Questions

1. Fill in the blanks below from Luke 1:76-79: And you, child, will be called the prophet of the ____ ____; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ____, to give knowledge of _________ to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender ______ of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give _____ to those who sit in ________ and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of _____.”
2. Zechariah refers to Jesus as the “horn of salvation,” which emphasizes what aspect of salvation?
3. Its secrecy
4. Its strength and certainty
5. Its complexity
6. Its hiddenness in prophecy
7. TRUE or FALSE:  God promised David that one of his descendants would have a throne that lasts forever.
8. TRUE or FALSE:  Israel fully repented before Ezra and Nehemiah ended their ministry.
9. John the Baptist prepared the way of the Lord by calling people to ________.     
10. According to the message, Israel’s exile ultimately reflected:
11. Military failure
12. The condition of all humanity
13. The downfall of monarchy
14. A political conspiracy
15. TRUE or FALSE:  Christ unites Jews and Greeks into one people of God. 

Discussion

1. Read Luke 1:67-79 and discuss the following questions:
2. How does Zechariah’s prophecy show that salvation is part of a larger story rather than a disconnected event?
3. Why is the title “Son of David” significant when applied to Jesus, and how does it deepen our understanding of who He is?
4. What does Zechariah teach us about the importance of connecting Jesus to both David and Abraham?
5. How does the “horn of salvation” imagery shape our view of the kind of salvation God provides?
6. How does the story of Israel’s exile mirror the condition of all humanity?
7. Why is John the Baptist’s message of repentance essential to God’s redemptive story?
8. According to Romans 3, why is it important to understand that both Jews and Greeks stand in the same need of salvation? How should this truth influence our witness to others?
9. Zechariah praises God for “the tender mercy of our God” (Luke 1:78). How does mercy shape the way God deals with His people throughout the story of salvation?
10. Read the following verses and discuss the different layers of mercy of God : Ps 51:1, Matt 12:7, Rom 9:15, Eph 2:4, James 2:12, 1 Pet 1:3
11. In light of these truths that demonstrate God’s great mercy, discuss the lesson we should take and apply in our lives.
12. Discuss the following in your groups:
13. What practical steps can believers take to “give knowledge of salvation” to others, as John did (Luke 1:77)?
14. How can we take the opportunity of this season, which so many celebrate for reasons other than the birth of Christ, to make Christmas more Christ centered?

Sermon Outline

Last week, we reflected on the prophet Simeon, and we were reminded that salvation is not merely an idea—it is a person. Filled with the Holy Spirit in the temple, Simeon took a forty-day-old infant into his arms and declared, “My eyes have seen Your salvation.” Salvation is found in Jesus Christ, and in Him alone. But salvation is not only a person; it is also a story. That is why today’s message is titled “The Drama of Redemption.” Who Jesus is and what He accomplishes are the fulfillment of God’s unfolding story of salvation, and we want the Word of God to deepen our understanding of that great narrative.

The song of praise we will study comes from Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. Zechariah, a priest, encountered the angel Gabriel in the temple and was told that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a child. Doubting the possibility because of their age, Zechariah asked how such a thing could be. Gabriel—who had come from the presence of God—assured him that nothing is impossible for the Lord, and as a sign, Zechariah was rendered unable to speak until the promise came to pass.

Because salvation is a story, we want to see how Zechariah deepens our understanding of that story. He shows us the threads of God’s redemptive work—how the story of God is a story in need of redemption, where God’s people stood at the time of Christ’s birth, and how those events fit within the larger drama of salvation. Zechariah helps us see how this story becomes our story: that salvation for you and for me comes as our lives are joined to the life of Christ, uniting our personal stories to God’s great story of redemption.

Salvation Has a Story

Salvation unfolds as a story, and Zachariah wants us to remember key parts of that story. He aims to deepen our understanding of the Scriptures and reveal more clearly who Jesus is. To do this, Zachariah begins recounting the story of salvation by pointing us to one of Israel’s kings. He says,

Luke 1:68-70 – ⁶⁸“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people ⁶⁹and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, ⁷⁰as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.

