Studies in Luke’s Gospel - Problems, Prayer and a Promise (Luke 1:5-25)
‘Problems, Prayer and a Promise
In our first study in Luke’s Gospel, we saw the distinct features that Luke brought to the record of Jesus’ life and ministry. His was a Gentile perspective and not being one of the disciples he went to great lengths to ‘carefully investigate everything from the beginning’ and so provide a trustworthy account of all that Jesus ‘began to do and teach’ (Acts 1:1).
Even though Luke’s Gospel is quite distinct from Matthew, Mark and John, in its focus on Jesus’ humanity, the content is exactly the same – the offer of the kingdom, the response of the people, the attitude of the religious leaders, the hostility from the authorities and the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Luke begins his Gospel with a statement of two problems:
A National Problem v5 – The Wrong King
“In the time of Herod” (v5) – this does not just set the historical setting but is a statement of profound irony. At the very moment that the true king of Israel, a descendant of David, is arriving on the scene, his throne is occupied by a descendant of Esau, a representative of the outright enemies of God’s purposes: ‘”Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD, “yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated”’ (Mal 1:2-4). God is here referring to Esau’s identity with the ‘flesh’ and not the ‘spirit’. It is not the person of Esau God hates but the fallen nature that is controlled by the flesh and opposes the Spirit. As a descendant of Esau, Herod was an Edomite and outrightly hostile to Israel’s well-being and even existence. It is notable that the Palestinians today are descendants of the Edomites who ‘occupied’ Judah while they were exiled in Babylon. Ironically, the Palestinians today claim Israel is ‘occupying’ their land and many naïve people in the West have bought into this deception.
Furthermore, Herod was a child-killer, ‘When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were ‘two years old and under’ (Matt 2:16-17). Jesus had exactly the opposite attitude to children – in Matt 17:14 Jesus said “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
As further evidence that Herod was the ‘wrong king’, he had been appointed by Rome in 37 BC. Jesus as the true King was appointed by the King of Kings in eternity. The significance of this is that when Jesus came to Israel to offer himself to Israel to serve as their rightful king, he finds an evil imposter on the throne. Similarly, when Jesus returns a second time to reign on earth, he will find another evil imposter on the throne! (See 2 Thessalonians 2:4).
We may feel the political scene today is as anti-Christian as in Herod’s day and that those in power are destroying or at least trying to eliminate the true role of God as king in our world but we shouldn’t despair – we know who is really on the throne, in control, and we know how it ends!
A Personal Problem v7 – No Child
The second problem that Luke tells us about is a personal one. Elizabeth is “barren... well along in years” (v7)- they had been praying about it (v13) but it seemed hopeless and a “disgrace” (v25).
Many people are feeling personally unfulfilled these days – as French philosopher Blaise Pascal famously said, there’s that ‘God-shaped hole’ in all our lives which can’t seem to be ever truly satisfied. Two of the best-known popular songs a few years ago summed this up: ‘I can’t get no satisfaction… I still haven’t found what I’m looking for’
However, in Zechariah and Elizabeth’s case, their personal problem became part of God’s eternal plan - God is never in a panic or a rush. Before the coming of Jesus there had to be a forerunner – an Elijah – and God was going to make his entrance into the world a very distinct one. It is significant how many times God ‘opens the womb’ of barren women (e.g Sarah; Rebekah; Rachel; Hannah). He delights to bring life out of lifelessness and all are a foreshadowing of the ultimate birth of Jesus from the virgin Mary.
The Many Prayers v10-13
Luke tells us that ‘all the assembled worshippers were praying outside’ (v10) and it is clear from v13 that Zechariah had been praying for a child ‘Don’t be afraid Zechariah, your prayer has been heard’. We don’t understand every aspect of prayer but it is a key part of being a child of God and an amazing privilege to address our thoughts and words to our great Creator God. We must never underestimate the significance of prayer.
