just blink a
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few times, assuming your eyes will adjust.
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Yeah, you just kind of wait it out.
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Yeah, but as the minutes drag on into an hour, that darkness gets
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heavy. It almost feels physical at that
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point. Totally.
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It presses against you. You start straining your eyes so
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hard it aches just anticipating the tiniest crack of light under
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a door. And your mind starts playing
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tricks on you too. Oh, absolutely.
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You start wondering if the light is ever going to come back on at
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all, right? So take that intense feeling of
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isolation, that visceral anticipation for a single ray of
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light, and scale it up. Scale it way up.
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Yeah, imagine that darkness lasting for an entire year.
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Wow. Then a decade.
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Then a century. Then 4 centuries. 400 years for
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an entire nation. That is just staggering.
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It is, and welcome to reformed thinking.
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I am your host and sitting across from me is our resident
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theology expert. Today, the mission of this deep
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dive is to investigate our Kent Hughes's commentary on Luke
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chapters 1 and 2. Yeah, and we're going to look
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specifically at that massive transition from 4 centuries of
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spiritual silence to the arrival of the Messiah, right?
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The sources we have today cover a massive historical landscape.
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We are talking about John the Baptist, the prophetic song of
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Zechariah, and, well, the absolute geopolitical dominance
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of the Roman Empire under Caesar Augustus.
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It is a huge scope. It really is.
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So you have an entire nation of people who haven't heard a
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single verified prophetic word from God since the days of
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Malachi. 400 years of silence. That is the historical vacuum we
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are stepping into. And that vacuum is, you know, it
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is critical for you to grasp because human beings do not
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handle silence well. No, we really don't.
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We try to fill it. Precisely. 400 years is a
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staggering amount of time. I mean, to put that in
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perspective, that is significantly longer than the
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United States has even existed as a nation.
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Oh wow. Yeah, when you frame it like
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that, it hits different. Generation after generation of
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Jewish families were born, lived and died without ever hearing a
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fresh word from heaven. So they just had the old texts.
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Yeah, they had the ancient scrolls, they had the promises
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given to their ancestors, but in terms of direct new revelation,
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the sky was basically made of brass.
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So what was the general move like?
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How do people cope with that? Well, the overarching theme we
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are going to see as we unpack this commentary is the massive
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contrast between humanity's desperate attempts to
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manufacture a savior through, you know, military and political
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force during that silence, and the genuine dawn of salvation
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arriving from outside the human system entirely.
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Right, because Israel is sitting in what the ancient writers
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called the shadow of death. Yeah, they are as subjugated
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people living under the iron boot of Rome, waiting for a
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sunrise that frankly seemed like it was never going to happen.
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So we have this massive, heavy silence.
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But before the actual sunrise happens, before the silence is
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definitively broken by the Messiah, there is a preparation
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phase. Right, the ground has to be
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readied. Yeah, and the text points to a
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very specific figure doing that preparation, John the Baptist.
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Now, a lot of people today have a very sanitized view of John
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the Baptist. Oh totally, like a nice guy
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doing a nice ritual. Yeah, they have a sanitized view
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of what he was doing with his baptism.
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People often view baptism as like a pleasant cultural rite of
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passage. Right, a nice photo op for the
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family. But the source material is very
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clear about what John was actually doing.
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He was administering a baptism of repentance for the
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forgiveness of sins. And the commentary clarifies a
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crucial theological point here. Yeah, it points out that the
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water itself does not save anyone.
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Getting wet in the Jordan River did not wash away moral guilt.
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So it was just an outward symbol.
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Yes, it was an outward demonstration of an inward heart
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repentance that always accompanies saving faith.
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I want us to break down the actual mechanics of this because
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the commentary brings up a technical concept here called
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the ordo salutis, the order of salvation.
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Yeah, that is a big one. How exactly does this internal
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preparation work? So the ordo salutis is a Latin
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phrase that theologians use to describe the logical sequence of
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how God applies salvation to an individual.
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OK. So like step one, Step 2.
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Basically, yeah. Yeah.
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And we need to be clear about the mechanics here because it
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changes everything about how you view your standing before God.
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The natural assumption most people have is that human beings
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are spiritually neutral. Right, like we are just blank
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slates. Yeah, the assumption is that you
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hear a good argument, you weigh the evidence, and then you
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independently generate the desire to repent and believe.
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But that is not what the text is saying at all.
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No, the commentary pushes back against that entirely.
