Introduction to the Gospel of Luke
Well, over the past two weeks, you've heard three messages from Pastor Nathan and also Pastor Dan from the Gospel of Luke. We'll continue that today and in the weeks ahead.
As a reminder, in the first few verses, Dr. Luke wastes no time writing to Theophilus, and he gives the purpose of his gospel letter. He says in a very short sentence, "I decided to write an orderly account for you so that you may know the certainty of the things that you have been taught."
And of course, that's why it's so important that each of us continue to dive into God's word individually and together collectively here at the church.
The Purpose of the Gospel
And also ask God and the Holy Spirit to reveal things to us in His word that would convict us of sin and convince us of the truth of the gospel, and help us to live that gospel out as we go about our daily activities.
Luke's purpose in the gospel is to show fulfillment of God's plan to bring His light to the world through Israel.
The Light of the World
This light to the world is, of course, Jesus of Nazareth, the Messianic King who brings light to the Jews and then to the Gentiles, representing the Ponta Ethne, which is a Greek phrase for all the nations or all the peoples of the world.
And just parenthetically, this is really what the Lighty Moon Christmas offering is all about. It's about supporting and sending missionaries to share the gospel, to make disciples, to plant healthy, reproducing churches where Jesus is not known.
I just want to thank the congregation for those of you who have given to the Lighty Moon Christmas offering for being generous with the resources that God has entrusted to you. And if you have not had a chance to give, I would encourage you to do that between now and next Sunday.
The official number as of last night was $12,103.12. And you might be thinking, "Well, why didn't you just round that up or down?" Because every cent matters. Every gift matters.
And I was told, I think on Christmas Eve, that our Iwanas took an offering and they gave. And so that's probably why we have the 12 cents. They gave more than that, but that's probably why we have an odd number.
And that was toward our goal of $12,000. And as Tommy mentioned, we've exceeded that goal. And we have a generous giver who anonymously is giving $12,000 to match what we've given. And so we will double our goal as a result of that additional gift.
And so we praise God for that. And I would just encourage us to join all the nations in praising God and singing a hallelujah chorus to our King because of the work being done by our missionaries.
The Purpose of Missions
As John Piper writes in his book, *Let the Nations Be Glad*, he says, "Missions exist because worship doesn't." You see, the purpose of missions is to go out and take the gospel in a way that people can understand it and embrace it as their own so that they may become worshipers of God just as we are. We should be passionate about taking the gospel to those in our own community, in our own family, and even to the nations.
Because John writes in Revelation chapter 7, verse 9, a multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language will gather around the throne and worship the Lamb. So we will do that together.
As I mentioned earlier, we have followed Luke's gospel over the past few weeks. And just to give you a brief overview, we saw or we read about the foretelling of the birth of John the Baptist in Luke 1:5 through 25. Then Pastor Nathan taught about the foretelling of the birth of Jesus in Luke 1, verses 26 through 38. And then last week, he taught about the Virgin Mary's visit to her older cousin Elizabeth, who is also pregnant, in Luke 1:39 through 45. And then, if you were here with us on Christmas Eve, Pastor Dan covered Mary's song of praise, or you may know it as the Magnificat, in verses 46 through 56.
The Birth of John the Baptist
And so today, in verses 57 through 80, we're going to dig deeper into the birth of John the Baptist. We're going to look at Zachariah's song of praise, Zachariah's prophecy about his son, and finally, John the Baptist's preparation for ministry.
Luke continues to report and remind Theophilus, and by extension or application, the contemporary church, which is us, that God was faithful to fulfill his promises over 2,000 years ago. Furthermore, he can be trusted to fulfill all of his promises today and for all of eternity. Why? Because he is a covenant-keeping God who is to be exalted, praised, and treasured by his people.
Which brings me to the title of our message today, which is "Surprised by Prayer." Now, before you fall asleep, I'm going to give you a quick synopsis of the sermon.