A Heavenly Promise v5-6, 8-10, 13-20
v5 “Zechariah...” means “the Lord remembers” (He never forgets!) Elizabeth means “the promise of God” – both were descended from the priesthood (a striking contrast with Herod). There is interesting Biblical consistency here with the fact that Joseph and Mary were from the tribe of Judah and both direct descendants of king David while Zechariah and Elizabeth were both descendants of Aaron – the Levitical/priestly tribe. The role of the priestly tribe was to stand between the Holy God and the fallen sinful people and ‘make a way’ for them to come together to be reconciled – this was exactly to be the role of John the Baptist.
Again, we see the hand of God in this because it is estimated that there were about 20,000 priests available for service and this privilege of the burning of incense in the sanctuary would be a once in a life-time opportunity. It shows the perfect timing of God, ‘but when the set time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law’ (Gal 4:4)
After 400 years of silence “an angel of the Lord appeared to him” (Zechariah). This moment is brilliantly captured in C.S. Lewis Narnia books with the statement: Aslan is on the move!
Zechariah was standing on the right side of the altar of incense (v11) a part of the sanctuary always associated with prayer ‘the smoke of the incense together with the prayers of the saints went up before God from the angel’s hand’ (Rev 8:4) - how seriously do we count on angelic activity associated with our prayers?
Zechariah was ‘startled and was gripped with fear’ (v12) but was told by Gabriel ‘do not be afraid Zechariah, your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you are to give him the name John’ (v13). The name John means ‘the Lord is gracious’ – so we have clear progression of revelation:
Zechariah – The Lord remembers
Elizabeth – The promise of God
John – God is gracious
As a priest Zechariah would be praying for the redemption of Israel - this was how it would come about. Note that the place of the announcement was the threshold of access to the Holy of Holies. Once he was grown up, John would declare that Jesus is the way to be rightly related to the living eternal God ‘The next day he (John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29).
Zechariah is promised that “he will be a joy and a delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth” (v14). This was more than just the private reaction of gratitude of a child after such a long time – it would lead to ‘many will rejoice’ and we are still celebrating John’s role in the coming of our Saviour.
Gabriel goes on to say “he will be great in the sight of the Lord” (v15) and despite the fact that we know of no miracle John performed and the fact that he faced rejection and ridicule, Jesus described him as ‘Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist’ (See Matt 11:11-19). We can be encouraged that we don’t have to perform great exploits to receive divine approval – just faithful obedience to our role as proclaiming Christ to the world.
John was ‘never to take wine or other fermented drink’ – he was to be set apart for his role with no distractions or lack of self-control (see Eph 5:18). He would be ‘filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born’ (v15).
His specific role would be to ‘bring back the people of Israel to the Lord their God’ (v16) – he would do this by baptizing people in the Jordan. This of course was not believers’ baptism which we are familiar with, but the Jewish ritual of repenting of their sins. They were in effect saying – we need to start again as God’s people in the Promised land – we first entered the land through the parting of the Jordan (Josh 1:1-9), we have become so rebellious and corrupt that we need to start again. This is prophesied in Mal 4:5-6 and is designed to restore the community of Israel and break generational sin (sins of the fathers visited on the third/fourth generations - Ex 20:5).
Despite the angel Gabriel’s stunning presence and wonderful words, Zechariah is hesitant to believe the message ‘how can I be sure…?’ (v18). As a result, he was struck dumb which meant he was not permitted to share and express the good news he had just heard. Do we realize the incredible privilege we have of sharing the good news with our neighbours? Or are we struck dumb by our fear of their reaction or are we not really convinced enough ourselves of the trust of the Gospel?
A Fulfilled Promise v24-25 – New Life
When Zechariah and Elizabeth returned home ‘Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion’ (v24). We don’t really know why she remained in seclusion but maybe she wanted the message to announced at the time of the actual birth when her husband could also speak.
The main message she was able to announce was that ‘he has shown his favour and taken away my disgrace’ (v25). That is the Gospel in a nutshell… Grace always triumphs over disgrace! If we are willing and trust him to bring the miracle of a new life to us – not a physical baby but the Holy Spirit life, we can have total assurance of salvation – I hope and pray you do!
Prayer:
Am I overly worried about the bad kings there are in the world today – and forgetting that the King of Kings has already won the victory over evil at the cross?
Is my prayer life consistent and faithful regardless of whether I can see answers that I expect?
Have I repented of my sin and received the Grace that will remove my disgrace?