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It points out that true conviction of sin and the moral
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necessity to turn away from it, which is the definition of
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repentance, are completely impossible apart from the prior
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grace of God. Because of total depravity,
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right? Yes.
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Now, that doesn't mean human beings are as evil as they could
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possibly be in every single moment.
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Like we aren't all serial killers.
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Right, but it means every part of human nature, the mind, the
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will, the emotions is thoroughly tainted by sin.
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So it affects everything. It does.
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Because of that, a person in their natural state is
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spiritually unresponsive. They do not naturally seek the
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true God. Therefore, according to the Ordo
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Salutis regeneration, being born again, having a new heart put
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inside you, must precede your faith and your repentance.
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That is a massive paradigm shift.
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It really is. You are saying that the very
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ability to feel sorry for your sin, the clarity required to
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look at your life and say I am broken and I need rescue, is a
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gift. Yes, a 100% unearned gift.
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It is not something you drummed up by being more introspective
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or more disciplined than the guy next to you.
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It is a direct result of divine intervention.
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Precisely. Both the awareness of your own
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sin and the faith required to trust in a Savior are gifts from
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God. If God does not intervene, you
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will never recognize your need for rescue.
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You will just keep trying to justify yourself.
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Always and true regeneration is always evidenced by ongoing
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repentance. It is not a one time apology
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where you say a prayer and then move on with your life
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unchanged. Right, it is not a get out of
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jail free card. No, True repentance is a
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continuous posture of the heart. The internal preparation John
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the Baptist was demanding was not just an external washing.
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It was a demand for a completely changed disposition which
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requires God to act first. This brings up a quote from the
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source of material that honestly, it absolutely stopped
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me in my tracks. Oh, the beverage quote.
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Yeah. It is from a 17th century Bishop
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named William Beveridge, and he is trying to illustrate this
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intense, continuous self-awareness of sin even after
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someone had experienced this grace.
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It is a heavy quote. It is beverage rights.
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I cannot pray except I sin. I cannot preach, but I sin.
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I cannot administer nor receive the Holy Sacrament, but I sin.
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And then the kicker. He says my very repentance needs
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to be repented of and the tears I shed need washing in the blood
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of Christ. I have to be honest when
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Beverage says his very repentance needs to be repented
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of. That sounds incredibly
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pessimistic to modern ears. I can totally see that.
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I mean, if you are a person listening to this right now and
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you are trying your absolute best to turn your life around,
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you're trying to be a decent person, why in the world should
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you view even your sincere apologies to God as flawed?
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It sounds like you can never win.
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Right, I completely understand why that strikes you as
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pessimistic at first glance. We live in a culture that
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constantly tells us we are inherently good and that we just
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need to try our best. Just follow your heart, yeah?
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Exactly. But Beveridge is not being
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pessimistic. He is exhibiting a highly
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realistic view of human nature, and surprisingly, this realistic
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view is what magnifies the grace of God.
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OK, walk me through that. How does that magnify grace?
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Think about what Beverage is actually analyzing here.
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He is looking at his holiest actions.
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He is not talking about his worst moments.
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He is talking about his prayers, his preaching, his moments of
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deepest contrition. And he recognizes that even in
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those sacred moments, his motives are mixed.
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Even when you are apologizing to God, there might be a tiny
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sliver of pride and how eloquent your apology is.
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Like look how good I am at being sorry.
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Exactly. Or you might be repenting simply
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because you want to avoid consequences rather than because
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you actually hate the sin your ego is always trying to sneak in
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the back door. So even our best efforts are
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fundamentally tainted by self-interest.
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We are trying to offer God a pure sacrifice of repentance,
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but our hands are dirty so we get mud all over the offering.
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That is an excellent way to conceptualize it, and here's why
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this is actually massively liberating instead of
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depressing. I'm all ears.
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If beverage is right, and the biblical text insists he is,
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then your salvation cannot possibly rest on your own
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performance. If even your tears of repentance
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are flawed, then you can stop trying to achieve a state of
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flawless, pure hearted perfection to earn God's
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acceptance. Your acceptance must rest
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entirely on Christ's perfect merit, not your flawed effort.
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So the pressure is off. Totally.
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You do not have to generate a perfect apology.
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You simply bring your flawed, mud stained repentance to a
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perfect Savior knowing that His grace covers the imperfections
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of your apologies. It completely shatters the
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anxiety of performance based religion.
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That is fascinating. The internal realization of your
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own utter dependence on grace mirrors what is about to happen
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externally in the historical narrative.