God Fulfills All His Promises
So if you do fall asleep and you're taking notes, you can at least write them down. And when you wake up, you'll have something to refer to. Here's the big idea. God fulfills all of his promises and we can experience genuine hope and joy through faith and obedience. God fulfills all of his promises and we can experience genuine hope and joy through faith and obedience. Now here are the four main points. So before you fall asleep, here are the four points. I'm going to give you a word that was new to me, but in order to make this four P's, I came up with this word through Webster's dictionary.
Four Points of the Sermon
Elizabeth's parturition. What is that? It's simply a medical term that describes the act of childbirth. Zachariah's praise. Zachariah's prophecy. And then finally, John's preparation.
So my question for you today is, have you ever been surprised by prayer? Have you ever been surprised by the prayers and the petitions that you've raised up to God? In other words, have you ever fervently asked God for something again and again and again, and finally, after so many petitions, you stopped believing that He would answer your prayer?
Let me give you one small example, and it actually happened to me this morning. I was sitting in our kitchen, Wanda was getting ready for church, I was going over this sermon, and I see this text from our son, Austin, who's 40 years old. And Austin says to me—and I just knocked off that little thing on my mic—Austin texts me and says, "Dad, I heard that you're preaching today, and I just wanted to let you know I just prayed for you. And I prayed that God would give you a clear mind and fill you with His Spirit, and that God's message would have an impact on the people that are there today."
Now, I'll tell you, I was surprised by that prayer, and I was very thankful. So have you ever been surprised by prayer? And then, even though you may have prayed and not thought that that prayer was going to be answered, were you completely and totally surprised when your prayer was answered? I have to confess that I've experienced that myself. I really doubted whether God was hearing my prayer, whether my prayer was going to be answered, and then at some point in the future, God in fact did answer that prayer.
Well, just to remind you that Zachariah and Elizabeth are childless and they desperately want to have a child. According to Luke, they were beyond their childbearing years and likely they were in their 60s or 70s, or maybe even in their 80s. Now, I'm 69. I'll be 70 in July. And I couldn't imagine Wanda getting pregnant and us having a child at that age. I would certainly be surprised if I made that prayer. She'd probably be even more surprised.
You see, in Jewish culture, to have children was a blessing and to be barren they considered to be a curse. On top of that, Zechariah was a priest, so he carried the additional weight of being a godly, religious man who was unblessed by God because he had no children. Imagine, year after year, the people may have asked both Zechariah and Elizabeth, "Do you think God will bless you with a child this year?" But alas, the year passed and no child, no blessing, no one to take care of them in their old age, no child to continue the family name, and no son to follow in his father's footsteps as a priest and a rabbi to the Jews in Judea.
The Answered Prayer of Zachariah
Then Luke records in chapter 1, verse 11, "But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and you shall call his name John."
Did you get that? Your prayer has been heard. Elizabeth will bear a son. Your prayer has been answered. His name is an answer. Will be called John, which means God is gracious.
Not only has Zachariah's and Elizabeth's prayer been answered by the Lord, but their son will have a unique assignment in God's eternal plan since he will be the promised forerunner of the Messiah. And if you were here on Christmas Eve, Dan referenced Malachi chapter 3, verse 1. This is also recorded in Luke chapter 1, verse 17.
So Zachariah makes a big prayer, he gets a big surprise, and he gets a big answer. Remember, God has been silent for over 400 years, and now God has spoken again with an amazing announcement.
Let's read Luke chapter 1, verses 57 through 66. And this is the account of the birth of John. And when it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father, Zachariah. But his mother spoke up and said, "No, his name is to be John." They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name."
Then they made signs to his father to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment, he wrote, "His name is John." Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.
All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea, people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be? For the Lord's hand was with him."
So let's look at just a few points as we cover these verses in verses 57 through 66.