The phrase “horn of salvation” speaks the language of strength. Zechariah is telling us that salvation has a source—and it is powerful, effective, and certain to accomplish its purpose. This mighty “horn of salvation” comes from the house of David, just as God promised long ago through His holy prophets. So if we want to deepen our understanding of the story of salvation, we must see how Jesus is connected to David. According to Zechariah, Jesus’ identity is the direct fulfillment of the promises God made to David. But what exactly were those promises, and how do they relate to Jesus? Scripture records them in several places, including 2 Samuel. David desired to build a house for the Lord, but God responded by saying, in effect, “Your desire is good, but before you build a house for Me, I will build a house for you.” And it is here that God makes His promise.

2 Samual 7:11-16 – The Lord declares to you that I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.

God promised David that a descendant from his own line—a true offspring, a seed—would one day arise and establish a kingdom whose throne would endure forever. This king would enjoy a unique relationship with God, for as the Lord said, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to Me a son.” When God makes a promise, we can be certain He will fulfill it. And His promise to David was that a king from his lineage would rule over an everlasting kingdom.

So when we read the Gospels and hear people call Jesus the Son of David, they are invoking this very promise. Son of David is not just a title; it is a declaration that Jesus is the long-awaited king foretold in God’s covenant with David. Jesus fulfills this promise because He truly is the descendant of David who reigns forever.

Likewise, when Jesus refers to Himself—or when others refer to Him—as the Son of God, that title also echoes back to the same covenant. While Son of God can carry multiple layers of meaning, for a first-century Jew living in Judea, it would naturally call to mind God’s promise to David: that the coming king would be God’s son in a special, covenantal sense. Jesus, as the king on an everlasting throne, embodies this promise perfectly.

From the moment of His birth—even in humble poverty, as last week’s passage reminded us—Jesus was already a king. This is why the wise men rightly offered Him royal gifts and bowed in homage: they recognized the arrival of the promised King in David’s line.

But Zechariah doesn’t stop with David. Understanding the story of salvation requires the whole picture, and part of that picture involves another foundational figure, the father of faith, Abraham. Zechariah continues by saying…

Luke 1:72-75 – ⁷²God will remember his holy covenant, ⁷³the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us ⁷⁴that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, ⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

Abraham is a vital part of the story of salvation and essential to understanding who Jesus is and what He fulfills. God made profound promises to Abraham: that He would make Abraham’s name great, bless him abundantly, multiply his descendants beyond number—like the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore—and that through Abraham and his family, blessing would flow to all the nations of the earth. These promises appear throughout Genesis, especially in chapters 12, 15, and 17. But in chapter 22, we see a reaffirmation—a recapitulation—of this covenant promise.

Genesis 22:16-18 – ¹⁶By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord...¹⁷I will surely bless you... ¹⁸And in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.

Notice that God promises to bless the nations specifically through Abraham’s offspring. Many generations later, one of Christ’s apostles reflected on this very passage in light of Jesus’ resurrection. The apostle Paul, reading Genesis 22 through the lens of Christ’s redemptive work, explains its meaning in Galatians chapter 3.

Galatians 3:16 – ¹⁶Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

To grasp the story of salvation, we must understand the promises God made to Abraham—promises centered on his offspring, or more literally in Hebrew, his seed. That word should take us all the way back to God’s words to Adam and Eve: that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. The seed of Abraham would bring blessing to all nations, and Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise. Everything in the story of salvation ultimately points to Him. Yet the story that leads to Jesus is also a story in need of redemption.

In Need of Redemption

It is a fractured story. By the time we reach the New Testament, the narrative feels like a cliffhanger. After the people return from exile under Ezra and Nehemiah, things do not end on a hopeful note—Nehemiah, by the close of chapter 13, is exasperated and worn out by the people’s failures. And Malachi, the final prophet of the Old Testament, makes it clear that the situation is bleak. So we enter the New Testament with great promises still standing, but a story very much in need of redemption. It is into this context that Zechariah declares…

Luke 1:76-78 – ⁷⁶And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, ⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, ⁷⁸because of the tender mercy of our God.

John the Baptist—the child soon to be born—would serve as a prophet. He would go before the Lord to prepare His way and to give God’s people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, all flowing from the tender mercy of God. In other words, God Himself would step in to redeem the story, bringing true salvation and forgiveness.