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Yes, the macro matches the micro.
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We have this quiet internal preparation of the heart and
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then suddenly the external 400 year prophetic silence is
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shattered. It culminates in a sudden
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ecstatic song from John the Baptist, Father Zechariah.
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The psychology of this event is incredible.
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It really is so Zechariah is a priest.
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An Angel appears to him in the temple and tells him he and his
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elderly wife are going to have a son, which is.
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Crazy news for an elderly couple.
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Right. Zechariah responds with
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unbelief. And because of that, he has
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rendered entirely speechless for nine months.
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Just think about that for a second.
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He has spent almost a year trapped in total silence.
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And then at the baby's circumcision, his tongue is
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suddenly loosed. He's filled with the Holy Spirit
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and he prophecies. Yes, and the song he sings is
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traditionally known as the Benedictus.
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So where does that name come from?
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To provide some context for that term, we have to look at how the
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biblical text was transmitted through history.
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In the late 4th century, a scholar named Jerome translated
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the Greek and Hebrew scriptures into Latin.
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Which became the standard text for the Western Church for over
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1000 years. Right, the Latin Vulgate.
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In Latin, the opening phrase of Zechariah song Blessed be the
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Lord God of Israel translates to Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel.
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Oh, so that first word, Benedictus just became the title
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of the song. Spot on.
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But what is truly staggering is not the Latin translation, but
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the historical parallel the commentary brings out regarding
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that specific opening phrase. Right, because Zechariah isn't
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just making up a nice opening line, he is quoting something
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very specific. He is.
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If you go back to the Old Testament, specifically First
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Kings chapter 1, you find King David at the end of his life.
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He is installing his son Solomon as the new king, securing the
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royal line, and the phrase David uses in that moment of royal
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installation is identical. Blessed be the Lord, the God of
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Israel. By using this exact phraseology
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under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Zechariah is
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drawing a massive straight line across 1000 years of history.
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Oh, that is wild. So the first son of David,
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Solomon, who built the temple and reigned in glory, received
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this praise. Now the ultimate son of David,
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Jesus, the one who will establish an eternal Kingdom,
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receives the exact same praise. It is brilliant.
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Furthermore, scholars analyzing the Greek text of this brief
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song have identified up to 33 distinct illusions to ancient
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Old Testament scripture. Wait. 33 in one short song.
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Yes, I am trying to wrap my head around the psychological reality
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of this moment. I mean, if someone hasn't spoken
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a single syllable for nine months, you would expect their
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first words to be a desperate request for a drink of water.
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Or maybe just stumbling over a simple hello.
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Yeah, the vocal cords haven't been used.
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The brain hasn't formulated spoken sentences in nearly a
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year. It would be rusty to say the
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least. But instead of a stuttering
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greeting, Zechariah opens his mouth and an intricate, flawless
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Symphony pours out. It is a systematically
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structured, intensely theological chain of praise
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delivered totally spontaneously. How is that even possible?
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It is only possible because of what Zechariah was doing during
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those nine months of silence. He was not just sitting around
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feeling sorry for himself. He said he was working.
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He's a priest steeped in the Hebrew Scriptures.
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During that forced silence, his mind was marinating in the
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promises of God. So it was all just building up
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inside him. Right.
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His entire priestly life was so thoroughly nourished by the
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ancient text that when the Holy Spirit finally moved upon him,
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that dense theological phraseology was simply his
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natural language. He wasn't scrambling to invent
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new concepts on the spot. No, not at all.
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The Holy Spirit was utilizing A vocabulary that Zechariah had
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built up over decades of rigorous study and meditation.
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It shows you the mechanics of of divine inspiration.
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That is amazing. The spirit works in tandem with
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a mind that is thoroughly saturated in truth.
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When the physical silence finally broke, what erupted was
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the overflow of a lifetime of preparation.
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So Zechariah builds out this masterpiece, and it is highly
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structured. He anchors his praise first by
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looking back at ancient historical guarantees.
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Specifically, he brings up the covenant made to King David.
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We really need to unpack this Davidic covenant because it is
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the bedrock of what Zechariah is anticipating.
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Yeah, let's walk through that. This goes back to Second Samuel
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Chapter 7. Right, right.
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Nathan the Prophet delivers a message from God to David,
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guaranteeing that David's throne will be established forever and
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that an ultimate successor will rule eternally.
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And Zechariah references this coming ruler by using a very
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specific title, a Horn of Salvation.
