SSL 1 - Luke 1:12-25 - PLANNED
OVERVIEW/CONTEXT: The gospel of Luke is only one of four gospels, but it is surely one of the great books of the Bible. The events of the early chapters of Luke's gospel shatter a silence which had lasted for 400 years. He starts his gospel with the angelic announcement of Gabriel to Zacharias, an elderly priest, that he and his wife will have a son, a son who will come in the spirit of Elijah the prophet, and who will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and will prepare the way of the Lord. As we begin our study of Luke's gospel, we should notice the intertwining of the lives of John and Jesus as related in this gospel account. We should also notice that Luke begins his gospel at precisely the place where the prophet Malachi left off, where the final words of OT prophecy announced the coming of one who would prepare the way of the Lord. Luke starts his account of the gospel with the report of Gabriel's announcement of the birth of John to Zacharias.
Synopsis of skipped verses (1-11):
Prologue (vv. 1-4) - Using classical Greek language (which demonstrates Luke's skilled qualifications as a writer) in which he states the purpose of his writing:
(1) How things prophesied in the OT have now been accomplished (v. 1);
(2) To receive and record the testimonies of those who were eyewitnesses to Jesus' life (v. 2);
(3) To carefully investigate and record all of the relevant facts concerning Jesus Christ (v. 3); and
(4) To reveal the exact truth of everything people have been taught and told. (v. 4).
Introduction of Zacharias and Elizabeth (vv. 5-7):
(1) In general, both of them were insignificant people in terms of their social and economic status;
(2) Zacharias was a Levitical priest, but of no great distinction in terms of education or position:
(3) Both of them were elderly and without children, which was a form of social stigma in those days;
(4) Yet, on the other hand, they are described as having spiritual qualities that earned them favor
with God ("righteous...walking blamelessly"), and formed the basis for God's selection of them.
An Angelic Appearance and Announcement (vv. 8-11):
(1) On that day Zacharias was selected (by lot) to have the honor of burning incense in the Temple;
(2) Adding to his excitement, a big crowd of people were praying outside the Temple sanctuary;
(3) While he was doing this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him on the right side of the altar.
Read Luke 1:12-17 - THE ANGEL'S ANNOUNCEMENT TO ZACAHRIAS
12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. 13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
v. 12: "Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him' - outright fright is the normal human reaction to angelic or divine presence, something nobody can really be prepared for.
v. 13: "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John" - The angel responds to him with words of reassurance and encouragement that identify Zacharias by name. The phrase, "your petition has been heard," could refer either to Zacharias' previous prayer for a son or to his priestly prayer for the coming of the awaited Messiah, or most likely, both. In answer to his prayer, the angel informs him that, "your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John," a name (Heb. Jochanan) that means "the Lord is gracious," which represents the coming of the Messiah.
v. 14: "You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth" - Zacharias' joy would come not only because his and Elizabeth's childlessness had finally ended but more importantly, because of what God planned to do through their son.
v. 15: "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb" - This son, named John, would be filled with the Holy Spirit in his mother's womb (remember that in OT times, the Holy Spirit was given only selectively for certain divine purposes). He would be specially consecrated-great in the sight of the Lord-and drink no wine or liquor, a reference to the Nazarite vow of Num. 6:1-3 that highlighted his devotion to God.
v. 16: "And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God" - This tells us the consequence of John's spiritual character and greatness-that he would be an agent of change who would cause many of God's people to repent and return to Him. Only a great man of God can bring about this kind of change. Many devout Jews of Zacharias' day were hoping for this. In today's context, we would see this as a powerful and sweeping revival. As Christians, how many of you yearn and pray for this to happen in America today-to become one nation under God?
v. 17: "It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" - In this verse, Luke makes it clear that John fulfilled the prophecies of Isa. 40:3 and Mal. 3:1 as the messenger who would prepare the way for Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and the pattern for his ministry would be the great prophet Elijah. By God's estima-
tion, John was great already, since no other prophet was given such honor by the Highest power in the universe. The phrase, "TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN," from Mal. 3:6 were essentially the last words in the OT, so now God's revelation is resuming where it had left off.
Read Luke 1:18-20 - ZACHARAIS' DOUBT
18 Zacharias said to the angel, "How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years." 19 The angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time."
v.18: "Zacharias said to the angel, 'How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.'" - In spite of Zacharias' godliness, his faith was weak when it came to believing such an incredible promise. He essentially asks the angel to provide some sign that would give him assurance that the promise would be fulfilled. His unbelief, however, is focused on his and his wife's inabilities rather than God's abilities. But before we cast stones at Zacharias, we must admit that all of us, as thinking people, have struggled at some point with the problem of doubt. Yes?
vv. 19-20: "The angel answered and said to him, 'I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.'" - Now we see Zacharias receive a stern rebuke from the angel regarding who he is and where he stands. Note the huge contrast: "I am an old man" versus "I am Gabriel," whose name translates to "God is my hero." Gabriel also brings "good news"-I.e., the gospel to come. He then gives Zacharias a sign but not the one he was expecting: He strikes him mute-incapable of speech-until such time as the promise is fulfilled.
