Announcement of John the Baptist III

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Writer Charles Swindoll once found himself with too many commitments in too few days. He got nervous and tense about it.

“I was snapping at my wife and our children, choking down my food at mealtimes, and feeling irritated at those unexpected interruptions through the day,” he recalled in his book Stress Fractures. “Before long, things around our home started reflecting the pattern of my hurry-up style. It was becoming unbearable.

“I distinctly remember after supper one evening, the words of our younger daughter, Colleen. She wanted to tell me something important that had happened to her at school that day. She began hurriedly, ‘Daddy, I wanna tell you somethin’ and I’ll tell you really fast.’

“Suddenly realizing her frustration, I answered, ‘Honey, you can tell me—and you don’t have to tell me really fast. Say it slowly.”

“I’ll never forget her answer: ‘Then listen slowly.’”

***PRAY***

Recap

Now if you were with us last time, not our Resurrection day celebration, but the last time we were in our study of Luke, you might recall that I drew our attention to Zacharias’ response, or lack there of, to the lots falling on him to serve in the temple.

If you recall we determined that Zacharias is most likely between 70-80 years old.

And that meant that Zacharias has served faithfully for 50-60 years without experiencing the fruit of his labor namely the privilege of serving in the temple.

We learned that he and Elizabeth had served faithfully for 50-60 years with the stigma of childlessness, never experiencing the fruit of their labor and faithfulness…a son to carry on the priestly line.

I said that Luke, the great historian, the exacter of details, the highly educated Gentile, the one that writes with the precision of a surgeon, describes Zacharias’ Day of Days, this day he was FINALLY chosen to serve in the temple…he describes this with no hint of any emotional response from Zacharias.

And because of that I said it could be inferred that

Zacharias was suffering from spiritual apathy.

And then I shared 4 ways to overcome or avoid spiritual apathy.

1. Regular Rest Time

2. Regular Bible Time

3. Regular Prayer Time

4. Regular Accountability Time

As we continue with our text today we are going to witness yet ANOTHER response by Zacharias that will make us raise our eyebrows yet again.

We’re not going to have time to get too deep into his response…it’s implications and consequences, because I think its really really important for us to take a very close look at what’s being announced to him.

I want to unpack this announcement so that you can see the MAGNITUDE of what is being said and WHO is saying it…so that you can really grasp the DEPTH of Zacharias’ doubt in his response.

Let me read the text out loud while you read along in your Bibles:

Luke 1:10–18 NASB95

10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer 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 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.” 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.”

10And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.

11And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

12Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.

SLIDE

13But 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.

SLIDE

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.

SLIDE

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.”

SLIDE

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.

Let’s start with verse 10

Luke 1:10 NASB95

10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.

And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.

It was not unusual for a crowd of spectators to be outside the sanctuary during the daily sacrifices and burning of incense.

And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.

It was not unusual for a crowd of spectators to be outside the sanctuary during the daily sacrifices and burning of incense.

The people gathered outside to see the priest when he came out after offering the prayers for the people, because they wanted to know if there was any sign that God had heard his prayers.

At this point in history, nobody has heard from God in 400 years. Not one single word. Not one single prophet. Not one single sign or miracle.

But, people continued to come every morning and every evening to pray as the smoke of the incense rose to God…to wait for the Priest to come out so they could see if he received a sign.

What sign could they possibly be waiting for? What was it that drove the people to continue to come and look for a sign even after 400 years of silence.

Well look down or over in your Bibles to verse 78 to get some context.

Here we find Zacharias singing a song of praise for the birth of JTB and the coming salvation found in the coming Messiah.

In verse 78 & 79 he sings:

Luke 1:78–79 NASB95

78 Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, 79 To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

SLIDE

78Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,

79To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

This Sunrise from on high is a reference to the Messiah.

John MacArthur says:

…borrowing those words, “the sunrise from on High,” which refers to the birth of Christ, we could conclude then that the account of chapter 1 covers the final hours of darkness before that sunrise arrives, before Messiah comes.

Remember when I said that sometimes we tend to disconnect the Real People in the story from the Real feelings they’re experiencing?

Well, let’s consider this time in history for the people of Israel.

Verse 78 and 79 say that the Sunrise from on high will visit us and shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

Could there be a darker time for Israel?

How long have they been waiting, or the whole world for that matter, for this Sunshine to rise? For the savior to come?

Just look at Israel’s history

It begins with Abraham.

Then a history of 400 years of exile in Egypt.

40 years of wandering in the wilderness

Their conquest of the land of Canaan, of their occupation of the land of Canaan.