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Yeah, that is a loaded phrase. Now when we hear the word horn
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today, we usually think of a musical instrument like a
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trumpet or maybe a car horn. Right, something that makes
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noise. But to the ancient reader, a
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horn meant something very different.
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The commentary uses a visceral analogy from African hunters
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describing the Cape Buffalo to explain this metaphor.
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Oh, that analogy perfectly captures the ancient
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understanding of the term. If you've ever seen footage of a
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Cape Buffalo, or if you talk to hunters who have encountered
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them, you realize you are dealing with a creature of
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immense, terrifying mass. Like a tank with legs.
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Exactly. The hunters note that when this
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mass and beast is agitated, it will lower its head, scuff the
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dirt with its hooves, and rhythmically swing its massive
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horns back and forth. Oh man.
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It's preparing for a deadly charge.
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To stand in front of that animal is to realize you were in the
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path of a biological machine made of pure muscle and bone.
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That is terrifying. In the ancient world, the horn
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of an ox or a wild bull was the ultimate symbol of aggressive
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strength. It was a weapon for defense, the
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tool for devastating vengeance against enemies, and an ornament
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of supreme beauty and vitality. So when Zechariah calls the
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coming Messiah a horn of salvation, he is entirely
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bypassing the image of a gentle philosopher.
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Totally bypassing it, The commentary breaks down the
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specific ministry of this horn in A2 distinct parts, right?
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Correct. The Ministry of the Horn is
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twofold. First, there's the aspect of
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redemption, which involves ransoming his people with blood.
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And the text connects this imagery to the ox, which is
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historically recognized as the symbol of Luke's gospel.
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Right. The ox represents sacrifice,
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bearing the burden and providing atonement.
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The Horn of salvation is coming to take the penalty of sin upon
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himself. And then there's the second
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part. Yeah.
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Second, the raised horn points to an eventual total deliverance
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from all earthly and spiritual enemies.
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The text stresses that this salvation is not just for minor
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infractions. No, it is heavy duty.
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It reaches down into the absolute uttermost depths of
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human depravity. It covers heinous, destructive
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behaviors like murder, infidelity, extreme perversion,
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massive embezzlement, and the kind of hateful gossip that
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destroys lives. The ugly stuff.
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Yeah, the imagery of the swinging, aggressive horn
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signifies a supreme display of divine might necessary to
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conquer that level of evil. That raises a massive contrast
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to my mind. What's that?
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Well, when most people picture the nativity scene, the image is
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incredibly serene. You have a baby in a Manger,
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surrounded by quiet animals and soft glowing light.
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It is harmless. It is gentle.
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Very Hallmark greeting card. Right.
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But the image you just painted of a massive, charging Cape
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Buffalo preparing for a lethal strike is the absolute polar
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opposite of that gentle aesthetic.
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How are we supposed to reconcile this fierce, deeply aggressive
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imagery with the concept of a peaceful savior arriving as a
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baby? That is a great question.
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You reconcile it by understanding the true nature of
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the enemy. OK, if you believe humanity's
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main problem is just a lack of education, then a gentle teacher
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is all you need, sure. You just need some good advice.
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But if you understand the concept of total depravity we
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discussed earlier the reality that human nature is so
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thoroughly corrupted by sin that we are essentially spiritual
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corpses held captive by forces of darkness, then polite advice
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is utterly useless. You.
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Cannot politely negotiate with death.
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You really can't. True deliverance requires
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absolute, overwhelming strength. A serene philosopher cannot
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shatter the grip of hell. We are held captive by forces we
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cannot possibly defeat on our own.
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So you need a warrior. Therefore, only a supreme
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display of aggressive divine might can achieve complete
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salvation. The baby lying in that Manger is
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the incarnation of the Sovereign God who spoke galaxies into
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existence, and He has entered the human timeline to wage
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absolute, devastating war against sin and death.
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So the peace isn't just a lack of noise.
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No, the peaceful aesthetic of the nativity is real, but you
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have to understand that the peace of that silent night is
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secured by a fierce conquering king who is arriving to
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violently shatter the chains of his people.
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That completely reshapes how you read the Christmas story.
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It is not just a cute baby story, it is a rescue mission.
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It is an invasion. Wow.
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And this guarantee of a conquering king rests on an even
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older, more fundamental promise. Right.
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Zachariah moves from the promise made to David all the way back
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to the patriarch of the entire nation, Abraham.
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We really need to look at this Abrahamic covenant because
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without it, the rest of the story has no foundation.
