God Revealed In The Birth of John
The Son: Meeting Jesus through Luke • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 5 viewsThis sermon shows what we can learn of God through the birth and circumcision of John the Baptist.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
Give a brief review of where we have been so far in Luke.
There is one truth regarding the entirety of Scripture that everyone must come to understand. The Bible, from cover to cover, is God’s revelation of himself to humanity. It reveals to us His divine nature, character, work, purposes, will and his provision of salvation for sinful mankind. The entirety of scripture is all about Him. That tells us then that every passage in the Bible has something to teach us about God. Such is the case with our text this morning. Our job, then is to rightly divide the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 (NKJV)
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing (accurately handle) the word of truth.
Every detail in the birth of John the Baptist gives us evidence of God’s presence on the life of John .
Luke 1:66 (NKJV)
66 ...And the hand of the Lord was with him.
You can see the hand of God:
In the Angel Gabriels announcement to Zachariah.
In Zachariah being struck deaf and unable to speak for not believing the angel’s announcement.
In Elizabeth being able to conceive in her old age.
Then finally, in today’s passage, Zachariah having his speech and hearing restored after being obedient to name the child John.
Luke, operating under divine inspiration, as a historian, is purposeful in his readers being able to see God’s unfolding plan of redemption through the birth of John.
There are three truths revealed to us about God, through Luke’s account of his birth, that I want us to observe today.
The promises of God are true. (v.56-58)
The purposes of God are gracious. (v.59-63)
The power of God is wonderful. (v.64-66)
1. The promises of God are true. (v.57-58)
1. The promises of God are true. (v.57-58)
57 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.
God had promised Zaharias 1:13-14:
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
Verses 57-58 are the fulfillment of that promise. The birth of this long waited for son would remove the stigma of Elizabeths barrenness from her causing her and everyone around her to rejoice. Just like God had said it would.
The veracity of God’s promises is something that is written all over the Bible.
In the Old Testament book of Joshua, as he recounts all that God did for the nation is Israel as they came into the promised land, he had this to say:
45 Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.
In 1 Kings, as Solomon is dedicated the magnificent Temple of God to the Lord’s service, he had these words about the LOrd’s promises:
56 “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.
In the New Testament, Paul reminds the Corinthian believers:
20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
The old testament book of Numbers tells us this regarding God’s character:
19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
This is echoed in the New Testament in
1 Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,
Then again in Hebrews
18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
In the Psalms and Isaiah he is called the “God of Truth” and is said to be “abundant in truth.”
And in John 17 we are told that His word “is truth,”
Take comfort today my friends, if God has said he will do it, it will surely happen according to His word. The birth of John the Baptist is proof that the promises of God are true.
2.) The purposes of God are gracious. (v.59-63)
2.) The purposes of God are gracious. (v.59-63)
59 So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; 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.
The God of the Bible, the God we worship, is a God of grace. We see that perhaps in a surprising way here before us.
The scene we’ve just read is eight days following the birth of John and takes place at his circumcision.
This is something that was required for all Jewish males in God’s law as a sanitary regulation to protect and perpetuate the jewish people. But, more significantly, it was the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham (Gen. 17:10) and served as the mark of their national identity.
The right of circumcision was traditionally preformed by the father or another appointed person (such as a priest). Jewish tradition stated that at least 10 people had to present to serve as witnesses. This and the practice of waiting until the eighth day of life to name the child were a part of tradition and not God’s law.
It also was custom for the people present to help name the child, and the family gathered that day were set on calling the baby of Zacharias and Elizabeth after his father. Naming a child after its father or grandfather was pretty typical as well.
All that to say, it may seem out of line to us today, for the family to suggest the baby be named after his father, but, for these people it was completely normal. What was abnormal was Elizabeth’s reaction to them, NO (by no means, not at all, absolutely not). Elizabeth was adamant that her son was to be named John.
Why? Because that’s what Gabriel had told Zacharias he was supposed to name him. (Luke 1:13) This wasn’t up for a family vote! God had already determined this child’s name.
Remember I said, Elizabeths reaction is what was out of custom? The people response was “No one in the family has that name”. Apparently, they felt she, being a woman had overstepped her boundaries because they turn to Zacharias expecting him to have the final say and back up the rest of his family and tradition.
Here sits the aged priest unable to speak or hear. They motion to him and he writes on a tablet: “His name is John.”
Thats a pretty emphatic response. His decision was final, and the baby was named “John.”
What was so special about that name?
In Jewish culture, names were typically descriptive. Often they might reflect a physical characteristic (Esau-hairy, Jacob-one who grabs the heel) or an emotion the parents were feeling (Saul and Samuel- asked for). Other times children were named to reflect their parents faith (Elijah- Yahweh is God)
The Hebrew name John (Johanan) means- God is gracious.
The very name given to the one who was the forerunner of the Messiah was a reflection of God’s graciousness in bringing salvation.
The graciousness of God flows through the entire of the Bible as well:
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.
34 Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.
18 Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
Not only are God’s promises true, but his purposes are full of grace.
3.) The power of God is wonderful. (v.64-66)
3.) The power of God is wonderful. (v.64-66)
64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God.
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.
Zachariah had been deaf and dumb for over 9months. Since the angel Gabriel had told him his wife was going to conceive and he doubted the promise of God. He was struck deaf and dumb as punishment for his lack of faith. But, the second he wrote the child name on that tablet, he could speak and hear again.
The taking away and the giving back of Zachariah’s speaking and hearing is a display of the power of God. This was miraculous.
No doubt the people had heard, because “good news travels fast” why Zacharias was made deaf and mute. Surely it was the topic of conversation all over town. But, now, so too was his healing. In fact, that’s what v.65-66 tell us happened.
Notice the question that everyone was discussing though:
“What kind of child will this be?” What was undeniable to them was that the hand of the Lord was with him.
From Genesis to Revelation the Bible unfolds the power of God all over its pages.
In Genesis we see his creative power to make something out of nothing.
In Revelation the Bible declares that God will destroy this world and create a new Heaven and a new Earth.
Hebrews 1:3 declares that God, in the Person of the Lord Jesus, “upholds all things by the word of His power.”
In Psalm 62:11 we read:
11 God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God.
In numbers we see that God’s power know no end.
23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”
In Matthew 19:26 and Luke 1:37 we learn that nothing is impossibe with God.
Nahum 1:3 tells us:
3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
Exodus declares his majesty.
Job declares his excellence.
Isaiah declare his might.
God is not some impotent old man in the sky, he is the all powerful sovereign of the universe.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
We’ve learned today of the truthfulness of God’s promises, the graciousness of His purposes and the wonder of his power.
But, what does that tell us today.
Friend, God’s word declares that all those who call on Christ for salvation “Shall be saved” that’s a promise from God…and we’ve demonstrated today that God keeps his promises.
We’ve seen to day that God acts with Grace toward humanity. He did this through sending the Lord Jesus (who’s birth we’ll be seeing in a couple of weeks) to die on a cross and pay your sin debt. Understand HE didn't have to day that. Friend, it’s nothing short of the grace of God that He’s brought you this far to hear this message today.
Finally, God is powerful enough to conquer whatever sin you may have and create you into a new creature in Christ. He can change you instantly from Sinner to saint. If you will just come to him in repentance and faith today.