Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Good morning, Theophiloi.
I say that as a reminder that as we come to the Gospel According to Luke, that we try to come as Theophilus, reading it for the first time.
I know it is impossible to fully do it, but let us try to come to the text with fresh eyes.
Last week we saw that Zechariah had entered into the temple to offer an incense offering to the LORD as he interceded on the people of Israel’s behalf.
As he finished, an angel stood before him and told him that his prayer had been answered.
I tried to show you that it was not the prayer of a son that was being answered, but the prayer for grace—given by way of a son.
We saw that the name of this son would be John, Johanen—The Lord is Gracious.
But that was not the end of the pronouncement being given to Zechariah.
This morning, we are going to conclude the pronouncement (though not the conversation) that the angel gave to Zechariah the priest.
And in so doing, we come to three realities about John.
The first reality is the character of John.
The second is the control of John.
Finally, we see the reality of the calling of John.
The Character of John
The Control of John
The Calling of John
The Character of John
The first reality about John that the angel gives to Zechariah is the reality of his character.
You’ve probably heard the quote from John Wooden—the late, great UCLA basketball coach—regarding character.
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is what others think you are.”
Or perhaps this one from him, “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.”
The angel told Zechariah that his son John would have great character; who he was when no one was looking would be great.
Luke 1:14–15 (ESV)
And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
for he will be great before the Lord.
Before we actually get into John’s character, we are given what John’s character produces.
It produces joy, in both Zechariah’s heart and in the heart of the many.
This may seem insignificant; it may seem like the angel is telling Zechariah that this baby will do what all babies do: bring joy into the household, but in reality it is pointing to his character.
Who John would be, produced such joy that Luke used three words to describe it.
If you’ve ever known someone who was named Kara, then you’ve known someone whose name means Joy.
That’s the word that Luke used for the first joy.
Then we see he used another word that the ESV translators put as gladness.
But this is not just any type of gladness or joy.
This is what we call eschatological joy which just simply means joy relating to the end times.
So John produced a joy in relation to the end times in that John would be the forerunner of the Messiah who would bring in the Kingdom of God.
Finally, John would cause many of the people to rejoice.
It would not be just an inward feeling or emotion, but an outward expression of that emotion.
So John produce joy to Zechariah and Elizabeth.
But he bring about an “end-times” joy as God will be working through him to usher in his kingdom through saving grace.
And his very presence, his birth will be such that the people will experience that joy actively and outwardly in their own lives.
But this is what John produced by his character.
This isn’t his character itself.
So why is point one in this sermon, about the character of John?
Or to put it another way, why is it that the people would rejoice at his birth and his existence?
That answer is in verse 15: “For/Because he will be great before the Lord.”
Last week, we saw something similar said about Zechariah and Elizabeth.
Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous before God.
Their righteousness was not like the Pharisees and Sadducees and lawyers who paraded their righteousness around for the people, being whitewashed tombs.
Their righteousness was before God.
They were righteous in private, not only in public.
So here is John, their son who would be great before the Lord.
It was not simply that he would do great things before the Lord, but that he himself would be great before the Lord.
Surely, this would not be his own doing.
Like Jacob who was chosen over Esau from the womb before having done anything good or bad, but for God’s purposes, so John has been as well, as we’ll see momentarily.
It’s hard for us to imagine people liking the Pharisees because they have such a bad reputation to us today.
But in Jesus’s day the Pharisees were the envy of the people.
They had a reputation of holiness and righteousness.
(Not so much the Sadducees, who were often seen as sell-outs to the Romans).
John would have a mixed reputation.
Among the regular people, John’s reputation was impeccable.
Among the religious leaders, it was wretched.
But John’s reputation was not what mattered.
His character did.
The Pharisees said he had a demon.
Herod would cut off his head.
But the angel said, he was great before the Lord.
People will think what they will think.
They will say what they will say.
In the end, all that matters is what God thinks and what God says.
One of the characteristics that we will see about John the Baptist is that he was unafraid of people.
He respected God’s unswerving word rather than humanity’s fickle thoughts.
How about us?
If I were to be honest, I would say that I am not a John.
I care too much about people’s thoughts, too much about my reputation to the detriment of my character.
I would rather be seen as righteous than do what is right despite what others will think or say.
Later on in Luke Jesus said,
When we care what others think and say, we end up playing a game we cannot win.
When we seek a character that concerns itself with holiness, we win every single time.
The Control of John
Which leads us to the second reality that the angel reveals about John.
He not only reveals John’s character, he reveals what it is that controls him.
How would he be so great before the Lord?
Namely: the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:15 (ESV)
And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
Some would say that John was a Nazarite and that his Nazarite vow was thrust upon him from the womb just as it was Samson.
But it is most likely not that John was a Nazarite.
There were other aspects to the Nazarite vow than just abstaining from alcohol.
Like Samson, John would have been instructed not to cut his hair.
Like Samson, John would have been told not to be in contact with the dead.And not only that, but anything grape related was prohibited for Nazarites.
But the only thing is that he was not to drink alcohol.
For what reason?
Neither Luke, nor anyone else, gives us an explicit reason, but he does link it here to the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Now, we know that these two are not in opposition with one another: alcohol and the Holy Spirit.
Remember the text we read just a moment ago: John didn’t drink and they said he had a demon; Jesus did drink and they called him a drunkard.
But both were filled with the Holy Spirit.
So for what reason?
We don’t know for sure, but it very well could have done with his being filled with the Holy Spirit in some form.
John would go on to behave rather strangely.
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