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Yeah, let's look at that. Back in Genesis chapter 12, God
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promises A childless, elderly Abraham that he will somehow
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become a great nation. But the commentary focuses
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heavily on what happens later in Genesis 15 and 22.
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Let's look at Genesis 15 first. This is a very strange ancient
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ritual. They're super strange.
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Is a profound ancient Near Eastern ritual.
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Well, let's call it a heavy ancient ritual known as a
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covenant of pieces. Covenant of pieces.
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Yeah, in the ancient world, when 2 kings made a treaty, they
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would take animals, cut them in half, lay the pieces on the
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ground and walk between them. That sounds incredibly messy.
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It was they were essentially acting out a lethal curse,
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saying may what happened to these animals happen to me if I
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break the terms of this treaty? So it is a self maledictory
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oath. Exactly.
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Now, in Genesis 15, Abraham cuts the animals, but a deep sleep
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falls on him. He's immobilized.
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Then God appears as a smoky fire pot and a flaming torch, and God
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passes between the pieces entirely alone.
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So Abraham doesn't walk through the pieces at all, only God
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does. What is the significance of
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that? The significance is massive.
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By walking through alone, God is making a unilateral,
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unconditional promise. He is taking the penalty of the
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covenant upon Himself. So he takes both sides of the
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deal. He does.
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He is saying if you break this covenant, Abraham, I will pay
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the penalty and if I break it, I will pay the penalty.
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God is legally binding Himself to ensure the salvation of His
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people. That is just incredible.
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Then you move to Genesis 22 after Abraham demonstrates his
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willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac.
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God speaks from heaven and swears an oath by himself to
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bless Abraham and his descendants.
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And the text points out how unprecedented this is, right?
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Yeah, because there is no higher authority in the universe to
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swear by. God swears by his own eternal
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nature. He stakes his very existence on
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the fulfillment of this promise. And Zechariah, thousands of
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years later, is singing about the result of this fulfilled
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oath. He says the ultimate purpose of
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this massive rescue mission, the reason God swore by himself and
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promised a conquering horn, is so that the people, having been
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delivered from the hand of their enemies, might minister to God
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without fear in holiness and righteousness all their days.
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I find it fascinating that the end goal of this epic rescue
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mission isn't just a vague concept of autonomy.
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It is not. Just do whatever makes you
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happy. Right.
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The goal isn't just OK, your chains are off, go do whatever
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you want and try to find yourself.
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The goal is worship. It is like being rescued from a
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brutal, tyrannical warden in a prison camp, specifically so you
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can be given a joyful, meaningful job working directly
21:55
for a benevolent king. That is a great analogy.
21:57
You are given freedom from a crushing oppression so you can
22:00
step into a completely new life giving vocation.
22:03
You are liberated to minister to God without the paralyzing dread
22:06
that defined your previous captivity.
22:08
That is a brilliant way to frame it.
22:10
You are rescued for a purpose. If you look earlier in Luke's
22:14
narrative, you see Mary's response to the Angel Gabriel.
22:17
Oh, right, when she finds out she's having a baby.
22:19
Yeah, she says. I am the servant of the Lord.
22:23
She immediately understands that grace results in joyful service.
22:28
The text highlights a crucial philosophical point here.
22:31
What's that? The fulfillment of the Abrahamic
22:33
covenant demonstrates that Christianity infuses human life
22:37
with objective, external purpose.
22:40
This provides a massive counter narrative to the modern culture
22:43
shapers who constantly insist that life is inherently
22:46
meaningless. Oh, the nihilism we see
22:48
everywhere today. Yeah, the idea that the universe
22:51
is indifferent and therefore you have to invent your own
22:53
subjective meaning just to cope with existence.
22:55
The biblical worldview says exactly the opposite.
22:58
You don't have to invent a meaning.
22:59
No, you don't. The fulfillment of this ancient
23:02
covenant means you are intentionally rescued for a
23:04
specific, glorious purpose, to walk in holiness and to minister
23:08
to the Creator of the universe. Your daily life, your actions,
23:11
your worship, they carry eternal weight.
23:14
So, having praised God for these massive historical guarantees
23:18
made to David and Abraham, Zechariah finally looks down at
23:22
the actual infant in his arms. It gets so personal right here.
23:25
It does. He looks at his son John, and he
23:29
realizes that this child is the bridge.
23:32
John is the one who will connect these ancient cosmic promises to
23:36
the imminent dawn that is about to break over the horizon.
