The Forerunner Foretold

I. Introduction

Prayers

Pray for the persecuted church.

Open doors gave the most difficult places to be a christian

More prayers

Memory Verse

Romans 8:1 ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The Forerunner Foretold

2. Catch- What are testimonies and how do they help us?

Testimonies are stories of what God has done in a person’s life

In the bible we call those narratives, unlike epistles or poetry, they tell a story

Approximately 43% of the bible is narrative

A professor of mine explained that God breathed out narrative for a reason. Stories effect us

But the problem is that we can read the story wrong and miss the meaning.

What kind of story is Romeo and Juliet? Is it a love story? What is the lesson?

So, the job of the bible teacher and the bible student is to tell the story correctly

We can do that by knowing the purpose the author is writing, so let’s review

Review of The 5 W’s of what Luke Offers

Who is The author? (title)

When? After other gospels (1-2)

What? An orderly account of eyewitness (v3a)

Where was this letter supposed to go? (3b)

Why? To provide certainty (4)

We are in the Advent section of Luke still, trying to get ready for Jesus

And if the goal is to be sure of what we believe, how does the beginning help us?

I. 4 faith building examples in the lead-up to Jesus

1. The righteous example shows the kind of people who honor God (5-7)

i. Explanation

The time of Herod

We start in the time of the shrewd politician Herod was also great as a soldier, an orator, and a builder

We have evidence of his existence in archeology like this fragment from the city of Masada in 19bc which says, ““Belonging to Herod king of Judea”

He famously built many great structures all over Israel during BC 27-13.

This is the city of Caesarea. Here, he constructed a palace, a theater, a temple, and a harbor.

But his last years, BC 13-4, where full of fights, largely within his difficult family, which should be obvious because of the 10 wives and infighting within his children.

If its not a good time, why might Luke bring it up?

It is clearly not the best of times political,

But worse, it is a bad time spiritually as God has not spoken to the people of Israel through a prophet in 400 years

This is the intertesmental time period when God did not speak and the people were waiting in silence

How do you think it is was hard for them?

Why might it be challenging to honor God’s commands during this period?

We’ll come back on how much a blessing it would be to hear God then

So, in this dark time politically and spiritually... we are introduced to

The Faithful Priest

Zechariah, or the Greek, Zecharias… as some translate it

Luke does not give a specific location for the home of Elizabeth and Zechariah, but writes that Elizabeth lived in “a town in the hill country of Judea” (Luke 1:39). Literary tradition from the 6th century identifies Elizabeth’s hometown with Ein Kerem,

Here is a priest who is a descendent of samaritain priests who one worked in the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizam

He was of the division of Abijah

Which connects us back to kings of Israel because King david setup this large system of rotating priests to cover the temple in 1 Chronicles 24, so no one group would exclusively have the care of temple.

The divisions were to serve in a sequence for one week at a time. Abijah was the eighth division (1 Chr 24:10), indicating that Zechariah was serving in the eighth week of the year

The Righteous Wife

Priests had to marry virgins, but nothing said they had to marry the descendants of other priests. But here Elizabeth came from a long line going all the way back to Aaron, the first priest

As we will see, she is a relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus

But most importantly, they were both a righteous couple

What comes to mind when you hear righteous before the lord? What are some wrong ideas people may have?

He gives a description of what being righteous is, right? Walking blamelessly in what God commanded in his word

This doesn’t mean without sin, because what did the Torah command needed to happen when someone sinned?

Make a sacrifice so that animal died instead of them

Their trial- barrenness

They had no children

Zacharias describes himself to the angel as an old man (Luke 1:18), but the specific age is not given

Some say the duties of the priest’s office could not be performed beyond the age of 50

enrolled widows were not to be less than sixty years of age

1 Timothy 5:9 ESV

Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband,

Either way, they had not had a child anytime in life

Look at verse 25, how did this effect them?

She was reproached or shamed among the people

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary Luke 1:5–7

people believed that God would bless faithful servants by giving them children. The mention of their age is probably to make it clear that they could expect no change in the situation

But how do we know they were not cursed by God?

We could compare this with Jesus’ words John 9:2–3

John 9:2–3 ESV

And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

ii. Illustration

these two are an example of those honoring God in a hard time but those around them thought poorly of them

There are lots of ways our culture looks for success in people

Business, successful family, wealth, possessions, fame, experiences…

But do any of those things show approval of God?

Solomon calls all those things vanity, soap bubbles that are here one moment and then pop.. gone

But what did Solomon say lasts forever? The fear of God

iii. Let’s apply

What are some examples of wrong evidences church people look for to see who is honoring God properly?

Is it possible for you or I to be considered righteous?

What makes that hard to say?

What should we look for then?

Salvation is by faith alone… but can faith be alone? No

John piper writes, ““The psalmists were justified by faith alone. But their faith worked through love.” Forgiveness and imputation are the foundation, but not the summation of Christian righteousness

I’d argue it is not about perfection, but the direction of repentance.

Just like Elizabeth and Zechariah would fail to obey God in sin, then would repent, offer a sacrifice, and grow a little more, we can do the same

Galatians 6:8–9 ESV

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

We are to do this good!