Then their captivity,

the northern kingdom taken captive in 722 B.C.,

the southern kingdom taken into Babylon in 586 B.C.,

the northern kingdom never returning,

the southern kingdom returning 70 years later. Beginning Israel's long history of coming back out of captivity and trying to rebuild.

ONLY to be oppressed as Greeks invaded and controlled the land,

Then Romans came and further oppressed them;

MacArthur again says this was:

This was the long night of Israel's history of blessing and cursing mixed, the long night of

Israel's history of faithfulness and apostasy.

And WHAT sustained those who really looked toward God through all those long, long years of darkness???

…The hope that the sunrise would break.

Put your finger there in Luke 1.

Turn back with me to the last chapter of the Old Testament. Malachi 4.

Malachi 4:1–2 NASB95

1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” 2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.

SLIDE

What God is saying through the prophet Malachi is:

1For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”

2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.

What God is saying through the prophet Malachi is:

Yes, I know you’re living in bad times. Yes, I know that the wicked seem like they’re getting away with their sin.

He says a day is coming when they will suffer the consequences. A fierce day that will burn like a furnace and on that day, they will experience my wrath like a fierce burning fire.

BUT…remember our favorite word but???

He says, But, those who love me and fear me, the sun (s.u.n.) of righteousness is coming and He will bring healing with Him.

On THAT day, those who have put their trust and love in me will jump around like a baby cow just released from its cage.

In other words…ya’ll are gonna be really REALLY happy!

In other words…this darkness that you have been experiencing, it will NOT be permenant.

This is exactly what Zacharias is singing about in verse 78 & 79.

Now Let’s flip back to verse 10 in Luke chapter 1, this is the sign they have been waiting for.

They’ve been waiting for the sun of righteousness, the Messiah to come.

Let’s continue with our text:

Luke 1:11–13 NASB95

11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 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.

Let’s be honest, if you were in a room that you knew only you were supposed to be in, concentrating on your duties and praying…and all of a sudden somebody/something appeared out of thin air???

SLIDE

11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

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,

Let’s be honest, if you were in a room that you knew only you were supposed to be in, concentrating on your duties and praying…and all of a sudden somebody/something appeared out of thin air???

You’d be gripped with fear too…maybe even a little mad cause somebody scared you like that.

But the text isn’t saying that Zacharias was frightened in a surprising kind of way.

No, possibly his first thought was, I know this is a divine being I’m finally going to get my punishment for whatever I did bad that has caused us to be childless.

You see a visit from an Angel of the Lord could mean divine judgement. But as we’ll see later this wasn’t the case.

So why did fear grip him?

Well, this Angel of the Lord is definitely Gabriel because he says so in verse 19.

Centuries earlier, Gabriel visited the prophet Daniel. Listen to Daniel’s description of Grabriel:

Gabriel had a white robe with a pure gold belt around his waiste.

Pastor Stephen Davey says:

This was highly significant because a robe made of linen was the garment worn by the high priest when he entered the Holy of Holies each year. It was to be cleaned and ironed perfectly. It signified access to God, which Gabriel had plenty of.

Daniel says that Gabriel’s body was like beryl,

Beryl is a greenish-blue rock which has great hardness. Basically, Daniel was saying that Gabriel was buff.

His face had the appearance of lightning,

His eyes were like flaming torches,

His arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze.

The sound of his words were like the sound of a tumult.

A long, low rumble that was powerful and forceful.

I’m just sayin!!

An angel, not just any angel, Gabriel…the angel that had complete access to God. The angel that stood in the very presence of God. The angel that has seen every miraculous act of God.

THAT would be enough to make me fall on my face in fear!

BUT…in addition to that…he has a body as hard as one of the world’s hardest rocks, he had a face as bright as lightening, FLAMES for eyes and a voice that sounds like a Tsunami.

THAT is who has just appeared before Zacharias.

I would be gripped with fear too. And I’m not sure Gabriel telling me do not be afraid would NOT help me.

But for Zacharias, those words were comforting because they reassured him that this visit from the Angel of the Lord was NOT one of divine judgement.

Gabriel continues

for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.

Maybe it might be hard to imagine what Zacharias’ response would be at this moment, but I know that I probably would have said:

Wait!!! What???? A Son?????

Gabriel has so much more to say about this son in the next few verses, but how do you listen to anything else after this initial statement.

I mean that is a lot to take in.

After your initial reaction of Say What?????

You might be thinking:

Which petition? Which prayer?

Does this mean that after all these years, Zacharias was still praying for a son and took the opportunity to pray for a son while he was in the Holy Place?

In light of verse 7 Elizabeth was barren and they were BOTH advance in years…

…most likely not.