23:39
Yeah, Zechariah declares that John will be the prophet of the
23:41
Most High. And he outlines John's specific
23:44
calling. He says John is going to give
23:45
knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.
23:49
And the commentary makes a crucial distinction here about
23:51
the word knowledge. It points out that this
23:53
knowledge is not theoretical. It's not head knowledge.
23:56
Right. It bypasses the external
23:58
mechanics of ritualistic religion and go straight to the
24:02
inward, subjective experience of salvation as a divine gift.
24:06
The source describes authentic forgiveness as having a literal
24:10
cosmic weight lifted off of your shoulders.
24:12
Distinction between objective facts and subjective reality is
24:16
vital. Very much so.
24:17
I mean theoretical knowledge is simply knowing facts about a
24:21
historical event or understanding the logical flow
24:23
of a theological system. You can get an advanced degree
24:26
in theology and only have theoretical knowledge.
24:29
Absolutely. You can pass the test without
24:30
ever actually meeting the author.
24:31
But the knowledge John the Baptist was commissioned to
24:34
prepare people for was an inward personal appropriation.
24:38
It is the sudden, staggering realization that you are
24:41
specific personal sins are entirely pardoned.
24:45
The commentary speaks of an intimacy with God that mirrors
24:48
the deep, secure relationship between a beloved child and a
24:52
good parent. Like an adoption.
24:53
Yeah, it brings in the Apostolic text from Romans chapter 8,
24:57
which asserts that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our
24:59
human spirit that we are children of God.
25:02
It is an internal, undeniable assurance that changes your very
25:06
identity. There is an absolute chasm
25:09
between knowing about salvation theoretically and possessing
25:12
that knowledge of salvation personally.
25:14
It is huge. It is the difference between
25:16
reading a menu at a restaurant and actually eating the meal.
25:20
You can memorize the menu, you can know the exact ingredients
25:23
of every dish. You can explain the culinary
25:25
techniques the chef used to prepare the food and you can
25:29
still starve to death in the lobby.
25:30
That is a harsh but true picture.
25:32
You have to actually eat the food to survive.
25:34
But this is where people get stuck.
25:36
How does someone know they have moved from the theory to the
25:40
reality? How do you know you have
25:42
actually eaten the meal and aren't just chewing on the paper
25:46
menu? You know, you have moved from
25:48
theory to reality. We actually experienced that
25:51
inward witness we just mentioned.
25:53
It is the subjective realization that the objective historical
25:57
work of Christ applies directly to you.
26:00
So it becomes personal. Yes.
26:02
The text describes the result of this as a healing wholeness.
26:05
When the cosmic crushing weight of moral guilt is definitively
26:09
removed from your conscience, there is a distinct observable
26:12
change in your posture toward God.
26:14
OK, what does that change look like?
26:16
You no longer view him as a hostile, exacting judge waiting
26:20
to strike you down for your failures.
26:22
Instead, you approach him as a loving father.
26:26
If your religion is entirely external, if it consists only of
26:30
keeping rules, performing rituals, and affirming
26:32
historical facts, you are still standing in the lobby reading
26:36
the menu. So the meal itself is that
26:38
internal piece. Yes, the meal itself is the
26:40
internal piece, the conscious well-being and the radical
26:44
freedom that comes from authentic experience,
26:46
Forgiveness. So John is preparing the people
26:48
to experience this massive internal shift, but what is the
26:51
external event he is preparing them for?
26:53
He's preparing them for the arrival of the Messiah, which
26:56
the text refers to as the sunrise or the Dayspring.
26:59
The. Imagery there is so.
27:01
Vivid it really is. The commentary paints an
27:03
incredibly vivid picture of this metaphor.
27:05
It asks you to imagine the nation of Israel as a lost
27:08
caravan of travellers trapped in a howling desert wilderness at
27:12
night. Sounds miserable.
27:13
They are sitting in the shadow of death.
27:15
That temperature has plummeted. They are surrounded by threats
27:17
they cannot see. There is a hopeless dark torpor.
27:21
Just stuck. Completely stuck, they are
27:24
completely immobilized by the darkness, unable to take a
27:26
single step forward without risking falling off a Cliff.
27:30
And then, very slowly, the sky begins to change.
27:33
Here comes the sun. The absolute blackness softens
27:37
into a deep cobalt blue, then it shifts to a royal blue, and
27:41
finally a bright pink rim appears on the eastern horizon.
