The Birth of John

Luke 1:57–80 NKJV

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. 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. 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. 67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: 68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, 69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, 70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began, 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 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. 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 into the way of peace.” 80 So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.

Luke 1:5–7 NKJV

5 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. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.

They were both blameless, she was barren and they were old. The perfect couple to have John.

Luke 1:11–20 NKJV

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 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. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘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.” 18 And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. 20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”

Ok now fast forward 9 months.

Luke 1:57–58 NKJV

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 showed great mercy to her. God’s great mercy is the theme of our passage this morning.

God showed great mercy to Elisabeth, God showed great mercy to Zachariah and God showed great mercy to His people.

God’s Great Mercy to Elisabeth

Elisabeth was barren. This was through no fault of her own but just because of the effect of sin on this world we as humans are imperfect. Sometimes our bodies don’t function the way in which they were created to work. Sometimes people can’t have children and it’s not because God is punishing them or because of their personal sins.

John 9:1–7 NKJV

1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.

Sometimes the only reason that God has allowed a person to be born blind or deaf or with some birth defect is so that his work of healing might be revealed. And sometimes this is why some couples are unable to have children too. But, not all are healed. True, so what are we to conclude? That God’s grace can also be revealed in our suffering. Paul prayed three times for God to remove his thorn in his flesh and the Lord said to him My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.

So sometimes God’s grace is revealed in our endurance of affliction and sometimes His grace is revealed in the healing of our affliction either way God grace and mercy are poured out on us. For Elizabeth she bore the shame and sorrow of being barren for her whole life, all that time she had to rely on God grace and then God opened her womb in her old age and gave her a son and in doing so he showed her great mercy so that all her family and friends saw it and rejoiced with her.

God’s Great Mercy to Zachariah

Elizabeth May no have sinned but Zachariah did sin.

What did this righteous, blameless man of God do as soon as he heard the good news from the messenger of God. He sinned against God. He said “How shall I know this? Which as we have observed before meant what evidence can you give me that this will happen.

And Gabriel responds

Luke 1:19–20 NKJV

19 And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. 20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”

So Where Elisabeth had not sinned to cause her to be barren Zachariah did sin and received this as a chastisement that he would be mute and as we will see he was also deaf. Sometimes we suffer because of our own sins. And yet in this story we see that there is also the hope of mercy even if we are suffering for our own sin.

Luke 1:59–67 NKJV

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. 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. 67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:

So God showed great mercy to Elizabeth and God showed great mercy to Zachariah why? Because

God’s Great Mercy to His people.

Now before we look at Zacharias’ prophecy I’d like to look at one other way that this message is revealed in this passage.

The angel Gabriel told Zachariah to name his son John. Well that got me thinking why John. So I looked up the meaning of John’s name. It is in Hebrew Yohanan and it means “Graced by God”. Now that got me wondering what the names Zachariah and Elizabeth mean

Zachariah : means zakar to remember and Yah which is the name of God so it means God remembers

Elizabeth : comes from Elisheva El meaning “God” Sheva “oath” or promise. So it means the “promise of God”

So when we put them all together we get “God remembers his promise and gives grace.” So even in these names we find the message of this prophecy of Zachariah.

Luke 1:68–79 NKJV

68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, 69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, 70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began, 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 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. 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 into the way of peace.”