As one commentator puts it:

The righteous old man had not been praying for a son,—he had long resigned himself in this private sorrow to the will of his God; but we may well suppose that on that solemn occasion he prayed the unselfish patriotic prayer that the long looked for Messiah would hasten his coming.[1]

Pastor Stephen Davey comments:

He had offered up that petition to God a million times 40 years ago.

He and Elizabeth had cried together often, praying for a child, 30 years ago. And they had finally stopped praying about that.

And they had finally stopped praying about that.

Gabriel is telling Zacharias the sun is about to rise . . . you and Elizabeth are a part of the coming daylight of God’s redemptive plan.

He’s saying your physical inability is now the perfect platform for God’s supernatural ability.

So, let’s take an inventory of Zacharias’ day so far.

After 50-60 years of service, God’s finally given him the privilege of serving in the temple.

Now, Gabriel is telling him that he and Elizabeth will have a baby. In their old age. In her barreness. Gabriel is telling them that God is going to perform a MIRACLE in them. Giving them a baby in their old, way passed child bearing years, age.

2. Now, Gabriel is telling him that he and Elizabeth will have a baby. In their old age. In her barreness. Gabriel is telling them that God is going to perform a MIRACLE in them. Giving them a baby in their old, way passed child bearing years, age.

I can only imagine how stunned he must feel right now.

Can you imagine hearing anything else?

In the military, we are taught to be careful to react to the first reports of “Contact” that come into the comms center. Because almost always there comes what we call 2nd and 3rd order effects. And if we wait for those 2nd and 3rd order effects, 9 times out of 10 we will respond appropriately.

When we get to verse 18, we’ll see how Zacharias does with the 2nd and 3rd order effects.

Let’s continue and see what else Gabriel has to say to Zacharias:

Luke 1:14–15 NASB95

“You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. “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.

SLIDE

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;

Could you imagine…that BEFORE your child was ever conceived you receive a promise like THIS from God Almighty?

That your child, born by a miracle of God, will bring you joy and gladness…that many will rejoice at his birth because he will be great in the sight of the Lord.

So great that the Jesus himself will later say this about him:

Luke 7:28 NASB95

“I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

How do we know he will be great?

SLIDE

“I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John…”

Well first because God said he would be.

(Luke 7:28)

How do we know he will be great? Well first because God said he would be.

Second because God characterizes John’s manner of life this way.

Continue

1. …and he will drink no wine or liquor,…

…and he will drink no wine or liquor,…

Commentator Richard Blight explains:

Abstaining or drinking no alcohol will be a mark of his consecration to God.

There is much debate as to whether this marks him as a Nazarite, as were Samson and Samuel,

or someone who has taken a vow of devotion to God and shows this by abstaining from the products of the grapevine (Numbers 6:1–4).

but even though John will never serve as a priest like his father, one commentator says:

he would take this part of their priestly life as his permanent lifestyle. In this he would be like the devoted Nazirites (Num. 6:1–21), but in other ways he would not.

This restriction points to a special consecration to John’s prophetic office.

Continuing

…and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.

This shouldn’t be understood as an indwelling of the spirit as with Christians being permanently indwelled by the Holy Spirt at the moment of salvation.

This is describing Old Testament Holy Spirit ministry.

Despite Luke’s Gospel being included in the New Testament, this point in time in history is still under the Old Testament era.

And this be filled with the Holy Spirit was an OT way of affirming God’s power and giftedness.

This Old Testament filling is both selective and temporary.

Apologist Charles Ryrie says:

The temporary coming upon is seen in that the Spirit came upon an individual for a specific task. It is reasonable to assume that when the task had been carried out, the Spirit was no longer upon the individual.

Author and Professor Dr. Larry Pettigrew gives some examples:

The Spirit came upon Othniel to conquer Cushan-rishathaim (Judg. 3:10);

He came upon Gideon to defeat the Midianites (Judg. 6:34);

He came upon Jephthah to defeat the Ammonites (Judg. 11:29);

He came upon Samson to defeat the Philistines (Judg. 14:6);

He came upon Balaam to prophecy blessing concerning Israel (Num. 24:2).

God filled Bezalel with the Spirit, giving him wisdom in craftsmanship “to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver” (Ex. 31:2-5) to beautify the tabernacle.

Pettigrew also says the following—which I find VERY interesting:

None of them (fillings of the Holy Spirit) had to do with salvation from sin in any sense.” Nor did the empowering have anything to do with the spiritual condition of the person.

Jephthah was the son of a harlot, living in an idolatrous environment.

Samson was a carnal man, living to satisfy his carnal desires.

