Luke 1:5-25
Introductory Thoughts
-Our faith is based on a unique, remarkable, wondrous series of events that happened in the Middle East a little over 2,000 years ago.
-The date when these events took place sounds odd, because of a mistake in our calendar, but they actually took place beginning some time in either the year 7 or 8 B.C., and continued for approximately the next 16-18 months, culminating in a series of events that took place in Bethlehem, Judea in and around the year 6 B.C.
-This series of miraculous events began with an angel visitation to a Jewish priest, and culminated with the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. The Journey Israel had walked.
a. The Growth of Israel
(1) One elderly man and his family
(2) Israel had grown to be a nation in spite of its sin, because of God’s Providence
b. Israel and God’s Word—
(1) Israel had always had a Word from God, but had usually rebelled against that Word
(2) Every generation had at least one prophet, one judge, one patriarch, one priest or leader.
(3) But each generation had generally the same result—they rejected the messenger and the message.
c. God had prophesied of the famine of hearing God’s Word, and now, there was silence and had been for 400 years—Amos 8:11 ""Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD."
d. The Silence
(1) Israel had been left with one final word, written by Malachi
(a) The Second Coming—(Mal 4) ""For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch.
(b) The First Coming—2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
(c) The Second Coming—3 You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this," Says the LORD of hosts.
(d) Instructions in the meantime—4 "Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments.
(e) The Prophecy of the forerunner—5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.""
(2) Since this last Word, God had been silent toward Israel for over 400 years!
(3) At last, when Israel had finally defeated idolatry within itself, when Israel was purified from those influences and seemingly ready to be used, then it was that God elected to become silent, and He stayed silent for 400 years.
2. The Spiritual State of the Times
a. There was a believing remnant—Mary, Joseph, Anna, Simeon, Elizabeth and Zacharias, and others. The true servants of God obeyed the Law, but also had heart faith.
(1) Anna and Simeon—Luke 2:25-26, Luke 2:36-37
(2) Mary and Joseph
(3) Those who looked for redemption
b. The philosophical condition of the pagan world when Christ came
(1) Pagan philosophy and religion had run its course, and the degradation and decline of Rome had already started, even though it was supposedly at its high point.
(2) From the Birth of Christ until the martyrdom of Peter and Paul in 68 A.D., the empire declined from the evil but effective majesty of Augustus Caesar to the total dissolution of Nero.
(3) There were new and odd religions springing up all over the empire.
c. The Spiritual Condition of Israel When Christ Came.
(1) Five groups of Jewish leaders
(a) Pharisees—
SEPARATISTS (HEB. persahin, from parash, “to separate”). They were probably the successors of the Assideans (i.e., the “pious”), a party that originated in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes in revolt against his heathenizing policy. The first mention of them is in a description by Josephus of the three sects or schools into which the Jews were divided (145 B.C.). The other two sects were the Essenes and the Sadducees. In the time of our Lord they were the popular party (John 7:48). They were extremely accurate and minute in all matters appertaining to the law of Moses (Matt. 9:14; 23:15; Luke 11:39; 18:12). Paul, when brought before the council of Jerusalem, professed himself a Pharisee (Acts 23:6-8; 26:4, 5).
(i) the supposed fundamentalists, actually popular with the masses.
(ii) Their name means “separatist,” and they were a type of Jewish Puritan with a noble heritage, but the generation that was there when Jesus came had forgotten their reason for being and had constructed a human religion of words.
(iii) They should have received Christ warmly, but instead they became His greatest opponent.
(b) Saducees—materialists, doctrinal liberals in the modern 20th century sense
(c) Herodians
(d) Hellenists
(e) Zealots
(f) The Essenes
(2) The people were poor and oppressed by the rich, the tax collectors, and the Romans
(3) The only place of learning and worship for most people most of the time was the synagogue.
(4) But the Temple did have enormous significance and festival days and required “showings” were well attended.
3. Elizabeth And Zacharias—Lk 1:5-7
a. The Time—"There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea—The Herod family Circus
b. The Family of Zacharias
(1) Descended from Aaron
(2) Of the course of Abia—he would have the opportunity to minister in the temple twice a year as a part of that family.
c. The Family of Elizabeth—also a daughter of Aaron, of the priestly line, but with apparently some family connection to Mary, who was of the tribe of Judah.
d. The Character of Zacharias and Elizabeth—1:6
(1) Zacharias took an active role in the Temple worship.
(2) They were observant Jews—Luke 1:59 "So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child;
Luke 1:5-6 "There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."
(3) Righteous—just. They were, in the sight of God, just, which means they were true believers. No distinction between Old and New Testaments on this.
(4) Walking—not only were they righteous by imputation, but their lives testified to the reality of their faith.
(5) Blameless—not sinless, but above reproach, not ones who could be accused of anything.
e. The Trial of Zacharias and Elizabeth—7 And they had no child”…
(1) This was a trial of immense proportions in their day.
(2) First, a woman who could not bear children was considered under a curse. A man with no children was considered to have been likewise cursed.
(3) With no children, they would have no “social security.”
(4) This says something about the character of Zacharias and the love which he had for Elizabeth—in the culture of his day, he could have legally divorced Elizabeth and married another woman who could have borne children, but he did not.
(5) This was a situation seemingly beyond recovery—they had no children, Elizabeth was barren, and they were old.
f. The Prayer of Zacharias and Elizabeth—13…"Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard…”
(1) We know nothing about this prayer
(2) We know not how long they had prayed.
(3) But here, Zacharias, who had no doubt prayed for a son, was about to be immeasurably blessed.
4. A Moment of Supreme Drama, the Pinnacle of Zacharias’ Career—1:8-9
a. A task of great honor—Exo 30:1-8 ""You shall make an altar to burn incense on; ….. 6 "And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you. 7 "Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. 8 "And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations."
