His Name Shall Be...

Faith With Certainty: God Fulfills His Promises

Pray:Lord, your word is a lamp at My feet and a light on my path. Illuminate it to me as we read, help me to conform myself to your word and to trust what you say as you Guide me through out my life. Amen

Luke 1:1–38 LSB

1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as those, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, handed them down to us, 3 it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in orderly sequence, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty about the things you have been taught. 5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and righteous requirements of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years. 8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will 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 HE WILL NOT DRINK ANY WINE OR STRONG DRINK, 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 “And he will go 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, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands before God, and I was 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.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and were wondering at his delay in the sanctuary. 22 But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. And he kept making signs to them, and remained mute. 23 And it happened that when the days of his priestly service were fulfilled, he went back home. 24 After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, 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 upon me to take away my disgrace among men.” 26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of His kingdom.” 34 But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. 36 “And behold, your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, the slave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Passage Context

Luke is writing to Theophilus

Gabriel brings 2 messages each declaring a birth of a child

Both of these stories are critical to the story of Jesus

We don’t know who Theophilus was, but there are many theories, mostly revolving around him being influential, perhaps a genitile governor or official. What we do know is that he had been taught things about Jesus, and Luke’s goal was to help him know that all these things were true and trustworthy.

Luke writes that there are things that have been fulfilled among the early believers. He points towards the coming together of God’s plans.

He goes on to write that he investigated things carefully from the beginning and presents them in an orderly fashion.

In order that we might have a certainty of our faith

I want us to approach these scriptures with a new lens. From theophilus’ perspective. We have all been taught about Jesus, but Luke is written to us timelessly so that we can know and trust that all these things are true.

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the Gospel According to Luke opens up with 2 encounters with the angel (messenger) Gabriel.

The beginning of God’s fulfillment of his plans comes from two promises.

two declarations of the birth of a child and a giving of a name.

He will be called John

You shall call him Jesus

To the Hebrew people, names mattered, by God determining the names of both John and Jesus, he was placing on them a message, but also giving us a glimpse of what He was doing.

The name John “ioannes” means “God is gracious”. Giving him this name surprised all of the people since no one in their family had that name and it was the Hebrew custom to name children after respected relatives. - John the Baptist Character Study Bible Study (studyandobey.com)

elijah means YHWH is my God

Jesus in the OT is predicted to come as Emmanuel God with Us

The name Jesus “iesous”, means “Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation.” Transliterated from Hebrew and Aramaic, the name is Yeshua. This word is a combination of Ya, an abbreviation for Yahweh, the name of Israel’s God (Exodus 3:14); and the verb yasha, meaning “rescue,” “deliver,” or “save.” But when translated from Hebrew into Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament, the name Yeshua becomes Iēsous. In English, Iēsous becomes Jesus. Thus, Yeshua and, correspondingly, Joshua and Jesus mean “Yahweh saves” or “the Lord is salvation.” The name Jesus is remarkably significant. Jesus was sent by God for a particular purpose, and His personal name bears witness to that mission.

That Mission Being the salvation Of God’s people

Why is it important that we know the meaning of names in the Bible? More Often than not, names are tied directly to stories and How God orders people’s lives. God is constantly naming people in the Bible, from Abram to Abraham, from Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel. He does this because names mean something.

for us, knowing John’s name gives us a picture of what God is doing by sending someone to prepare the way for Jesus. He is being Gracious to his people. And in the likeness of Elijah, he is drawing people back to God the declaration that YHWH is their God.

the God is Jesus who comes as Emmanuel, God with us. Knowing that he comes to be with us, but comes with salvation. He is saving His people, us, for a purpose. To live with him forever. Untarnished by sin. the promise is in Luke 1:33 “and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of His kingdom.”” There will be a forever kingdom one day. Jesus invites us into that kingdom. We are promised eternity with him.

What is our response to that? What else but Gratitude?

I want us to spend time praying together, we have so much to be grateful for, this is the Foundation of everything else we get to be thankful for.

Prayer Points

Thank God for sending His son to save us from sin and death. For caring about us and being gracious towards us.

Thank God for allowing us to partner with Him in spreading this message of God’s grace and salvation to others.

Prayer over salvations’ we want to see!