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