Sermon: Blameless & Barren (Luke 1:1-25)

Blameless & Barren Sunday, December 7th, 2025 Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA Luke 1:1–25

Prayer

O Father, we thank You for the miracle of grace, that takes away the reproach of our sins. Teach us now to believe more firmly the testimony of Your Word, for we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Introduction

Well, if you have ever wondered what the longest book in the New Testament is, you just heard the first 25 verses of it. Yes, the Gospel of Luke is the longest book in the New Testament by word count (and the second longest is Luke’s sequel, the book of Acts). And so this morning we shall begin our journey through this gospel, although because of its length, we may take some breaks along the way, we shall see.

• Now what is unique about Luke is that it gives us many stories and details that no other gospel records.
  • For example, Luke alone tells us about the angel Gabriel appearing to Zacharias. Luke alone tells us about the angel appearing to Mary, and how she responds with her now famous Magnificat (“My soul magnifies the Lord!”). Luke alone gives us the “Song of Simeon,” which we sing as our benediction during Advent. Luke alone gives us the one story about Jesus as a boy, which all the other gospels remain silent about. Luke alone also contains some of the most famous parables like the Prodigal Son, and the Good Samaritan.
  • So there is a real sense in which Luke is the most detailed and comprehensive account of Jesus’ earthly life. An account that begins even before his birth, with the miraculous conception and naming of John, who according to the angel shall make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
• So this morning on this Second Sunday of Advent, in this season of preparing ourselves for the coming of Christ, I want to consider the question: How does God prepare His people for His own Son’s arrival? How does God make ready those faithfully awaiting the Messiah, and what we can learn from this inspired history that Luke records for us?
  • There are three answers to this question we find here in Luke 1:1-25. And they are
    • 1. By Sending His Most Certain Word
    • 2. By Answering Our Former Prayers
    • 3. By Reconciling Us to Himself and One Another
  • So let’s walk through this text together just focusing on those three answers. How does God prepare us for His only begotten Son’s arrival?
    • The first way is….

#1 – By Sending His Most Certain Word

• God does through the Luke as the author of this gospel, and then also through many figures within the gospel story.
• First observe how Luke describes the reason for him writing this gospel. He says in verse 1 that others have attempted this work (like Matthew and Mark), and yet there is still so much more to say about Jesus. And because Luke has access to reliable eyewitnesses, referring to the apostles (ministers of the word), He says in verses 3-4, It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
  • So notice that Luke’s intention is to give certainty/assurance to those who already believe and have been instructed (κατηχήθης, catechized).
  • This name Theophilus means “lover of God” or “friend of God” and he was most likely the patron who funded the writing and distribution of this work and the book of Acts.
    • Luke says in Acts 1:1, The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.
    • So who is Theophilus? He is the “most excellent friend of God” and patron of these two important treatises, Luke & Acts, which together make up almost a third of the whole New Testament. So whatever it cost Theophilus to fund Luke’s work, I think we can safely say it was money well spent!
      • By way of application, we could ask ourselves: In what ways are we being friends and lovers of God like Theophilus? In what ways can we support and assist those laboring to make the truth known in our day? The ordinary way is by our tithes and offerings, but there also many other ways that we can be using what God has given us to further His kingdom. It says in Proverbs 22:9, He that hath a generous eye shall be blessed. And so are you aspiring to be generous like Theophilus?
  • So G