Luke 1:1-80

For a little over a half year now we have been working our way through the book of 1^st Thessalonians.  We are at the point where there are only 6 verses left, which I will probably cover in 2 messages.  However, we are not going to get to those final two messages until next year.  I have been spending a fair amount of time thinking, praying and studying about what to preach on once 1^st Thessalonians is finished.  And my heart kept returning to the life of Jesus.  Who is this Jesus whom we have chosen to follow?  What was He like.  What did He say?  What did He teach?  And as I thought about those questions my mind kept coming back to the Gospel of Luke.  So I determined that I would like to preach through Luke’s account of Jesus’ life.

Well, since we are in the Christmas season it seemed to make sense to me to go ahead and preach on the first 2 chapters of Luke, which deal with the birth of Christ.  Then, come January, I will return to 1^st Thessalonians for a couple of weeks to finish that book, whereupon we will then turn to Luke.  I hope that makes sense to everybody.  The long and the short of it is I want everybody to open your Bible to the 1^st chapter of the Gospel of Luke this morning. 

There are 80 verses in Luke 1, we’re not going to read all of them as we get started but I will summarize them throughout the message.  For now let’s just read the introduction, the first 4 verses.  Luke 1:1-4.

1Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled^[a] among us, 2just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

There are a couple of things that we should keep in mind as we begin the study of this book.  The first is that Luke was not a Jew.  In fact, he is the only non-Jewish writer of any of the books of the Bible.  As such he had a special focus on the truth that Jesus Christ came to be the savior for all of mankind.  No biography can include every single thing a person says and does and Luke’s account includes several stories of Jesus’ life that are not in the other Gospels.  Most of these other stories show the heart of God for man.

Another thing to keep in mind is that even though Luke was not one of the apostles or prophets of the early church he does have accurate information.  He spent time with and spoke to several who were eyewitnesses and he investigated everything carefully so he could pass on, as verse 4 says, exact truth.

The third thing for us to keep in mind is that on the human side of this is Luke did a good job of what we might call investigative journalism.  He researched, studied and reported the facts in consecutive order.  But that does not change the fact that through all of this Luke was inspired by the Holy Spirit and he wrote what God wanted him to write.  So, having said all that lets get into our story.

Having decided to give an exact accounting of the events of Jesus’ life Luke does a smart thing he starts at the beginning.  By beginning, of course, I mean the beginning of Jesus’ earthly life.  Being part of the trinity Jesus has always existed with God the Father and God the Spirit, but there was a point in time and history when He broke out of the eternal and came to earth and that is what I am referring to as the beginning.

However, the beginning did not start with Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus.  It started with an elderly, childless couple named Zachariah and Elizabeth.  Zachariah was a priest, a very special position in Israel.  However, even though it was special it was not uncommon.  Every direct descendant of Aaron, the first priest God set up, was a priest in Israel.  By the time of Jesus that meant there was about 20,000 of them.  Obviously they couldn’t all work at the temple all the time so they were divided into 24 sections.  These priests then lived throughout the land of Israel.  They would serve in the synagogues of their little communities.  But it was the great desire of all of them to be able to serve at the temple in Jerusalem. 

Twice a year, for one week each section of priests got to come to serve at the temple.  Those weeks were the highlight of the year for every priest.  Unfortunately there were still way to many of them for each of them to perform a specific duty.  You had the morning and evening sacrifice and incense burnt at both those times.  Therefore only a few priests ever got the chance to do those things.  Names were drawn by lot, and if a priests name was drawn that was the greatest day of his life.  It is what every priest longed and dreamed of. 

8Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

Zachariah got that once in a lifetime chance.  He went into the temple to burn the incense but he got a lot more than he bargained for.  He spent so much time in there that the other priests were beginning to wonder what was going on, but since it was against the rules fro them to go in and interrupt his service to the Lord they just had to sit back and wait.

What they didn’t know was that behind the closed doors of the holy room the angel Gabriel had come to pay a visit to Zachariah.  He had some wonderful new for the old man.   Gabriel said that God had heard his prayers and that Zachariah and Elizabeth would have a son.  Beyond that, he would be far more than an ordinary son. 

13But the angel said to him: "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. 14He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.^[b] 16Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17And he 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 disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

The ‘him’ in this verse is not identified, but Zachariah would have known to whom it referred. 

Throughout the Old Testament the promise of God is that He would send a deliverer. It is said that he would be a prophet like Moses whom God used to bring deliverance to His people.  It was said he would be like David and rule over the nation of Israel.  More than that, it was said that His rule would extend over the world and that all other nations would be subject to Him.  He would bring not only deliverance, but also healing and peace.  The prophet Isaiah described Him like this: “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of peace.  There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.”

Zachariah would have known instantly that the ‘him’ referred to this great deliverer and therefore his son would be the one who was prophesied to come as the forerunner of the deliverer.  Malachi gives the prophecy: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the lord.  And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” 

Imagine your child as the fulfillment of one of the great prophesies of the Old Testament.  I think every parent desires and hopes that their child will be significant in some way.    Here the angel promises Zachariah that his boy, whom the angel told him to name John, would be great in the sight of the Lord.

What an incredible day for Zachariah.  First he actually gets selected to perform the duty of lighting the altar of incense in the temple.  Then an angel tells him that God has finally answered his prayer for a son.  It’s almost unbelievable.  In fact, Zachariah isn’t sure he can believe it.

  18Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."

