Introduction
I thought that, for Christmas this year, I’d work my way through the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel, which record for us the story of the Saviour’s birth. I may also continue to go through Luke’s gospel after Christmas and preach on it on Sunday evenings. But the plan for Christmas is to preach on today’s passage this morning, which is about Gabriel’s announcement of the birth of John the Baptist. Then, this evening, we’ll take a look at verses 26 to 38 and Gabriel’s announcement of the birth of the Lord Jesus. Next Sunday, we’ll do something different for the children’s service in the morning and the carol serving in the evening. But on the morning of Christmas Eve, we’ll study verses 39 to 46 which contain Mary’s song. In the evening of Christmas Eve, we’ll study verses 57 to 80 which tell us about John’s birth. On Christmas morning, we’ll study verses 1 to 20 of chapter 2 which record the Saviour’s birth and how the shepherds visited him. And on the Sunday after Christmas, we’ll look at verses 21 to 40 of chapter 2 and the story of Simeon and Anna; and verses 41 to 52 and the story of the Lord’s visit to Jerusalem when he was 12 years old. That’s the plan.
One way to divide up the two chapters is as follows: there are two announcements; there are two births; and there are two consecrations. Two announcements: to Zechariah concerning John; and to Mary concerning the Lord Jesus. Two births: John the Baptist; and the Lord Jesus. And two consecrations: Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to Jerusalem to consecrate him to the Lord; and then the Lord in a sense consecrated himself when he was 12 and when he made clear to his earthly parents that he was dedicated to his Heavenly Father’s work.
Verses 1 to 4
However, if you turn now to today’s passage, you’ll see that the gospel begins with a prologue or a kind of introduction where Luke tells us that many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us. When he refers to the things that have been fulfilled, he’s thinking about the way the whole of the Old Testament anticipates the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It contains promises about the coming of the Saviour which have been fulfilled by Christ.
So, we can go right back to the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3 where the Lord announced that one of Eve’s descendants will crush the serpent’s head. By referring to one of Eve’s descendants, he meant the Lord Jesus, who, according to his human nature, was descended from Adam and Eve. And by referring to the serpent, he meant the Devil, because the serpent in the Garden was really the Devil in disguise. And so, God announced in the Garden of Eden that the Lord Jesus was coming to destroy the Devil and to set his people free from Satan’s tyranny. And then, through the rest of the Old Testament, God announced the good news of the gospel by means of promises and prophecies concerning the coming of a great King and a suffering Servant who would suffer for the sins of God’s people and who would rescue them from all their misery. And all the Old Testament sacrifices and ceremonies pointed beyond themselves to Christ’s perfect self-sacrifice for sinners. And every prophet, priest and king foreshadowed his arrival. And so, the whole of the Old Testament anticipated the coming of the Saviour.
And those things which we read in the Old Testament have now been fulfilled by the coming of the Lord Jesus, who came into the world to deliver his people from our sin and misery and to give us the hope of everlasting life in the new heavens and earth, where we will behold God in the face of Christ forever and forever. The things we read in the Old Testament have been fulfilled.
And, according to Luke in verse 1, many have undertaken to draw up an account of these things. And, according to verse 2, they have undertaken to draw up an account of these things by making use of the stories which have been handed down by those who were eye-witnesses and servants of the word. By referring to eye-witnesses and servants of the word, he’s thinking of the Apostles, who were eye-witnesses of all the Lord Jesus said and did; and the Lord chose them to be his servants of the word. That is to say, he chose them to be his preachers. And the Apostles, these eye-witnesses and preachers, have handed down stories of what they saw and heard about the Lord Jesus; and many have undertaken to draw up an account of all these things. They’ve tried to collect these eye-witness reports into one volume. And that’s what Luke wants to do as well. He wants to write his own orderly account of all of these things.
And so, he tells us in verse 3 that he’s carefully investigated these things. He’s researched all of these things. And he’s now writing an account of these things for this man, Theophilus. We don’t know anything about Theophilus, but it seems he knows something about the Lord. However, Luke wants to prepare his own account of all the Lord Jesus said and did, so that Theophilus will know the certainty of these things. Perhaps there were some stories going around which could not be corroborated. They could not be fact-checked and confirmed. And so, Luke has discounted those stories. For his gospel, he’s going to use eye-witness testimony only. He’s going to use stories which he has checked and which he knows are true. And so, Theophilus can rest assured in the knowledge that what Luke has written is true; and that these are the things which the Lord Jesus really said and did. And, of course, that means we too can rest assured that these things are true. The things we read here are not made-up stories. This is not fiction. It’s not fake news. This is true.
And since Luke’s gospel is part of Holy Scripture, we can also rest assured in the knowledge that these things were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so that what we read in this gospel is not only the word of Luke, but this is the very word of God. And by believing these things, we will have eternal life with God.
Verses 5 to 14
But let’s now turn to the main part of today’s passage, which is Gabriel’s announcement of John the Baptist’s birth.