27:45
The sun is up. The text references the ancient
27:48
prophet Malachi, who described this moment by saying believers
27:51
will go out leaping like calves from the stall.
27:54
The result of this brilliant sunrise is the arrival of
27:57
Shalom. Now Shalom is usually translated
27:59
as peace. Right.
28:00
It usually translated as peace, but the commentary is very
28:02
careful to define the parameters of that word in the biblical
28:06
context. Shalom is not just the absence
28:08
of conflict, It is not just a temporary ceasefire between
28:11
warring parties. So it is more than just people
28:14
not shooting at each other much more.
28:16
It means wholeness, completeness, and flourishing.
28:19
It is having every single part of your existence, your
28:21
relationships, your mind, your physical environment brought
28:24
into perfect harmonious alignment with God's original
28:27
design. That sounds amazing.
28:29
When that blazing sunrise finally hits the freezing, lost
28:32
caravan in the desert, it instantly shatters the liturgy
28:35
and the despair. The imagery from Malachi of
28:38
calves leaping from the stall represents absolute, uninhibited
28:42
joy and explosive vitality. Just pure energy.
28:45
Yeah, it is to do. Joy of a creature that has been
28:47
cooped up in the dark suddenly released into a sunlit pasture.
28:50
But. Here is where the historical
28:52
context makes the story absolutely explosive.
28:55
This true sunrise, this cosmic arrival of Shalom, happens in
29:00
stark, unavoidable contrast to the political reality of the
29:04
era. The politics of the day are
29:05
crucial to understand. The text shifts our focus to the
29:08
broader backdrop of Luke chapter 2.
29:11
While this baby is being born in a dusty Judean outpost, the
29:15
known inhabited Earth is being ruled by Caesar Augustus from
29:18
Rome. Yeah, Augustus, he was a
29:20
powerhouse. Augustus, whose original name
29:22
was Octavian, was the great nephew and adopted heir of
29:25
Julius Caesar. Through sheer political genius
29:28
and ruthless military campaigns, including the defeat of Mark
29:31
Antony and Cleopatra, he consolidated absolute power.
29:35
And he didn't just take political power, he took divine
29:37
titles. He did.
29:39
The Roman Senate gave him the title Augustus, which means holy
29:44
or revered. Prior to this, that title was
29:47
reserved exclusively for the gods.
29:49
Talk about an ego trip. Right, his birthday, September
29:52
23rd, was actually celebrated as the beginning of the new year in
29:56
several provinces, and archaeological inscriptions
29:59
literally hailed him as the savior of the whole world.
30:04
Inside the city of Rome, the massive doors at the Temple of
30:07
War were definitively closed, signaling that Augustus had
30:10
achieved global peace. When he eventually died,
30:13
historians record that men comforted themselves with the
30:16
delusion that gods do not die. The psychological impact of
30:19
Roman propaganda during this period cannot be overstated.
30:23
You have to understand what the Mediterranean world had just
30:25
been through. Constant warfare.
30:26
Wreckage of brutal, exhausting civil wars following the
30:30
assassination of Julius Caesar. The economy was wrecked, cities
30:34
were exhausted, and blood was everywhere.
30:36
And then Augustus emerges victorious.
30:38
He ends the chaos. He establishes the Pax Romana,
30:41
the Roman peace. He restructures the government,
30:45
rebuilds the infrastructure, and happily accepts divine titles.
30:49
The citizens of the Empire genuinely looked to Rome, and to
30:52
Augustus specifically, as the ultimate final source of
30:55
stability and salvation. So they bought into the
30:58
propaganda. Completely.
31:00
The Roman propaganda machine brilliantly positioned him as
31:03
the definitive answer to all human suffering.
31:06
They believed they had engineered paradise through
31:08
military superiority. So you have the staggering
31:11
dichotomy. You have Augustus sitting on a
31:13
throne in Rome, backed by the most lethal military machine in
31:17
human history, utilizing a massive propaganda network to
31:20
claim that he is the divine savior of the world, bringing
31:23
global peace. And simultaneously.
31:25
Yeah. Simultaneously, in a tiny,
31:26
insignificant village on the fringes of the Empire, you have
31:29
a baby being born in an animal through who's bringing the
31:32
actual sunrise. The irony is almost too heavy to
31:35
lift. Was Luke, as an author,
31:36
intentionally setting up this political contrast?
31:39
Did he want his readers to look at Rome and look at Bethlehem
31:42
and make a choice? Absolutely.
