A Welcome Visit

     Some visitors are rather intrusive. They are like your relatives at Christmas who remind you of Proverbs 25:17, “Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house—too much of you, and he will hate you. “     

     Other visitors are tolerated. You don’t enjoy them much, but you can get through it with God’s help. And, you usually feel good that you endured it. It’s something like kissing your sister.

     But some visitors refresh you. They are very welcome, and you come away as a better person. You are glad to roll out the red carpet for them because they stimulate you and leave you never the same.

     When Jesus visited earth his visit was received in all three of these ways. Zechariah (John’s the Baptist’s Father) was never the same as a result of the Son of God’s visit. You remember the plot: Luke’s orderly account begins with a priest’s encounter with an angel. The encounter left him silent until his son was born. When he was able to speak his first words they were about God’s visit to earth. Only later did he talk about his own son.

     In the coming of Jesus Christ, God visited the world and left it never the same. For that visit, from Zechariah’s perspective, was:

 
I.    A Spiritual Visit.  The language is political: horn, David’s reign, deliverance from enemies, preparation for a king’s visit, and peace. But the meaning of the language is spiritual: redemption, salvation, forgiveness, mercy, remembered covenant, service to God, and light for those in darkness.

II.    A Long-Awaited Visit:  One thing that makes Christmas to be Christmas is the sense of anticipation. Only Easter could rival that sense of the giving of new fife. In a sense this is the last prophecy before the coming of the Messiah. We should notice the longing that is in it. It is similar to Simeon’s response (Luke 2:28-32).

III.    An Effectual Visit:  Some visits happen and leave you with a first-class yawn. But this visit makes an actual difference. John the Baptist’s whole life is wrapped up in this prophecy. Listen: Our service, holiness, righteousness, moral excellence, and peace are at stake.

Conclusion:  Jesus got upset because the Jews didn’t recognize their visitor (Luke 19:44). There are few things as embarrassing as being in the presence of greatness and not knowing it. Will Christmas catch us unaware of what God is doing in the world? Will you respond like scrooge, complaining about this visit? Will you respond like the Jews, nonchalant? That’s the question we all must answer in this New Year of 2014. The very existence of our families and our nation is at stake.