The main part of the announcement is in verses 15 to 17 where the angel tells Zechariah what his son will do. But before we get to that, Luke gives us a little background. He tells us in verse 5 that the announcement took place in the time of King Herod. This is Herod the Great who was appointed by the Romans to reign over Judea on their behalf. And this is the Herod who tried to kill the Lord Jesus after his birth, when the wise men came from the east to see the new king who had been born. Herod regarded the Lord Jesus as a rival to his position; and he wanted to eliminate him as soon as possible. But, of course, he failed.
It’s worth noting at this point that one of the themes in Luke’s gospel is the reversal of fortunes. The high and mighty, the proud and arrogant, the rich and powerful are humbled because of Christ, whereas the lowly and weak, and the humble and contrite, are exalted because of Christ. This is true of Christ himself, who, after the suffering and humiliation of the cross, was raised from the dead and exalted to God’s right hand in heaven. And Herod was one of the great and mighty figures at that time. He ruled Judea on behalf of Rome. And Rome was a mighty Empire at that time. But where is the Roman Empire now? Where is Herod now? They have come to nothing, whereas Christ’s kingdom is still here; and it’s still growing around the world; and it will last forever and forever, whereas every earthly power will come to nothing.
But at that time, when Herod still ruled in Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah. All the Old Testament priests were descended from Aaron, who was the brother of Moses. And Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, was descended from Aaron too. So, she too was from a priestly family. And Luke tells us that both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all his commandments and regulations blamelessly. This doesn’t mean that they were sinless, because no ordinary human is sinless. It simply means they endeavoured to do what was right in the sight of the Lord; and whenever they sinned, they offered the right sacrifices to God to pay for their sins and shortcomings. So, we might say they were a godly couple.
But look: they had no children. They had no children because Elizabeth was barren and both of them were well on in years. So, it seemed their opportunity for having children was now past. This was, no doubt, a source of personal sorrow for them, as it is for any couple who want to have children, but who unable to have any. But in those days, it was also a source of shame. People would wonder why had God had prevented them from having children. What’s wrong with them that God has withheld his blessing from them? That’s how people thought in those days. And yet, as it turns out, the reason they hadn’t had any children yet was because God was waiting for the right time to give them a son of their own.
When we’re faced with a trouble or trial or a problem, and when God doesn’t help us immediately, we shouldn’t assume that he doesn’t care or that he’s not interested in helping us. We shouldn’t think that way, because who knows? Perhaps he has something in store for us in the future that we can’t imagine, but he’s simply waiting for the right time before he answers our prayers.
And so, this godly, old couple were childless, because God was waiting for the right time. And the right time has now come. God therefore sent the angel Gabriel to Zechariah when he was ministering in the temple to tell him the news. Luke tells us in verse 8 that Zechariah’s division was on duty. There were so many priests in those days that they were divided into divisions and each division was on duty for one week two times each year. And there were lots of jobs for the priests to do when they were in duty, from very mundane jobs to the very best of all jobs, which was to offer incence in the Holy Place in the temple. Only the High Priest could go into the Most Holy Place, but regular priests were selected by lot to enter the Holy Place two times every day to offer incence to the Lord. But a priest could only be chosen for this task once in his lifetime. And so, here’s another thing which Zechariah had waited for. He was now an old man. For two weeks each year his division was on duty. Two times every day in those two weeks he was eligible to go into the Holy Place. But he had never been chosen. Why not? Why did he always miss out on this great privilege? Why were others chosen instead of him? Again, God was waiting for the right time for Zechariah. And the right time had come.
Zechariah was chosen and he went into the Holy Place. The people were waiting outside for him to re-appear and to bless them. And while he was in the Holy Place, God sent the angel Gabriel to speak to him.
Luke tells us in verse 12 that when Zechariah saw the angel, he was startled and gripped with fear. And everyone who sees an angel in the Bible reacts in a similar way. And so, the first words from the angel’s mouth are to reassure and to calm him: ‘Don’t be afraid.’ And then the angel told him that his prayer has been answered. What prayer? Well, since the angel went on to announce that Elizabeth will have a son, the angel is presumably referring to his prayer for a son of his own. God hears and answers our prayers. He answers them according to his will and in his own time. But he always answers our prayers.
And the angel instructed Zechariah that they are to give their son the name John. The name John means, ‘The Lord is gracious’, but the angel doesn’t make much of this. But the Lord is gracious, isn’t he? He graciously and freely pours out on us one good thing after another, which we do not deserve and did not earn. But he gives his good gifts to us freely, because he is good and kind and generous.
And the angel went on to say that John will be a joy and delight to you. That is, he will be a joy and a delight to his parents. And every child should aim to be a joy and delight to their parents. But John will not only be a joy and delight to his parents, but many will rejoice because of his birth. That is to say, many will rejoice at his coming. Many will rejoice at his coming, because John’s coming means that the Saviour is coming too. John was to prepare the way for the coming of Christ the Lord.