The Fulfillment of God's Promise
First of all, we learned that a son is born. It says, when it was time or fulfilled for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Verse 57. This verse confirms the fulfillment of God's promise to answer Zachariah's prayer when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the temple while he was burning incense. This prophecy was foreshadowed in Malachi chapter 3 verse 1 and also in chapter 4 verses 4 through 6. And Jesus identified John the Baptist as Elijah because he came in the spirit and power of Elijah. If you want to refer back to that, that's Matthew 11 verse 10 and also Matthew 17 verses 11 through 13. Mark also records this in chapter 1 verse 2, chapter 9 verses 2 through 13, and Luke again in 1 verse 17.
If you're unsure about God's faithfulness and you doubt whether or not God answers prayer, I want you to remember this one key truth: God hears and answers prayer. He always keeps his promises, and he is always faithful to fulfill his word.
And then we see in verse 58 that the people rejoice. Can you imagine Zachariah and Elizabeth's excitement and joy when their son was born? A husband and wife beyond childbearing years, as I said earlier, perhaps in their 60s or 70s, or maybe even in their 80s, who was childless and now has a son to carry on the family name. Family and friends were gathered in anticipation of this most unlikely birth. In fact, this was a miraculous birth. It wasn't just a normal celebration, but I believe it was a raucous celebration of praise. Zachariah has not been able to speak for at least nine months, and he can't even express his excitement and praise verbally.
Do you remember when your first or second or third—you fill in the blank—child was born? I can remember when our oldest son, Austin, was born and the emotions and the excitement of holding this tiny baby in our arms. Wanda and I apprehended but did not comprehend the full weight of parenthood. Like many of you, I immediately—this is before the days of cell phones, so in the hospital I had to run down the hall, find a payphone, and start making phone calls—like many of you, I immediately called our relatives and close friends so that they could share in our joy and our excitement.
Let's look at verse 59. He says, "His name is John." Eight days later, after Zachariah and Elizabeth go to the temple in Jerusalem and present their son to be circumcised according to the law of Moses in Genesis chapter 17, verses 9 through 14, the priest and close family members who are present get another big surprise. Everyone expects his name to be Zachariah after his father, but Elizabeth replied, and I can just imagine Elizabeth probably a little timid in her personality, maybe not domineering, and yet she says, "No, he must be named John."
I wonder how the people responded to that. Well, I said, the people said, "What? Where did you get the name John?" But Zachariah asked for a writing tablet, probably a carved wooden tablet with wax filled in and then a wooden stylus, and he quickly writes the words, "His name is John." And Scripture says they were all amazed.
I had a conversation with Andy and Karina last week about the announcement of their new child, and I found out this morning that they're having a little girl. Congratulations. And I think I said to Karina's parents after church last Sunday, I said, "Now remember, they get to choose the name." When you had a child, did other people offer names to you, expecting you to say, "Well, that's a great name. We'll use that name"? So I said to them, I said, "Let them name the child." And I can imagine that's probably what the people were thinking. You know, "He's got to be Zachariah. He can't be John."
But both Elizabeth and Zachariah confirmed that his name was John because they had both been told that was his name by the angel of the Lord, who in fact was and is Gabriel. God's promise was fulfilled in spite of Zachariah's unbelief nine months earlier. He has seen God's covenant-keeping promise being fulfilled. In that time, Zachariah submits to God's discipline, and now he obeys God by faith.
Zachariah's next words after confirming his son's name as John were words of blessing and praise for Yahweh. You know, I had to ask myself a question this morning. What are the first words or thoughts that came to my mind when I woke up this morning and got out of bed? Was it, "Thank you, God, for a good night's rest and a new day. I praise you and worship you"? Or did I think of other things that occupied my mind even before I acknowledged God's blessing on my life this morning?
You see, even if we disobey God, he will restore us when we submit to his gracious discipline and obey him by faith. Even in your doubts, do you obey God according to his word? Do you praise God regardless of your circumstances? Finally, the people ask, "What will this child be?"
When you have children, when you've had children, one of the things that we think about is, what is this child going to be when he or she grows up? And we probably have expectations in our mind about what we think this child is going to be. And most of the time, we're surprised that that's not what they end up being.