So, what did these righteous people do, but serve God

2. The honorable people serve God (8-10)

i. Explanation

He was a priest and so served as a priest

This priest is dressed as a worker in the tabernacle might have been

One day the highest honor a priest could have came up

His division was sent to the temple in Jerusalem according to the practice set up by David and recreated after the temple was rebuilt by Herod into this.

The temple was located where the Dome of the Rock sits today.

But at the time it was a glorious construction, making the temple of Solmon look small in comparision

DO you know anything different between these?

Once there, he had to enter the temple, going from the outer courtyard, into the first part of the temple, the holy place

2x a day they had to offer incense

Exodus 30:7-8 “And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations.”

How did they decide who got the honor of going in and offering the incense? (v9)

Here are some shards with priestly family names from the 7th century BC

The casting of lots was a practice that went back to david in 1 Chronicles 24:5. So we do not know for sure how it was done… but this was better than winning the lottery

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary A. The Birth of John Foretold (1:5–25)

A priest could not offer incense more than once in his entire lifetime (Mishnah, Tamid 5:2), and some priests never did receive the privilege. Thus the time when Zechariah offered the incense was the most important moment in his whole life.

As the smoke arose, the people were reminded they needed God to hear their prayers.

v10 so a large crowd would wait outside for the priest to fulfill his duty, like today they gather outside the wailing wall in Jerusalem

ii. Illustration

This wasn’t just his job, this was sincere faith for the people, and he served God by serving the people

Often trials can lead us to envy of the blessings others have, and envy leads to hatred

But their trials brought them closer to God

In 1931 missionary Amy Carmichael was badly injured in a fall, which left her bedridden, and for the last twenty years of her life until her death, she was confined to her room, in constant pain. Yet instead of bitterness, she chose blessing. During this time, she wrote,

“’Glorify ye the Lord in the fires’ (Isaiah 24:15), not when they have passed or you are out of them and they are only memories, but in them.

But even the most righteous can give us encouragement in their weakness as well, since

3. Doubt can reign in even the most righteous (11-20)

i. The good gospel

1. Explanation

Who is he surprised by in the temple?

An angel, Gabriel (here is a relief from the 6th century AD)

I always love to hear about people who see visions angels dancing around, and I know they did not see real angels because that does not fit with the bible’s description

People always fall down when they see angels, like Daniel

Daniel 8:16–17 ESV

And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” So he came near where I stood. And when he came, I was frightened and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.”

So Gabriel had to calm him down by saying, “don’t be afraid.”

Why might he fall down? What did he have to be afraid about?

How should this affect our discernment when we hear stories about angels

We told one of my kids “You looked like an angel!

Her response was: Uhhh…angels are really scary looking. People just look at pictures in the children’s bibles, and they think that’s what angels really look like. But that’s not real.”

Back to it..

The angel says… your prayer is heard… verse 19 lets us know instead he has good news

The tense of the greek words can lead us to believe it a singular prayer than ongoing prayers

Does the text say what he prayed for? What do you think he prayed for?

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary A. The Birth of John Foretold (1:5–25)

Our first thought is that he had prayed for a child. But, even allowing for the lack of faith with which we so often pray, Zechariah’s blank incredulity when told he would have a son is hard to reconcile with this. Moreover a priest might well have thought it unseemly to make his private concern the object of prayer at such a moment. It is more likely that he prayed for the redemption of Israel. Now he was told that this prayer would be granted.

And notice the grammar. You prayer has been heard AND you will have a son, saying these things are connected, but he does not say, so you will have a son.

(it’s not completely clear, but a possiblity)

his son will be named John (= ‘The Lord is gracious’)

John will be great

The Promise-Plan of God: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments John the Baptist: The Call to Repentance and Preparation for the Kingdom of God

The record of John the Baptist found in all four Gospels amounts to 194 verses: 47 are found in Matthew, 28 in Mark, 85 in Luke, and 34 in John’s gospel

The angel says not only will Zechariah have joy, but other people will because he will be great

Because he is great, he must not drink wine or strong drink (things other than wine at the time)

Like Samson’s mother (Judg. 13:4), he was to abstain from wineand strong drink

This was part of the Old Testament vow taken by the Nazirites (Num. 6:1–4). Under ordinary circumstances, moderate drinking was permissible, but John was set apart for the holy service of God.

But this does not say anything about the nazarite hair growing long like Samson

Instead of being filled with alcohol, what does the text say he would be filled with?

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary A. The Birth of John Foretold (1:5–25)

John is the only person said in the New Testament to be filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb; this emphasizes the fact that God chose him and equipped him from the very beginning.

Ephesians 5:18 ESV

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

So, is drinking forbidden for christians?

What then is the problem?

What is the alternative to being drunk then?

He was an unusual person, called to an unusual ministry. He would act a little crazy, so to prove he is not drunk, he never drinks.

The purpose of the greatness

Luke 1:16 ESV

And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,

2. Illustration

3. Application- Should we drink?

Drinking wine seems to have god’s approval

Deuteronomy 14:26 ESV

and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household.

1 Timothy 5:23 ESV

(No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)

But there are times to avoid

Romans 14:21 ESV

It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

We’ll talk more next week

ii. The bad response

1. Explanation

2. Illustration

3. Application

4. God uses the righteous to bless others (21-25)

i. Explanation

ii. Illustration

iii. Application

III. Conclusion

1. Cohesion-

2. Resolution-

IV. Closing prayer

V. Discussion questions