31:44
Luke is writing is both a meticulous historian and a
31:47
brilliant theologian. He is intentionally,
31:50
deliberately juxtaposing the self-proclaimed, humanly
31:53
engineered piece of Rome with the eternal healing wholeness
31:57
brought by the true sunrise descending from heaven.
31:59
Because Rome's peace was superficial.
32:02
Think about how the Pax Romana was actually maintained.
32:05
It was maintained by the sharp edge of a sword.
32:08
It was enforced through brutal taxation, the threat of
32:11
crucifixion and legions of soldiers stationed in rebellious
32:14
provinces. Right.
32:16
It was basically peace through intimidation.
32:18
It was an external conformity driven by terror.
32:21
If you stepped out of line, Rome would crush you.
32:24
But the peace brought by the child in the Manger is a
32:27
completely different kind of sovereignty.
32:28
It changes things internally. Yes, it is an internal cosmic
32:32
reconciliation that changes the human heart from the inside out.
32:36
Luke is laying out two rival claims to Global Lordship 1 is a
32:39
loud, arrogant empire that relies on human might.
32:43
An empire that will eventually collapse and crumble into dust.
32:46
Which it did. And the other is a quiet,
32:49
seemingly fragile birth that will permanently alter the
32:52
trajectory of the human race and the universe itself.
32:55
As we synthesize the immense sweep of our discussion today,
32:59
we have covered a massive amount of historical and theological
33:02
ground. We really have.
33:04
We started by looking at the humbling, crushing reality of
33:07
human sin and the absolute necessity of the grace of
33:10
repentance. We looked at how even our very
33:13
best, most sincere efforts fall short of God's standard.
33:17
The beverage quote. Right.
33:18
We trace the fulfillment of those ancient ironclad
33:21
guarantees made to David regarding a fierce, conquering
33:24
king, and the oath made to Abraham regarding a liberated
33:27
people whose ultimate vocation is joyful worship.
33:30
From the Cape Buffalo to the Covenant of Pieces.
33:32
Exactly. Then we looked at John the
33:34
Baptist, the specific calling to bring the inward personal
33:37
knowledge of salvation, moving us from the menu to the actual
33:40
meal. The inward witness.
33:42
And finally, we saw the cosmic arrival of the true savior, the
33:45
sunrise from on high, who completely eclipses the false
33:48
political gods of the Roman age. And you know, the historical
33:52
realities we have unpacked demand a personal response.
33:55
The commentary we have been investigating does not let the
33:58
reader off the hook as a mere observer.
34:00
It pushes back on you. It presents several direct,
34:03
incisive questions for you to consider regarding your own
34:06
standing. Do you possess the actual
34:08
knowledge of salvation or just theoretical facts?
34:12
Is Christ your mighty horn of salvation, defending you and
34:16
substituting for you? Are you personally assured of
34:19
the forgiveness of your sins? Those are heavy questions.
34:22
What the author is forcing the reader to ask here is deeply
34:25
philosophical and intensely personal.
34:27
He's basically asking, have you experienced that cosmic weight
34:30
of guilt being lifted off your shoulders?
34:33
Or are you still sitting in the shadow of death, desperately
34:36
relying on your own flawed attempts at righteousness to
34:38
justify your existence? And that brings us to a final
34:41
thought for you to Mull over. As we close, we saw how the
34:44
arrival of the true sunrise directly challenged and exposed
34:48
the self-proclaimed manufactured savior of the Roman world.
34:51
So the question becomes. Who or what are the modern
34:55
Augustus figures in your own life?
34:57
Think about the political figures, the rapid advancements
35:00
in technology, or the sweeping cultural ideologies that we
35:04
falsely look to for absolute peace and stability today.
35:08
We are still looking for saviors.
35:09
We really are. We are still building these
35:11
massive, humanly engineered systems, desperately hoping they
35:15
will save us from the chaos of the world and the anxiety in our
35:18
own minds. We won't work.
35:20
But just like that lost caravan waiting in the Howling Desert,
35:23
no artificial light, no matter how bright we build it, is going
35:26
to save us from the night. We must look to the true
35:29
sunrise. Stop trying to build your own
35:31
light. Exactly.
35:32
I want you to imagine yourself back in that pitch black room we
35:35
talked about at the beginning. The darkness is heavy, the
35:37
silence is deafening. Stop looking for a flashlight.
35:40
You have to build yourself with your own two hands and wait for
35:43
the sun to rise.