Friday, December 27, 2019

LUKE 1: 57- 80 "Zechariah’s Prophecy"


This portion of sacred Scripture  outlines the birth  of John the Baptist  and the remarkable  prophecy of his father, Zechariah.

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1.      THE  BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST (2:57-66)
a.     God’s great mercy and Elizabeth’s great  joy  (vv.57-58)
b.     Zechariah’s  changed perspective (vv. 59-64)
c.       A question asked by many:  What then will this child be?  (vv. 65-66)

2.      THE QUESTION ASKED  AND ANSWERED: ZECHARIAH’S PROPHECY   CONCERNING  HIS SON JOHN (2:67- 79)

a.     Praise to God for fulfilling his promise to redeem his people (1:67-75)
b.     A word  concerning John and his  ministry (1:76-79)
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1.         THE  BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST (2:57-66)

a.         God’s great mercy and Elizabeth’s great  joy  (vv.57-58) “When the time came for Elizabeth to give birth to her child, she bore a son her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.”

Having been previously introduced to the fact  that  the priest  Zechariah and Elizabeth were childless  and advanced in years (1:7). At this time Zechariah was performing his priestly duty in the temple (1:11-23). We read of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Zechariah concerning the miraculous conception of a son. Zechariah’s scepticism earned him the rebuke of God - a period of being temporarily mute, being unable to speak for 9 months.

We are now introduced to the fact of John’s birth, just as Gabriel said.  Luke tells us of two initial responses to this birth. Firstly, those that knew Elizabeth (neighbours and relatives- 1:58) knew that this was God’s mercy. The Lord had given her a son out of child bearing season. Secondly, they rejoiced with her.  And so, on that level alone there is great rejoicing in the fact of God’s kind and merciful providence. The stigma of childlessness was dealt with and it produces a deep and satisfying joy in Elizabeth.

But there is more here than meets the eye. Wherever God is at work we may be assured that He does more than  we   human minds   can understand.  The apostle Paul, interviewing God’s great salvation plan in his letter to the Romans gets a hint of this when he writes: “Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!” (Rom. 11:33). When we are given glimpses of God and His work, we are completely out of our depth  of understanding. 

b.         The Birth Utterly  Changed Zechariah’s  Perspective (vv. 59-64)

To begin with, Zechariah had no understanding  concerning God’s sovereign power and  providence. He had no ability to see or hear God’s voice and will in the matter, and therefore  he did not  have  any ability to speak. He had deeply  doubted the angel Gabriel’s  announcement. But all that has changed now.  Family and friends  are coming together  on the 8th day following the child’s birth to circumcise the child in accordance with the law of Moses, and to name him. Everybody supposes that that he would be called Ben Zacharyah after his father (Zechariah means God remembers).Elizabeth, who had trusted the word  of  Gabriel  from the moment Zechariah communicated this to her (via a writing tablet 1:63) says to them, “No; He shall be called John” (1:60).  And we hear a very  familiar family squabble  erupting:  “But Elizabeth, there are  no John’s in your family!” (1:61).   And so they turn to Zechariah, making signs to him, like one  would do with a  deaf man. But he can hear everything they say. He can just not speak. He is mute. 
I remember visiting a German man called Richard in a local institution in the 90’s. Richard was mute. His hearing was fine, but his brain could just not do the speaking. God had temporarily disengaged Zechariah’s brain –speech function.  And so   Zechariah signals them to give him a writing tablet, and he confirms in writing what his wife has already said, “His name is John.[1] 

God’s chastising of Zechariah’s initial unbelief had its desired effect. He was no longer arguing. He was now conforming to God’s will and purpose. And now he writes that name with full conviction on to that tablet, and immediately the Lord  restores his speech.  The first thing that comes out of Zechariah’s mouth is the blessing of God (1:64). Reflect on this. A man in the priestly service of God  is  chastised  because he did not implicitly trust the Word of the Lord by the angel Gabriel.  That chastising brought wonderful perspective  to Zechariah- and not just perspective,  but deep, reverential  praise. Thank God for  such times when we are led  away from our  spiritual complacency  to  experience God  afresh as loving, merciful sustaining Father. What valuable lessons  the Christian  learns in the valley of humiliation.  This poem by Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) gives this perspective:

“I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chatted all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow;
And ne’er a word said she;
But, oh! The things I learned from her,
When Sorrow walked with me.”

Zechariah, in his afflicted state learned to trust God afresh. God so often works in adversity to build us up, to grow us in grace, and to help us to believe. This is what happened with Zechariah. In nine months of silence, while Elizabeth was pregnant with John  Zechariah was given the gift of silence  to repent, confess, and do self – examination.  And when the people heard Zechariah speak for the first time after this,  they  were  wondering (1:63)…

c.      What Then Will This Child Be?