(1) The Altar of Incense—placed in front of the Veil, symbolic of the prayers of God’s people, symbolic of the meeting place of God and the people.
(2) Except for the high priest’s yearly task on the day of atonement, when he went behind the veil to put the blood on the mercy seat, there was no holier or more significant task for a member of the priesthood than to burn the incense in either the morning or the evening.
(3) Because of the number of priests there were, some priests lived and died without ever having a chance to perform this task, and a man was only permitted to perform this task once during his ministerial career.
(4) For a pious, Godly, man such as Zacharias, this was a great moment, the high point of his life of ministry. It would be perhaps as if a country preacher like myself would have the opportunity to give the keynote address at the Southern Baptist Convention, or be asked to preach a revival at Thomas Road Baptist Church, Or Grace Community Church in Palo Alto, CA
(5) . Being a holy, Godly, man, Zacharias must have approached this with great emotion and anticipation.
b. The Stage is set—10
(1) The aged priest Zacharias takes the fire and the incense, and prepares to go into the holy place.
(2) Outside, the gathered worshippers, Jews from all over the world, the high priest, the other priests in Zacharias’ course, his cousins, uncles, nephews, were all praying. Simeon, that holy man who was waiting for Messiah, would have been there as well, praying.
(3) In the court of the women, Elizabeth must have been there as well, praying for her husband and worshiping in her own right.
(4) Anna, the holy widow who would, in 16 months or so, bless the Christ child, would have been there.
(5) Simeon, another faithful one waiting for the Messiah was undoubtedly there.
(6) Thousands of Jewish believers are praying, the temple musicians are praising Jehovah, as Zacharias, his heart pounding, overcome by the emotion of the moment, steps into the Holy Place for the pinnacle, the moment in the limelight, the most solemn and awesome duty of his career.
(7) This was to be a short moment—Zacharias was to burn the incense, then come back out and pronounce the blessing of Aaron on the assembled multitude: Num 6:24-26 ""The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace."
5. The Silence is Broken—God Communicates with His People
a. The Angel Visitation—11-12
(1) The Angelic Visitation
(2) Fear—the natural reaction of a believer in this situation.
b. The Word— This is a word given to a Biblically astute man
(1) “…Fear not, Zacharias:
(2) Your Prayers are answered, you’re going to have a son—“…for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
(3) Your son will be a great and holy man, great in God’s eyes, which is true greatness—14-15
(4) Your son will be an evangelist— 15-16
(5) Your son is the awaited Forerunner—Zacharias knew his Bible, that is the only thing the following verses can have meant to him. 1:17
c. The Reaction—The Power of Unbelief in the Life of a True Believer
(1) The irreverent Question 1:18
(2) The Indignant Reply— 1:19
(a) Zacharias, you have been praying for this—are you surprised that God has answered you?
(b) Who do you think you are talking to? You know who I am! You know the Bible, you know how rare this moment is!
(c) I have the best news for you that a man in your position could hear, and you question me?
(3) The Chastisement Fits the Crime—20
(a) You did not believe what I said, so you will not be able to talk.
(b) You have waited your whole life for this opportunity, and now that God has blessed you over and above what you could have wanted, you question Him and His messenger!
(c) Your voice is gone!
(i) No blessing to the people
(ii) No sharing of this vision
(iii) No opportunity to teach and minister in your home village.
(4) The Reaction of the Crowd—21-22
(a) Perhaps they were afraid that old Zacharias had suffered a heart attack.
(b) “What’s he doing in there?”
(c) He saw a vision! Is the silence over?
(d) Why didn’t Zacharias write and tell the others what had happened? After challenging the Angel and being struck dumb, he decided the best thing to do was nothing. He might have been similarly disbelieved, even ridiculed—he decided to let God do the talking from now on.
6. God’s Promise Kept—Luke 1: 23-25
a. The Unbelief of Zacharias did NOT keep God from accomplishing His intent!
(1) Put that in your name-it-and-claim-it pipe and smoke it!
(2) Zacharias had challenged God and had shown unbelief—God smacked him with chastisement, and blessed him anyway.
b. Elizabeth’s joy!
(1) Why did she hide herself five months?
(a) “Am I going nuts?”
(b) “No one will believe this!”
(2) Though her inclination was to make a big splash, she patiently waited, because she understood this was a gift from God.
c. This was only the first of several events to come!
7. The Preacher’s Lesson
a. The Bound Prophet—“…The Mute Christian Under the Rod…” (“…Now…”)"Now Elizabeth's full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. 58 When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her. 59 So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child…”
b. The Surrendered Prophet “… and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. 60 His mother answered and said, "No; he shall be called John." 61 But they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name." 62 So they made signs to his father; what he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, "His name is John." So they all marveled…” 64
c. The Released Prophet A Spirit Filled Believer and prophet makes up for 9 months of silence —“…Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God…”
(1) , “… 67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying…”
(2) What comes out is theology and praise, doctrine and declaration
d. Redemption—I Know My Redeemer Lives…” 68 "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people…”
(1) Has visited and brought redemption…aorist –this is a fact, it is accomplished, even though it will be three more months until the nativity and 30 plus years until the Cross
e. The Abrahamic Covenant “… And to remember His holy covenant, 73 The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:74 To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, 75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life…”
f. The Davidic Covenant—“…69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David…”
g. Prophesies and Promises
(1) The Whole Line of the Prophets—“…70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began…”
(2) The promises will be fulfilled“…71 That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us, 72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers…”
h. The Last Prophet…The Mission of the Last Prophet of the Old Testament—. “…65 Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. 66 And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, "What kind of child will this be?" And the hand of the Lord was with him."
i. …76 "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, 77 To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins, 78 Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; 79 To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet ito the way of peace
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