Book of Luke Chapter 1 Verses 4 through 25
An Angel Foretold John's Birth
Who was Luke, who wrote the Book of Luke and the Book of Acts?
Luke was a physician, maybe the most educated of all the writers of the Scriptures.
Luke was a Gentile, the only Gentile writer of the Scriptures.
He was familiar with the Greek and Roman world and the Gospels.
No doubt he was very familiar with the Apostle Paul.
He stresses the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the person of Christ, and the ministry to the Gentiles.
Luke is seen with Paul at Troas, a city in Asia Minor.
Luke went to Jerusalem with Paul when Paul was arrested.
Luke was with Paul when he was a prisoner in Caesarea.
Luke was with Paul when Paul was imprisoned in Rome.
Paul called Luke the beloved physician: Col 4:14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.
Paul called Luke a fellow worker in the spreading of the Gospel: Phm 1:24 Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers.
Luke was the last one to remain with Paul in his imprisonment.
The writing of the Book of Luke and the Book of Acts was probably in the first century 58-62 AD, because Luke did not mention the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and he would have.
Who was this Theophilus? Some believe he was a Gentile convert to Christianity and possibly a high official in the Roman government.
This is suggested by the use of the words "most excellent".
Because that name, Theophilus, means "Lover of God".
We should know that there were many early attempts to narrate the life of Jesus Christ, but the four Gospels give us all that we need to know and preserve everything that was accurate and essential when those others did not.
We know that the Gospels were led by the Holy Spirit, and only the books that were guided by and approved by the Holy Spirit make up the canon of the Bible we have today.
Luke gives us an eyewitness account of the life of Jesus Christ. Luke was not an eyewitness, but he chose to get his information from those who were eyewitnesses to the life of Jesus Christ.
The Book of Luke is the Gospel of salvation. Luke uses the words salvation and Savior many more times than the other Gospels.
The Book of Luke gives us an orderly view of the whole life of Jesus Christ.
Luke's Gospel is a record of historical events that are being verified every day!
We will begin in verse 4
*****Luk 1:4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
It may be that the purpose of the Book of Luke is to look at the Lord Jesus Christ as Man, the Son of Man.
Joh 19:5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!
Pilate realized that "here stands the Man of God, who has fallen into the hands of mere men and our Lord Jesus came willingly.
The intent of Luke was to establish the truth of Jesus Christ, God's Messiah.
As Christians we must know that Christianity is based upon the truth of the Almighty God!
The Gospel is more about God's creating power than His deliverance.
Believers are "Born Again" a new creation of God!
Tit_3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
To become a Christian is to be accepted by the only true God, our Creator.
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
The greatest feeling we can have as believers is to know we have been accepted by our Creator and chosen to join Him in Heaven in His house.
Joh 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Joh 14:4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
Let us look at the birth of John the Baptist.
*****Luk 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
Luk 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
The parents of John the Baptist were righteous parents; they were godly parents.
This is the foundation that every child should have.
This family was childless because Elisabeth was barren.
So, John the Baptist was a promised child.
The name Zacharias means "Remembered of Jehovah".
That phrase “the course of Abia" has a meaning.
There were 24 groups assigned to the Temple, of all the descendants of Aaron, and Zacharias was in the eighth group.
Each group served in the Temple for one week twice every year.
John's mother was Elisabeth, and her name means "One whose oath is to God".
Elisabeth was the daughter of a priest.
She was a pure woman, a virgin at her marriage.
All priests were required to marry a virgin.
The Bride of Christ must be considered the virgin wife (without sin) of our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ
Like everyone who has ever lived, they had human problems in their lives.
They were committed to each other, and they were committed to Jehovah.
They spent their lives doing the things that pleased God.
They obeyed the commandments.
They obeyed the ordinances.
They were blameless.
These things do not mean they were perfect.
None of us can be perfect until we reach Heaven's gates.
They were faithful and living in such a way that no one could charge them with open sin.
This should be the same for Christians of today.
They had now become elderly.
John was promised to these godly parents right at the end of the reign of Herod the Great.
This Herod also reigned at the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and died during the time that Joseph had taken the Lord Jesus to Egypt to keep Him safe, though Herod could never have harmed Him.
It was the providence of God.
We know that Herod murdered every child in Bethlehem up to the age of two years old.
Herod the Great was a wicked man.
*****Luk 1:7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
We should remember that God had promised His Messiah since the time of Moses.
Deu 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
The Messiah would have a Jewish mother.
Elisabeth had spent her entire life knowing that she could never be the mother of the Messiah because she was barren.
This was the wish of every Jewish mother.
Some even considered baroness as a punishment for sin.
1Sa 1:6 And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.
She felt she was disfavored and displeasing to God.
God was about to change things for Elisabeth.
*****Luk 1:8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,
Luk 1:9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
For Zacharias, burning incense in the Temple was a great honor.
A priest would probably only get one chance for this duty their whole lifetime.
This duty was chosen by lot, and the lot was cast to choose one of those who had never had this opportunity, and finally, near the end of his life, Zacharias had been chosen.
The incense was burned upon the altar by a priest before the morning service and after the evening service.
The aroma of the incense was just like a prayer, as it enveloped the sacrifice and that aroma before the throne room of God.
We should understand that the golden incense altar represents Jesus Christ as our Mediator.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
The golden altar of incense stood squarely in front of the Mercy Seat, depicting Jesus Christ interceding at God's right hand.
Having a son to be born into any family at that time was also considered one of the greatest blessings from God.
Both Zacharias and Elisabeth had remained faithful even though they were childless.
Jas 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
*****Luk 1:10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
Zacharias and Elisabeth had many friends, and those friends were praying for Zacharias while he performed this great honor, and he also was praying.