Verses 15 to 17
And so, we come to the main part of the announcement. The angel says about Zechariah’s son that he will be great in the sight of the Lord. This anticipates what the Lord Jesus will say about John in chapter 7, where he said that, among those born of woman, none is greater than John. None is greater than John. Think of the Old Testament saints: leaders like Abraham and Moses and Joshua and David and Solomon; and prophets like Samuel and Elijah and Elisha. All great men. Think of great women like Sarah and Esther and Ruth. All great men and women. But none of them was as great as John. That’s how the Lord Jesus regarded him.
And the angel says that he should never take wine or other alcoholic drinks. This was not because alcohol is forbidden, but because it was a sign concerning certain people in the Bible of their consecration to the Lord. Since everyone else drank, it was a sign to everyone that John was specially chosen by God.
And the angel said about John that he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. In fact, it’s not just from birth, but it was from the time that he was in his mother’s womb. When he was in his mother’s womb, the Holy Spirit filled him. And the Holy Spirit equipped him for his ministry. And his ministry is spelled out for us in verses 16 and 17, where the angel announced that he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. So, the people had gone astray. They had turned away from the Lord. Like sheep, they had gone their own way. They had wandered far from him, so that, instead of doing God’s will, they lived to please themselves. And so, when John began his public ministry, what was his message? Do you remember? His message was simple and straightforward, wasn’t it? His message was summed up in one word. His message was: Repent! Repent! Turn back to God. You’re going the wrong way. You’re going away from God. You’re on the broad road leading to destruction. So, turn around and go back to God. Get back on the narrow way leading to life. Turn back to God, because God is coming to you. He’s coming to meet you. He’s coming to give you salvation. He’s coming to give you eternal life. So, come back to him and receive from him what you need: which is forgiveness for all that you have done wrong; and the hope of eternal life in the new and better world to come.
And take a look at verse 16 where Gabriel said that many will turn back to the Lord their God. In other words, John’s ministry will be successful. It will be effective. Many will turn back to God as a result of his ministry. And sure enough, we read in the gospels how crowds of people went out into the wilderness to hear John and to be baptised by him as a sign of their repentance.
And according to verse 17 John will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous; and to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. He mentions Elijah here because the Old Testament ended with a promise. God promised in the book of Malachi that he was going to come. He will come to destroy the wicked and to save his people. But before he comes, he will send Elijah the prophet to prepare the people for his coming. And the coming of Elijah will be the signal that the Lord himself is coming to save and to destroy.
So, that’s how the Old Testament ended. Now, what was not clear then, but which became clear later, is that God was going to come in a surprising way. He wasn’t going to come in a pillar of cloud and fire as he had come before, when he led the people through the wilderness. And he wasn’t going to come with thunder and lightning as he did when he met the people at Mount Sinai. He was going to come in the person of his Son who came to earth as one of us. He was born as one of us and he grew up as one of us. He was like us in every way, apart from sin.
And then, his coming will be in two parts. The first time he came, he came to give up his life on the cross to pay for the sins of his people. So, he came the first time to accomplish our salvation. And then, he’s going to come a second time. And when he comes a second time, it will be more like what the book of Malachi anticipated, because he will come to punish the wicked for their wickedness and for all that they have done wrong; and it will be to save his people from the punishment they deserve for their wickedness and to give them eternal life in the new heavens and earth.
So, God was going to come, but he was going to come in the person of his Son and as one of us. And his coming would be in two parts: first to accomplish our salvation by giving up his life for us; and then he will come again to save his people and to destroy his enemies.
And Malachi said that Elijah will come before the coming of the Lord. And Elijah has come; but not in person. Elijah has come, in the sense that John has come in his place and to do his work. He came to call the people of Israel to get ready for the coming of the Lord Jesus. And the way to get ready for his coming, was for the people to repent and to turn back to God.
And look at the result of John’s ministry, according to Gabriel. When people return to God, as a result of his ministry, they would also return to each other. So, fathers and their children, once divided because of sin, will be reconciled to one another. Those who lived disobedient lives and who always did what was wrong will be reconciled to those who always did what was right. So, when people return to God as a result of John’s ministry, families and societies will also be reconciled.
And this is because sin divides us. We’ve been thinking about this recently as we’ve gone through the book of Colossians. Sin divides us. But those who turn from their sin and turn back to God, trusting in the Saviour, Jesus Christ, for salvation, are restored and renewed and are able to love one another as they should. And so, the coming of John marked the beginning of God’s new creation, because the coming of John meant that Lord God Almighty was coming in the person of his Son to save his people and to renew his people.
Verses 18 to 25
This announcement was too much for Zechariah. He could not believe it. And so, the angel declared that he would be struck dumb until the word of the Lord was fulfilled and his son was born. And sure enough, when Zechariah went back to the people, he could not speak. But after he went home, his wife became pregnant, just as the angel had said she would.
Conclusion
The announcement was too much for Zechariah. But this is the message we’re to believe. It’s the message you’re to believe. It’s the message that John was coming. And better than that: it’s the message that God was coming. God was coming in the person of his Son. And he has come. And he gave up his life to bring us to God and to renew us in God’s image so that people, who were once divided because of their sin, are united and are able to love one another, as we wait for Christ to come again to renew all things and to give us eternal life in the presence of God where we will see him and be with him forever and forever.
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