This is a wonderful moment. God was so near, not only to Zechariah and Elizabeth, but to all the surrounding people. There is an expectancy in the air. What is God up to?  What then will this child be? The answer is in the making in the next section, in which the Holy Spirit through Zechariah will tell us what He is up to and what kind of child this will be. This child will not be the Messiah. He will not be the Christ. But he is the one who will focus every one’s attention on another Child. John is the forerunner of the Messiah. He is the trumpet. He  is born and called  to   announce  the  coming  and the work of  Jesus.

2.         QUESTION ANSWERED:  ZECHARIAH’S PROPHECY CONCERNING JOHN 
            (1:67- 79)

Zechariah was now given the  liberty  to speak , and he does so in terms of  prophetic  praise to God. This portion of Scripture is called the Benedictus[2]- from the Latin “blessed be”.  Zechariah’s  prophetic words  ascribe  blessing to  the God  who  is now finally  giving the promised gift  of salvation – a longstanding promise of  God !  This  prophecy contains three  wonderful truths :

a.     Praise To God For Fulfilling His Promise To Redeem His People (1:67-75)

Zechariah under the influence of the Holy Spirit (1:67) makes it very clear that John’s ministry and message is going to be set in the context of the unfolding plan of God’s redemptive plan  for our fallen world.
In answering the question, What then will this child be”, he is not falling into the trap of extolling his boy as a child prodigy, a Wunderkind,  a special child, who will do great things, such as a Mozart who started composing  music at the age of 5! John is special to be sure. His birth was special. He has a very unique calling from God, but no - he wasn’t the long expected Messiah.  Zechariah wants people to know that this is not about John. It is about God.  God is doing this. He is visiting His people. He is in the process of redeeming them. He is providing a horn of salvation through the house of David. He has spoken about this many year ago through his prophets. He is the God who will deliver his people in the midst of their sinful and woeful existence. He has not forgotten! He has remembered His covenant, which he first gave to Abraham.

Zechariah wants us to know that John is a part of a larger picture, in which God is preparing to visit His people in the person of His own Son, the Messiah, Christ our Lord, who is in Himself  is going to accomplish redemption for His people.  And so Zechariah  does not glorify  his own, miraculously born son. He is glorifying  God.   Here is something we all must learn  to think about in doing  the work of God. This ministry that we have through God’s mercy is not about us. The apostle Paul says that it is  all about Jesus (2 Cor. 4:1-6). We exist to make Him known. He alone is our hope and salvation.This is the  God-centeredness of  Zechariah's song,  which teaches us  to thinking and living  in  this  world  in  God-centred  terms.

We must reflect briefly  on the  fulfilment of prophecy given to Abraham (1:72-75). We find the account of this in Genesis 12 and 17.  Luke connects the dots for us by telling  us  that the coming of Jesus as Messiah in this world was in fulfilment of God's promise to Abraham. At this time  the promise was  about  2,000 years old and from our perspective 4000 years old.  God’s promise to Abraham was not  made to the Jews, but to the world- the nations – the gentiles. “Abraham, you will be a father of many nations!”   John will help the world of his day , and us, to look to the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29,36) This is not about John, although he will be used much of God. He knows that he must  decrease in  all  his  work. Jesus must increase.(John 3:30).

b.     Concerning John And His Ministry (1:76-79)

In this section Zechariah finally answers the  question, “What then will this child be”? What purpose does God have for him? Here is Zechariah’s answer:  “And you my child will be called the prophet of the Most High;  for you will  go before the Lord to prepare His ways...”. Zechariah speaks about things that his son will do in the future. At this stage Zechariah was already an old man, and we don't know how long he lived and whether he lived to see the fulfilment of his words .But this we know. Zechariah is given inspired insight when his son was eight days old - concerning his life’s purpose and preaching ministry.  He will have the responsibility of preparing Israel for the coming of the Lord. John will have the responsibility of calling Israel to repentance, because Israel had strayed from her God —  see 1: 77: “…To give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins….”   John’s ministry anticipates the grace of the gospel by  preaching  the  forgiveness of sins and the salvation that we have because of forgiveness of sins. And all this because of  1:78  “…because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high….”

And that becomes the work of John, and we see this fulfilled in Luke 3:4-6. Sadly, John’s preaching has often characterized as hard, challenging, demanding – but the gospel  tone of his preaching  is often forgotten. The tone makes the music! John’s preaching is actually  a wonderful example of faith preaching that produces soft hearts.  Faithful preaching  must uphold the demands of the law, and our inability to keep it, whilst pointing to the gospel of grace in Christ. 
That is why John’s ministry is such a model and blessing. It is a truly Christ centred, Christ focussed ministry.  
He existed for the glory of Christ. 
May God be pleased to give us more preachers like him in these  days!



[1] Greek: autou onoma estin Ioannēs
[2] Mary’s  song ( 1: 46-55) is called the Magnificat ; Simeon’s  prophetic blessing of  Jesus, the Nunc Dimittis

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