BS1H - THE STORY OF CHRIST'S BIRTH AS RELATED BY LUKE
Luke, a physician, writer, and historian has proven over the course of centuries to be a man of accurate facts. Time and again Luke has written about people and places that skeptics claimed were false, only to be proved true by archaeology. Why was Luke writing his gospel?
Luke 1:1-3
History is yet unsure of who Theophilus was, but that too may yet be uncovered. Luke who had carefully investigated Jesus from the beginning, planned to present his findings to Theophilus…..and for what reason?
Luke 1:4
And that same reason is for us today. Luke presents all the major facts of Christ’s life and wrote one of the most complete accounts of the life of Christ. His account is not chronological, but it’s clear that Luke had a definite plan and purpose when it was time for him to write. He portrays Jesus as an actual person in history who came for a very specific reason.
Luke 19:10
Luke starts his account of Jesus, not with Jesus, but with John the Baptist son of Zachariah and Elizabeth. Why start there?
One of the facts about a kingdom government anywhere in the world was that when a King would come to visit a territory there was a great deal of preparation that needed to happen first. A forerunner of the king would arrive in the territory to prepare the physical details needed to receive him. But even more important, he was to prepare the people to receive him. So, when God decided it was the right time for Jesus to arrive on earth, He prepared a forerunner. God the King was going to come to earth Himself in the form of Jesus who would bring back the Kingdom of God to men and women on earth. This was going to be a huge event and the people needed to be prepared. And so, Luke starts the story with this important forerunner – who would later be called John the Baptist.
He tells us first about John’s parents. They were BOTH descendants from priestly orders.
Luke 1:5
There were too many priests to serve at the altar and therefore they were divided into “classes” each officiating for 1 week. Zachariah was part of the class called Abijah or Abia and it was his week to serve. His wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron who was the first High Priest of the Jews.
What three things do we learn about the character of John’s parents?
Luke 1:6
Then Luke inserts this important fact that was no doubt a great sorrow in their lives.
Luke 1:7
It was the custom for Jewish priests to divide their tasks “by lot” (today we might say by the throw of the dice) and the task of burning incense fell to Zachariah. He would do this two times a day along with offering prayer and praise to God on the people’s behalf. The incense was offered in the part of the temple called “the holy place” where there was a “cloud” called the Shekinah that was a visible sign of God’s presence.
Luke 1:8-9
While Zachariah was burning incense inside, what was happening outside in the main temple courts?
Luke 1:10
Suddenly we find that Zachariah was troubled and fearful. Why?
Luke 1:11-12
For 400 years there had been no divine revelation from God to his people. It’s often called the 400 years of silence. But still the people waited. Now that God was about to appear among them, he needed to send a messenger to announce His coming. So, it is no wonder that Zachariah was troubled by this sudden appearance of God’s angel – alone in the presence of God.
But the news was really good news. Why?
Luke 1:13-14
Remember in Luke 1:7 we get a glimpse of a deep sorrow that Zachariah and Elizabeth felt. To have a child was an object of great desire so that their name wouldn’t perish. Now here in this message is the news that their prayers have been answered. It was not only going to be a child for them but a child that would be a blessing to mankind (a cryptic announcement that this child would be special and important in some way). What were three characteristics of this child that the angel revealed?
Luke 1:15
And what was to be his role amongst the Jewish people?
Luke 1:16-17
The fact that this forerunner would bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord suggests that during the 400 years of silence many had drifted away from their faith in God. It was going to be John’s task to persuade the Jews to forsake sin and turn back to God by repentance (or a change in their thinking).
No man can bring conviction of sin to others because that is the job of the Holy Spirit. That’s why it was important that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit from the start. It would really be God’s Spirit working from within John’s life that would do the persuading.
The whole goal of John’s ministry is summed up in the last part of verse 17…”to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” The Messiah was coming and the people weren’t ready!
At this time Jews were divided into different sects and were opposed violently to one another! This of course divided communities and families. John had his work “cut out for him”. By directing them to the Messiah who was coming, he proposed to divert them from all their different “causes” and bring them into unity about the person they were all waiting for.
Now Zachariah of all people should have believed what the angel was telling him. Here he was in the “the holy place”, face to face with the Angel Gabriel, and hearing what should have been the best news ever. But what does Zachariah answer?
Luke 1:18
In other words, Zachariah wants some evidence since all this is highly improbable……as if having an appearance by God’s top angel wasn’t enough!
I think Gabriel is a bit incensed when he answers Zachariah’s request for evidence.
Luke 1:19
What was the real reason Zachariah wanted evidence?
Luke 1:20
Unbelief is a terrible sin before God. When God speaks, we should believe, and when we don’t, we may fall under judgment as was now the case with Zachariah. What did Gabriel say would happen to Zachariah?
Luke 1:20
A priest would usually be about a half hour in the temple and then come out to the people. But today things were taking longer and what happened when he did come out?
Luke 1:21-23
So, Zachariah finished his week in the temple (unable to speak) before going home. And as the angel Gabriel predicted, what happened?
Luke 1:24-25
For 5 months Elizabeth didn’t go out in public. She may have wanted the fullest proof that God’s promise had been fulfilled, and that her disgrace at not having any children was taken away.
This ends what is going on with Zachariah and Elizabeth and now Luke switches to what was going on with a young girl named Mary who lived in Nazareth.
Next Study: BS1I- The Annunciation - the Birth of Jesus is Foretold