December 18: The Fourth Sunday of Advent
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;
–Luke 1:68-71
When Zechariah bursts into rejoicing his song brings together two promises God had given his people: God promised that Messiah would come and that He would provide a horn of salvation from the house of David.
A horn of salvation? What kind of horn is this? Is it something that you blow on? No, not that kind. In Psalm 92 and various other places the word horn refers to the kind you would find on the head of an ox, a charging ox; one that’s rushing forward to gore the enemies of God to death. Whatever gets in the way of God’s chosen people will become intimately acquainted with the brass hooves and bronze horns of this ox. So, when David says, “You are the horn of my salvation,” he identifies and praises the One who saves him from his enemies.
Zechariah bridges the gap in their understanding of God’s revelation. They knew they were promised a Messiah. They knew that God had promised a horn of salvation. So it is here that Zechariah announces a beautiful reality: the horn of salvation raised up from the house of David is the same One who crushes the enemies of God.
You ask who that may be,
Christ Jesus, it is he!
Lord Sabaoth his name,
from age to age the same,
and he must what?
Win the battle.
Jesus is the horn of salvation. He is the one who will defeat all of his and our enemies.
Do you have enemies? I don’t mean people who disagree with you or people you don’t like. I mean people who try to destroy, kill, or ruin you. That’s bad enough, but there’s more. Our greatest enemy is sin itself.
It is sin that ruins our relationships with family. It is sin that plagues our friendships. It is sin that contaminates every thought that runs through your head and mine. It is sin that causes us want the wrong things and hate the good things. Oh, time would fail us if we tried to list all the ways that sin proves itself to be our truest enemy.
But here is the good news: Christ crushed sin and its power when He was crushed on the cross. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, your sin was nailed to the cross. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, your guilt was nailed to the cross. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, your death was nailed to the cross. And when Jesus died, your sin and guilt and death died with Him. And when he rose in his body, your life rose with him.
And that’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Joy to the World! The Lord is Come
CHRISTMAS EVE WORSHIP SERVICE
The Christmas Eve service will be Saturday evening, December 24, at 6:00.
CHRISTMAS MORNING AND NEW YEAR’S DAY WORSHIP SERVICE
We will have worship at the usual time (10:30) on Sunday, December 25 and January 1, but there will be no Sunday school either day.
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Sunday school for children (in Joshua) and adults (in 1 Peter) continues. Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!