The Forerunner Foretold pt2

I. Introduction

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-

Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Luke 1:5–25

Something similar happens whenever any great person makes a public appearance; there is always someone to announce his arrival. When a star athlete takes the field, an announcer introduces him in the starting lineup. When the president makes a speech, someone says, “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.” When a celebrity receives an award, another celebrity makes the presentation—the greater the honor, the more famous the presenter.

Jesus was introduced by none other than John the Baptist, whom Jesus himself regarded as the greatest man who had ever lived (Luke 7:28).

Where we’ve been:

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)

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

He entered the temple on the greatest day of professional carrier

he would go into the holy place, just shy of the holy of holy beyond the big sheet

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

i. The good gospel (11-17)

1. Explanation

Who is he surprised by in the temple?

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

What is an angel?

They are messengers as the word normally implies

The TV show series, the chosen got that right when Joseph and Mary talked about how their messengers came

The word is often translated angels

But the word should commonly be just translated as messengers such as:

Luke 7:24 ESV

When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

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?

There is a famous incident of incense being burned and priests dying

Leviticus 10:1–2 ESV

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

There is not clear understanding of what this strange fire was

But their judgment from was clear.

And now a terrifying supernatural being shows up

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.”

The angel says…Do not be afraid & 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?

Does the text actually say your prayer for a son?

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’)

How does the angel describe John and what do you think his father would think that means?

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

Luke 1:58–59 ESV

And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father,

But then they are in awe of who he will be

Luke 1:65–66 ESV

And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

He was the bridge between the two testaments. Old and New

The requirements of his greatness

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 wine and strong drink

wine= fermented juice of grapes

This is Philistine beer jug from Ashdod, 12th–11th century BC

Strong drink= beer or intoxicating liquor. Probably just a more general term.

You can get drunk by either as

Isaiah 29:9 ESV

Astonish yourselves and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with 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?

Psalm 104:15 says wine is a gift from God “and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.”

What then is the problem?

There are many warnings there are in the Bible about alcohol. I will just bullet a few here.

Ephesians 5:18, “Do not get drunk with wine.”

Romans 14:21, “It is good not to . . . drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.”

Hosea 4:11, “Beware of wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.”

Ezekiel 44:21, “No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.”

Proverbs 20:1, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”

Proverbs 21:17, “He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.”

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,

This is actually a quote from

Malachi 4:5–6 ESV

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

This comes at the end of the book, and there is a promise of the day of the lord, when GOd will set everythign right

So John will come in this power showing the end times have come, and he starts this by reconciling God’s people

If two people are at odds, what is the first step to restoring them?

John was sent to preach the conviction of sin… the condemning law was the preparation for the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit,

The meaning of to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children is not immediately obvious.

It may be that John was to remedy disunity in families (so Marshall).

This may mean awakening fathers to perform their parental responsibilities (cf. the failures of Eli, Samuel and David to discipline their sons)

or awakening disobedient sons to change their way of life so that their fathers come to approve of them.

Or the fathers may mean the patriarchs, the great ancestors of the present sinners.

But though this was his call the unity, sin made the opposite hapepn

Matthew 10:34–36 ESV

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.

So, we wait a day when it is finally made right

2. Illustration

The angel came with good news, but it was news that hurt because it called for peace with God

It is simliar to those holdouts from world war 2 in the pacific who were held up in holes for years and years afterwards

There was a The Japanese WWII Soldier Who Refused to Surrender for 27 Years

According to historian Robert Rogers, Yokoi was one of around 5,000 Japanese soldiers who refused to surrender to the Allies after the Battle of Guam, preferring life on the lam to the shame of being detained as a prisoner of war. Though the Allies captured or killed the majority of these holdouts within a few months, some 130 remained in hiding by the end of World War II in September 1945.

pon his return to Japan, “he stirred widespread soul-searching … about whether he represented the best impulses of the national spirit or the silliest.”

The good news is often unbelieverable, but it definetly calls us to lay our arms against God down

ii. The bad response and judgment (18-20)

1. Explanation

The response

How did Zechariah respond?