Read Luke 1:21-23 - ZACHARIAS APPEARS TO THE MULTITUDE
21 The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute. 23 When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.
v. 21: "The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple" - It was customary for the priest to come right out of the Temple just as soon as he had finished praying in order to assure the people that he had not been struck down by God. Because of Zacharias' delay in this instance, the crowd had started to get nervous.
v. 22: "But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute" - Ordinarily, when the priest came out, he was supposed to stand on the Temple steps, and while overlooking the crowd, pronounce the priestly blessing on the people (the Aaronic blessing of Num. 6:24-26), and the other priests would repeat it after him. However, when he appeared before them, he was incapable of speech and tried to communicate with them by making "signs." Zacharias had asked the angel for a sign and, ironically, the angel responded by making him the sign.
v. 23: "When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home" - Despite his impairment, Zacharias remained in Temple to fulfill his priestly duties, because each priest was required to perform a week's service in the Temple once every six months.
Read Luke 1:24-25 - ELIZABETH'S PREGNANCY AND JOY
24 After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, 25 "This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men."
v. 24: "After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying," - There have been a number of scholarly speculations as to why Elizabeth kept herself in seclusion those first five months after discovering she was pregnant: (1) she wanted to wait until she was so obviously pregnant that no one could deny it and make a mockery of her; (2) because Zacharias was unable to speak, she avoided contact with people so she wouldn't have to speak for him; (3) she went away to spend time with the Lord and meditate on the destiny of the child within her: and (4) I like this one-because she wanted Mary to be the first to know (Luke 1:39-45).
v. 25: "This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men" - Several observations: (1) Although Zacharias was unable to speak, it's highly likely that by this time he had given Elizabeth a complete written explanation of everything the angel Gabriel had said to him about her pregnancy and the divine role their child was going to play in redemptive history. (2) Elizabeth had probably been praying to have children for decades but NOW realizes that God had not only heard her prayer, but had selected HER out of all the women in the world-"looked with favor upon me"-to be the mother of the forerunner, the one who would go before the promised Messiah in the spirit of Elijah! Wow! (3) God had completely removed the disgrace that Elizabeth must have been feeling for many years. In the Jewish culture of her day, to be without children was viewed as more than hard luck; it implied a curse, some sort of secret sin for which God was punishing her. But now! God had waited all this time because He had a great and wonderful blessing in store for her.
APPLICATION:
1. All believing Christians have struggled with the problem of doubt. If we are truly honest with ourselves, we all have been faced with seemingly impossible situations-trials-that caused our faith to waiver. Instead of waiting on God's answer, we are tempted to seek easier and faster human solutions-quick fixes--to the problems we're facing. Our doubts don't arise from a lack of evidence-the direction freely available from God's Word and/or the wise counsel we can obtain from godly people-but from the sinful desires of our human hearts. And the solution isn't easy either: (a) we need to fall on our face before our almighty creator and confess this sin, this lapse of faith and unbelief; (2) we need to repent of this sin and ask for God's cleansing forgiveness: and finally (3) we need to be prepared to wait on God' answer and His timing however long it might take.
2. Doubt is often connected with disappointments or long-term trials. In today's lesson, Zacharias had probably been praying that God would bless him and Elizabeth with children for decades. But through all that time, God had not answered. And now, at this stage of his life, he and Elizabeth were already well past child-bearing age. By that time, he had probably reached the conclusion that having children must not be God's will in his life. So, when the angel unexpectedly appeared and confronted Zacharias with the announcement that he and Elizabeth were to have a son, he doubted. Have you ever been there? You prayed for something so long and your petition had been denied for so long that you concluded, "This is never going to happen." Maybe you got so discouraged that you stopped praying for it? Maybe somewhere along the line you had a glimmer of hope that your prayer might be answered but didn't allow yourself to step in faith because you feared disappointment. So you say to yourself, "I'll just wait and see." However, in your heart, you doubted whether or not God would really act. I hope you understand that I'm sharing this point with you out of my personal experience.
Observation: As we learned in today's lesson, God, in His grace, often pours out His blessings in spite of our doubts. In Zacharias' case, God disciplined him for his doubt but didn't allow it to interfere with His sovereign plans. A big part of the solution to our doubts is to recognize their source: the sinful desire of our own hearts, the fact that we have allowed disappointments and long-standing trials to weaken our faith to the point of giving up. Luke tell us differently: God is faithful to His promises and we can trust Him-completely. He has a proven track record of keeping His word.
PRAYER: Lord God, please forgive me and all those here today for our moments of unbelief. Replace our unbelief and hesitation to step out on Your promises with complete boldness and confidence, knowing that You never break Your promises. In Jesus name I pray, AMEN.