We should be praying for our pastor the whole time he is preaching and giving us the Word of God.
1Ch 16:11 Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.
If we do not see anything else, we should be able to see that we must patiently serve the Lord continuously all our days because He knows what we are going through, and remaining faithful is the only path to great blessings.
Things were about to change for this godly family.
*****Luk 1:11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
Luk 1:12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
Luk 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
Luk 1:14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
Luk 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
Luk 1:16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
Luk 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
No doubt that Zacharias and Elisabeth were people who prayed, and they may have seen prayers answered for others, but they dearly wanted a child and preferred a son.
We must realize a son was more apt to help them in their old age than a daughter in that day.
Zacharias was even praying while he was performing his duties in the Temple.
Zacharias was in God's House and working near the Holy of Holies on the right side of the Golden Altar of Incense.
It seems that the right side is always the right side of the Lord to be on.
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
This was the place for prayer, and the angel of the Lord said Zacharia's prayer had been heard in Heaven.
In the Book of Luke, we see more about angels than any other of the preachers in his day.
Notice the first words of the angel were "fear not".
Zacharias had nothing to fear, for he was a godly man, but not a perfect man, because we see that doubt entered into him.
The Hebrew name for John is Johanna and is the name of four other Israelites.
John the Baptist
John the Apostle
John Mark, who traveled with Apostle Paul for a short time.
John, the Kindred of Caiaphas
John, the father of Simon Peter
John, the son of Zacharias and Elisabeth, would be a great man of God.
John would cause his parents to be proud of him.
John would be great in the sight of God.
John would be like one of the prophets of old, Elijah.
John would take the vow of the Nazarene.
John would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his birth.
John would cause many to rejoice.
There had been 400 years of silence of the time between the Old Testament and the New Testament, during which God did not speak to His people, and no Scripture was written.
The 400 years of silence began with the warning that closed the Old Testament: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.
He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse," and this period ended with the coming of John the Baptist, the Messiah’s forerunner.
Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Mal 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
The thing we can see is the fact that God does reward those who are faithful to Him.
Next, we should understand that there is no good time to quit on God, especially in our older years.
1Jn 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
1Jn 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jn 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
John the Baptist was the prophet of the New Testament and turned many to the Lord.
John the Baptist was the forerunner of the promised Messiah, and John preached and lived a whole lot like the Prophet Elijah from the Old Testament.
Mat 17:10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
Mat 17:11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
Mat 17:12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
Mat 17:13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
*****Luk 1:18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
Luk 1:19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
We should understand that it is never too late for God to answer a prayer, so we must never quit praying.
Zacharias had lost confidence in himself, and he and his wife had a hard time believing this angel.
Zacharias had forgotten that he was a child of God and not a child of the world.
There is nothing too hard for God to accomplish at any time in our lives if we do not give up.
Jer_32:17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
Jer_32:27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
We either believe in God or we don't, at our own peril.
It is only our Heavenly Father who can overrule the laws of nature!
The angel Gabriel is one of those angels who stand in the presence of God, awaiting God's commands.
Isa 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
Mat 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
We know that Michael is the most powerful angel, but we should not believe that there is any weakness in the angel Gabriel.
The name Gabriel means "Hero of God".
Gabriel always brings "Good News”, but Zacharias also got some bad news because of his doubts.
*****Luk 1:20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
Luk 1:21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.
Luk 1:22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.
We should understand that angels have no spirit. They speak straight up and do not show emotion.
They speak the message that God has given to them just as He spoke it.
To not believe what an angel tells you is to not believe in God the Father who gave him that message!
We should understand that God's angels are very powerful and they speak reality.
Because of that moment of doubt, Zacharias would spend the next nine months not being able to speak at all.
The Jews still have a problem with the truth of God that they need to change.
They expect God to show them a sign so they can know the truth.
1Co_1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
Gabriel was not offended by what Zacharias said, but the reaction of Zacharias was an offence to God.
We need to be careful how we respond to the Word of God.
The Bible is more about commandments than it is about suggestions.
If we reject any part of the Word of God, we will certainly not have the ability to share the Word of God with others.
God will not allow us to speak words of distrust or unbelief to those who need to hear the truth of the Gospel.
We should understand that the chastening of the Lord can sometimes be painful.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
We should be more like Jeremiah when we have made such a mistake.
Jer 10:24 O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
We need to ask for God's mercy in His chastisement.
When the Lord sits as King of this world from Jerusalem, He will put a stop to all unbelief and distrust, just as He did to Zacharias.
One of the major problems in our prayer life is that we do not believe that God will do what we ask of Him.
Why pray at all if we do not have enough faith that God will answer our prayers?
Can God change the course of nature? At any time, He so chooses to do it!
Zacharias was to lead these people waiting on him in prayer after his work was complete, but he could not because God had taken away his voice until the time that John was born.
*****Luk 1:23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.
Luk 1:24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
Luk 1:25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.
Zacharias had lost the use of his voice, but he still fulfilled his duties despite being chastised for unbelief.
He did not quit on God!
He finished his course, and he returned home.
Elisabeth, after conceiving, hid herself for five months.
We have to think that she needed time alone with God to absorb all that was happening to her and to prepare herself for the job of being a godly parent even in her elder years.
Zacharias and Elisabeth lived to see God fulfill His promise.
When God makes a promise, He will keep that promise!
Elisabeth is conscious of the fact that God has shown His favor to her, and she is thankful.
She had wanted a child all her days of marriage, but it had not happened.
She had been barren, but by a miracle of God, her barrenness was over.
She did all the things she could do to have a healthy baby because she knew John would be used mightily by God.
This child, John the Baptist, would represent the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament as he would preach to the world the soon coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we answer God's calling, we become a part of God's salvation plan and the providence of God!
Amen
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