The literal translation is “according to know this, for I am old.”

The greek word ginṓskō means To know in completed sense or to be sure

So it seems like he is asking for a sign, saying how can you prove to me this is true.

What is understandable about his response? Could anything be wrong?

Compare this mary’s question in

Luke 1.34 “And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?””

What is different about this question?

is a genuine cry for help in understanding

This is more like Gideon’s fleece

Judges 6:14–17 ESV

And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.

It is a statement of prove it to me God

To ask for a sign, even in terms of having a good or peaceful feeling, is requiring God to second His own motion, a testing of God to see if what He has said is actually true in practice.

The proof

The angel says I am Gabriel

This is a Relief of the angel Gabriel, from Attalia, 6th century AD

he is One of two angels named in the Bible (the other being Michael)

An is Daniel 8:16 he is commanded by God to interpret Daniel’s crazy dreams

But not just his name

What other evidence does he give for his authority in verse 19?

He is a messenger of God! He was sent from the throne of God to bring the answer to his prayers.

And he gives a sign

The sign

What is the sign?

JC Ryle, the great British Anglican wrote

It was a chastisement peculiarly suitable to the offence. The tongue that was not ready to speak the language of believing praise was struck speechless…Few sins appear to be so peculiarly provoking to God as the sin of unbelief. None certainly have called down such heavy judgments on men. It is a practical denial of God's Almighty power, to doubt whether He can do a thing, when He undertakes to do it..

the angel reveals the truth… he didn’t believe

Phil Ryken writes, “The man without a child did not believe the angel with the gospel, and because of his unbelief, he became a man without a voice”

“Zechariah looked at his age, his gray hair, his body that had lost its strength. He looked at his wife’s sterility, and he refused to accept on faith what the angel revealed would come to pass.” This is where people always struggle.

But is it only condemnation? Why not?

2. Illustration

3. Application- Let’s talk about doubt

Is doubt something horrible to be kept hidden?

Jesus deals with unbelief in Mark 9

The disciples couldn't cast out the spirit because of their little faith (Cf. Matt. 17:20; Luke 17:6)

Yet, a poor father is shown in a positive light

mark 9:22-24 “ But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!””

Do you remember what is the purpose of LUke? How does this give us certainty?

this story strengthens our faith.

God was teaching Zechariah to trust his word. The priest’s temporary disability was a sign against his unbelief. God said, “You want a sign, Zechariah? I’ll give you a sign.

SO, how do we respond to doubts?

1) admit our doubts, then encourage our faith:

2) Read the bible

To read when faith is at a low ebb is counter-intuitive and unnatural. That’s why I have appreciated the motto, “Force feed.” There are times when I don’t know what is good for me. A Blizzard from Dairy Queen seems preferable to . . . anything. Those are the times when I have to over-ride my physical cues and tell my body that it is time to eat something decent. So, when doubts come, force feed. The Word of God is what is best for us.

3) Listen to People’s Stories. There is at least one other way my doubts are eased: I ask people what God is doing in their lives

The Journal of Pastoral Practice: Volume 1, Number 1, Winter 1977 2. Doctrine

The feelings may come, but in the meantime we are obligated, in the light of the lordship of Christ, to obey what He has already said.

We must not allow the feelings to direct us, but instead choose to do what is right and let the feelings follow

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

i. Explanation

did not take long to offer the incense, and priests normally came out quickly from the holy place

But what happened when he came out?

he would have come out these doors to give the benediction, but he cannot speak

Somehow the people can tell he had a vision, something that didn’t happen anymore

They now know that God is speaking again, so there is great anticipation for his son

Then he stay until his week of service is done and goes home to his wife.

She becomes pregnant and she responds with scripture

Genesis 30:22–23 ESV

Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.”

How does that sound familiar?

But, she praises God.

iii. Application

Does she blame God or the people for the reproach?

Yet, she will still be part of raising her son to prepare the way for the messiah

III. Conclusion

1. Cohesion-

We saw how hard faith is… and how the most faithful can struggle

2. Resolution-

IV. Closing prayer

Questions/Thoughts?