For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
As an author, Luke is renowned for his inclusion of details that enhance the storyline. In his introduction of Zechariah, he provides a meaningful detail that points to the second advent of Christ, writing, “In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah” (Luke 1:5). After Luke 1:5, the following 20 verses have everything to do with Zechariah and nothing to do with King Herod. By including this detail about Herod, Luke is relaying to his audience some very important context: the Jews living in Judea during this time were under Roman rule.
When Zechariah walked into the temple to burn incense, it had been 400 years since God had spoken through the last prophet, Malachi. During this time, there had been civil and religious unrest within the Hebrew nation, which ended with Herod at the helm of Judea. Herod came into power by purchasing his position and making alliances with key figures in the Roman government.[1] He was a violent and manipulative king. Jewish historian, Josephus records that during Herod’s reign he “transmitted to eternity many of his family and friends.”[2] Herod did this out of fear that they may threaten his throne.
Aside from his brutality, history also records that Herod was a master builder. He once dedicated the magnificent Antonia Fortress to Mark Antony. He ordered that this fortress be built adjacent to the Jewish temple, so that his soldiers could overlook the temple courts. The fortress stood in the mind of many Hebrews, “as a symbol of Herod’s oppressive rule of the Jewish nation.”[3]
It was under this foreign oppressor when a faithful Jewish woman received news of a different King. At last, a King far greater than Herod was set to walk the roads of Jerusalem. Luke records this in Luke 1:31-33, saying,
“And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Those who stood outside the temple at the hour of incense in Luke 1 came from a long line of Jewish royalty. Their knowledge of scripture formed their hope that a new king would rise from among them and save the people. Knowing God’s promises to them, surely, the Jews would have known passages like:
- Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever (2 Samuel 7:16).
- You have said, ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to my servant: I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations’ (Psalm 89:3-4).
Likewise, it is the Church’s knowledge of scripture today that forms her hope that a righteous King sovereignly reigns; a King who will come a second time to rescue his people from the presence of sin and Satan. The Apostle Paul points us to such hope in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, saying, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.” In the same way that the Jews looked forward to the first advent of the Messiah, we too look forward to the second advent of the King of Kings. And it’s important to note that their hope, like ours, was informed by Scripture. Thanks to Luke’s detail about Herod, the first advent causes us to look forward to the arrival of our King at the second advent. When a king is mentioned in scripture, it points us to the King of kings, Jesus. As you have seen with Herod, the kings of the Bible merely point out the inability of any man to do what only Jesus can: Rule his people in perfect justice and righteousness (Isaiah 9:7).
[1] H.I. Hester, The Heart of the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman, 1950), 32-33.
[2] Josephus, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987), 576.
[3] John D. Currid and David P. Barrett. ESV Bible Atlas (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2010), 213.
The Twelve Days of Advent 