Balaam was an unbeliever.

Apologist John Walvoord observes:

The Spirit’s indwelling was a sovereign working of God in the person to perform a specific task,

And in the case of John the Baptist, his specific task is described in the remainder of our passage:

Luke 1:16–17 NASB95

“And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. “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.”

16“And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.

In these verses, we can observe that his task is threefold:

Prepare Israel for the Messiah.

Announce to Israel the Messiah.

Turn the hearts of Israel toward the Messiah.

On a side note, I just want to point out right now that I know that except for the NASB, no other translation uses the word “forerunner” in verse 17.

And if like me you are holding an NASB, that word “forerunner” is italicized.

The NASB uses italics in the text to indicate words which are not found in the original Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek but implied by it.

That means that the word forerunner isn’t actually found in the original text.

But don’t worry. Forerunner is very well implied here.

The Holman Bible Dicitionary describes forerunner this way:

In English, forerunner indicates one who precedes and indicates the approach of another. In this sense John the Baptist is termed the forerunner of Jesus, though the NT does not use this term of John. The OT used the common image of advance agents sent ahead of a king to make arrangements for his travel; to picture the mission of a prophetic messenger preparing the way for God’s coming (Isa. 40:3; Mal. 3:1).

In the case of John the Baptist we see evidence that he is indeed the forerunner from OT Prophecy.

All 4 Gospels describes John as

THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,

‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD,

MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.

A DIRECT reference to Isaiah 40:3. In fact, John himself says that he IS the voice crying in the wilderness in the Gospel of John.

And Isaiah parallels some of the last words of God through the Italian prophet Malachi

SLIDE

Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:1

And in the last words to Israel from God for 400 years he says:

SLIDE

“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.” Malachi 4:5-6

THIS IS IT!!!

THE TIME HAS COME!!!

400 YEARS OF SILENCE HAS BEEN BROKEN!!!

THE DAWN IS BREAKING!!!

This is NOT an announcement of a son for Zacharias and Elizabeth.

This is more than that. This is the Forerunner. This might as well be the actual announcement of the coming Messiah!

BECAUSE…

This is the sign that the people outside are praying for and the nation of Israel has prayed for for 400 years.

Not for John, but the Messiah…knowing that the forerunner is coming is absolutely saying the Messiah is coming.

This is what Zacharias’ was praying for in the temple.

But, let’s see how he responds.

verse 18

SLIDE

How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.

Zacharias was so wrapped up in the initial “contact”, that he missed the 2nd and 3rd order of effects. In this case, he only heard Gabriel say you and your wife will have a son.

He has missed everything else.

After 400 years of silence, God has broken the silence with Zacharias.

God has spoken to Him about the coming Messiah, He has given him the sign which is the answer to his prayer and he MISSED it. He didn’t listen to God.

We’ll talk next time about the implications and the consequences of his response…but I have to ask…How did he miss all that.

The answer is, he wasn’t listening. He wasn’t listening slowly. He didn’t wait for the 2nd and 3rd order effects.

But let’s not be too hard on poor Zacharias.

Because how many times have WE asked that same question of God?

What do we miss when we don’t listen to God?

Often the question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are being still enough and quiet enough to hear.

Yes, Jesus assures us that our heavenly Father always listens to us, but do we really listen to God? Do we follow the instructions of Psalm 46, “Be still, and know that I am God”?

How do we avoid missing God speaking to us?

The same application for avoiding spiritual apathy can be used for listening to God.

Think about it:

1. Regular Rest Time.

a. Psalm 46, “Be still and know that I am God.”

2. Regular Bible Time.

a. All throughought Scripture God speaks to us through his prophets. We know this by the common phrase, “Thus says the Lord.”

b. Hebrews 1:1 says

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways…

All Scripture is God breathed – 2 Timothy 3:16

3. Regular Prayer Time.

a. Hebrews 1:2 says

in these last days has spoken to us in His Son…

Because He is God, He is not confined to a single manner of communicating with His people.

I’ll close with this quote from Warren Wiersbe and let it be a warning for us to listen to God.

WhyIf we do not listen to God’s Word and really hear it, we will start to drift. Neglect always leads to drifting, in things material and physical as well as spiritual. As we drift from the Word, we start to doubt the Word; because faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). We start to get hard hearts, and this leads to spiritual sluggishness which produces dullness toward the Word. We become “dull of hearing”—lazy listeners! This leads to a despiteful attitude toward the Word to the extent that we willfully disobey God; and this gradually develops into a defiant attitude—we almost “dare” God to do anything!

***PRAY***

[1] H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., St. Luke, vol. 1, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 4.

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