As we’ve seen, this story desperately needs redemption. Israel had been brought out of Egypt and into the promised land, yet over time they repeatedly fell into disobedience. God sent His prophets to confront them and discipline them in order to draw them back, but they would not listen. Eventually, God declares, in effect, “Everyone out,” sending them into exile. Moses had foretold all of this long before. And in Deuteronomy 30, he also explains the condition under which the exile and its curses could come to an end.

Deuteronomy 30:1-3 – ¹When you among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, ²and return to the Lord your God...with all your heart and with all your soul, ³then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you.

So what must happen for God to restore the fortunes of His people? They must return to the Lord with all their heart and soul. In other words, they must repent. Repentance is the condition for restoration. Interestingly, while Israel is still in Babylon, Daniel recognizes this and offers a well-known prayer of repentance on behalf of the people. “God, we are here because we have done what we should not have done. Everything You warned us about through Moses has come to pass, and now we find ourselves scattered among the nations.”

Daniel 9:11-13 – ¹¹All Israel has transgressed your law...And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us...yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities.

Daniel recognized the condition for Israel’s return: the people had to repent of their sins. Yet when we reach the end of Ezra and Nehemiah, it’s clear that true repentance still had not occurred. Malachi confirms the same reality. This is why, when John the Baptist arrives, his message is unmistakable: Repent. That call is not random—it fits perfectly within the unfolding story of salvation. When God’s people are in exile, restoration is tied to repentance. Because Israel had not repented, John’s proclamation becomes urgent. Repentance is what prepares the way for the salvation God is about to accomplish, the salvation that will restore His people and fulfill His promises.

What is remarkable is how Israel’s exile reflects the condition of all humanity. Just as Israel was driven out to Assyria and Babylon, humanity as a whole was exiled in Genesis 3. This means Israel and the entire human race share the same predicament—and therefore the same need for salvation. This is precisely what the Apostle Paul emphasizes in Romans.

Romans 3:22-25 – ²²For there is no distinction: ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

Both Jew and Greek stand in the same position—they are exiled and need to be brought near. All have fallen away, and all must repent in order to be restored. In Christ, the story of salvation reaches its fulfillment. Jesus comes as the consolation of Israel, the One who accomplishes the promises God made to His people. Yet His redemption extends beyond Israel to all people who are united to Him. Scripture says that all are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. This justification is not only for the Jew, but for Jew and Greek together.

In Christ, Jew and Greek are woven into a single story, united to the same life. There is only one vine, though it has different branches—some natural, some grafted in. But all share the same life because all are connected to the same vine. There is one story of salvation, one people of God, and that story reaches its climax in Christ. As both Jew and Greek believe in the Lord Jesus, they are justified before God and together become His people. In Christ, we become descendants of Abraham. Paul tells us plainly: if you are in Christ, then you belong to Abraham’s family.

The point is that the story of salvation is one unified story, and everything points to Jesus. He comes as the consolation of Israel, yet Israel’s condition mirrors that of all humanity—we have all been exiled by sin. But God graciously brings us back, restoring both Jew and Greek through the sacrifice of Christ. His blood makes us new. The dividing wall is gone. Two become one. And by faith we are received as God’s people.

We, as God’s people, must recognize that the story of salvation intersects with our own lives, because every person here is living a story.

God Is Redeeming Our Stories

You have a past, a present, and a future—and your story finds its redemption through union with the story of salvation in Christ. It is in our union with Him that our lives gain meaning and purpose. And this story is not merely an idea; it is a drama. If you have ever acted in a play, you know what it means to have a role, lines, and actions that make the whole performance come together. In the same way, salvation is a divine drama, and each of us has a part to play. We cannot simply do or say whatever we want; our role has been entrusted to us so that the beauty and truth of the story can be seen.

As those united to Christ, our lives continue the unfolding drama of redemption. The story did not end two thousand years ago, though it reached a decisive moment then. The drama continues today, and your life is part of it. Your lines and your responsibilities are different from mine or anyone else’s, yet all of us are called to faithfully enact the drama of salvation in our daily lives.

Salvation has been accomplished, yet Jesus is still at work through the Holy Spirit, drawing people to Himself until the day He returns and makes all things new. During this Advent season—this time between His first coming and His promised return—let us remember that salvation is both a completed story in Christ and a continuing drama in which He invites us to participate. Christ in you carries forward that story of redemption, and every person God brings across your path becomes an opportunity to bear witness and play your part in the ongoing work of salvation.

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