As if having an angel appear before you with a message from God wasn’t enough, Zachariah wanted more proof that this news, which sounded too good to be true, was actually true.  So the angel told him that his proof would be that God would cause him to be mute until the day the baby was born.  So when Zachariah finally emerged from the temple he could not explain to the other priests what had kept him so long.  But from all his wild gesturing about they finally determined that he had seen a vision.  When his week of service was over he went home to his wife Elizabeth, and wouldn’t you know it a little while later she sends Zachariah out to the 7-11 for a One Step Pregnancy test, and it is positive. 

24After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25"The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people."

Now in the middle of all of this Gabriel makes another visit to a young Jewish girl named Mary.  She was engaged to a man named Joseph.  The angel told her that she would conceive and bear a son and she was to the name the boy Jesus. 

28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

 29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

Mary asked the very natural question, “How can this be since I am a virgin?”  According to all the biology textbooks virgins don’t go around having babies.  The angel told her that her baby would be miraculously conceived by God, and that nothing was impossible for Him.  As evidence of this truth Gabriel told her about Elizabeth, who was a relative.  Mary accepted the angel’s explanation and submitted herself to God’s will. 

After the angel left Mary went out to visit Elizabeth and they both rejoiced over what God was doing.  I don’t think either one completely understood what God was doing, but what they did know is that God was going to use their children to fulfill the long awaited prophesies concerning Israel’s savior. 

The joy of this knowledge caused Mary to break forth in song, which is recorded for us in verses 46 through 55. 

46And Mary said:
   "My soul glorifies the Lord
    47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
 48for he has been mindful
      of the humble state of his servant.
   From now on all generations will call me blessed,
    49for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
      holy is his name.
 50His mercy extends to those who fear him,
      from generation to generation.
 51He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
      he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
 52He has brought down rulers from their thrones
      but has lifted up the humble.
 53He has filled the hungry with good things
      but has sent the rich away empty.
 54He has helped his servant Israel,
      remembering to be merciful
 55to Abraham and his descendants forever,
      even as he said to our fathers."

A person could spend a month of sermons on her song, but I just want to point out one thought real quickly.   Look at how it starts.  She praises God and acknowledges that God is her savior.  If anyone tries to tell you that Mary was without sin and unlike other people didn’t need a savior let her own words speak for her.  In the rest of the song she highlights the truth of God’s sovereignty, His mercy and the fact that He keeps His promises. 

Mary stayed about 3 months and then headed back home.  Shortly after that Elizabeth has her baby.  On the 8^th day all the friends and relatives gathered around for the big circumcising party.  This day was treated almost like a holiday, especially for the firstborn son.  And it was also on this day that the child would be named.  Parents had up to a month to name a daughter, but a boy had to be given his name before he was circumcised.  Elizabeth declared his name would be John but all the friends disagreed with this.  It was normal to name a son, again especially the firstborn, after someone in the family. 

So they asked the Dad what to name him, and since Zachariah was still mute he wrote on a tablet, “His name is John.”   And at that very moment God loosed his tongue and caused him to speak forth a prophecy:

67His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
 68"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
      because he has come and has redeemed his people.
 69He has raised up a horn^[d] of salvation for us
      in the house of his servant David
 70(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
 71salvation from our enemies
      and from the hand of all who hate us—
 72to show mercy to our fathers
      and to remember his holy covenant,
 73the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
 74to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
      and to enable us to serve him without fear
 75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
 76And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
      for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
 77to give his people the knowledge of salvation
      through the forgiveness of their sins,
 78because of the tender mercy of our God,
      by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
 79to shine on those living in darkness
      and in the shadow of death,
   to guide our feet into the path of peace."

In this prophecy Zachariah praised God for sending the long dreamed of and hoped for redeemer to Israel.  He made it clear that his son, John, was not that redeemer, but was the forerunner who would prepare the people’s hearts. 

So the story of Jesus starts, not with His birth, which we will get to next week, but with some angelic visits and the birth of a special man who would go before Jesus making the way ready. 

Now the obvious question is why all of this for the birth of a baby?  Please understand that I am not taking away from the wonder and joy of the birth of a child.  It is an incredible event to witness the birth of your child.  It is a happy occasion for the whole family.  It is something well worth celebrating.  I will never forget the exhilaration I had for each one of my boys as I got to hold them in my arms for the first time, and the pride of being able to take them out and show the family.  I don’t mean to diminish in any way whatsoever the specialness of the birth of a child for those that are involved.

But my question still remains.  Why all this for this particular baby?  I mean most babies don’t have another baby, designated to be born before them, to act as a sign that God was doing something special.  Most babies do not have an angel appear to their parents to announce the upcoming birth. 

Why all the hoopla for this particular baby?  And while we are at it, we might as well ask why it is that we, people living in the 21^st century, would bother studying the birth and the life of a man who lived some 2000 years ago?  We need to ask that because the answer is the same for both questions. 

And the answer is really quite simple.  The hoopla was there and it is important for us today because Jesus was no ordinary man.  Jesus is, as the Jews were hoping for, the Messiah.  He is the Savior.  The redeemer.  The birth of Jesus stands out from all other births because it was the miracle of God coming to earth in the flesh to do what no man could do himself.  Jesus would pay the penalty for sin so that man could be forgiven.  He would die as a substitute on the cross in my place and your place so that we could be right with God.

And so you have a man set aside from birth to be his announcer, to be the forerunner to go before Him.  You have an angel coming to a young virgin telling her that even though she had kept herself pure she would be pregnant.  A baby would be conceived in her womb by the power of God.  No ordinary baby but the Son of God, come to set His people free.