But they said, what will this child be? And this section concludes with all the neighbors being filled with awe and asking that question, what then is this child going to be?
Dr. Thomas Constable writes, Luke stressed the widespread effect this incident had in the whole area. Everyone concluded that John would be an unusual child because God's hand was with him. When John began his public ministry, there must have been some Jews who submitted to his baptism, speaking of later on, because they had noted God's hand on him from this event forward. In other words, there may have been people present who remembered this event in time past.
So to summarize, God has broken his silence after 400 years. God has spoken again. God's promise is made. God's promise is fulfilled. God's blessing is for his people, Israel. God allows Zachariah and Elizabeth to have a son, John, which means God is gracious who is the forerunner of the Messiah. God's salvation for Israel and for the nations is certain.
Zachariah's Song of Praise
His redemption will be administered through the Son of God, the promised Messiah. Let's look now at the second section, Zachariah's praise in verses 67 through 75. This is also known as the Benedictus, which in Latin means blessed or blessed be. It's not only a song of praise, it's also a song of salvation steeped in Old Testament scripture. So let's read these verses, verses 67 through 75.
His father Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he said through his holy prophets of long ago, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show mercy to our ancestors, the oath he swore to our father Abraham, to rescue us from the hand of our enemies and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all of our days."
The text says in verse 67 that Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and he prophesied. Zachariah's words of praise and prophecy were inspired by God because he was filled up with God's presence. Second, in verses 68 through 75, just a reminder, God had not spoken to Israel in over 400 years. God has been silent, and Israel is expectantly awaiting God's words once again.
Zachariah breaks out into a song of praise to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. Notice the tense of the verb redeemed. It is past tense, indicating that God has already accomplished it within his eternal plan of redemption. It will happen because it has already happened. It is certain. You see, God does not exist within time and space. God lives outside of time and space. Zachariah's praise is magnified because he is filled with the Holy Spirit and he prophesies because his mind has been saturated in the Old Testament scriptures.
Notice that Zachariah's praise comes out in three waves. He points to three of God's covenants to Israel. The first part of what he says comes from the Davidic covenant in Luke verses 69 through 71. Dwight Pentecost writes in his fine work, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, "Just as God heard the cry of the Israelites when they were slaves in Egypt and sent a deliverer, Moses, who brought them out of bondage into liberty, so God heard the cry of this people and was providing one who would deliver them from their enemies." Zachariah noted that this deliverer would come from the house of David, verse 69. This was in keeping with God's covenant promise to David that a son of David would sit on David's throne and rule over David's house forever. You can read about this in 2 Samuel chapter 7, verse 16. The nation did not deserve a redeemer or redemption, and yet God is merciful. He is faithful to fulfill his covenant. You see, I don't deserve God's redemption. I don't deserve God's salvation. But God has been gracious to me, and he's been gracious to many of you. And so we ought to praise God by remembering that each and every day.
The second part of what he says comes from the Abrahamic covenant in Luke chapter 1, verses 72 through 75. Zechariah says, "the oath he swore to our father Abraham." Here, Zechariah referred to the foundational covenant recorded in Genesis 12 through 13, chapter 15, and chapter 17. And it was the foundation of Israel's hope for the coming of the Messiah.
The third part of what he says comes from the prophecies of the new covenant in Luke chapter 1, verses 76 through 79. This was a reference to what was promised and coveted in Jeremiah 31, 31 through 34, where God promised Israel that he would forgive their sins, cleanse them, give them a new heart, and enable them to serve him in righteousness.
The first part of the song praises God for messianic deliverance. John MacArthur writes, "Zacharias is singing a song of salvation because he sees it in fulfillment of the unilateral, unconditional promise of the Messiah's coming that God gave to the Old Testament prophets." Thomas Constable writes, "it emphasizes the words covenant and oath and God's covenant faithfulness." Again, I quote John MacArthur, "and now God has come. God has spoken in the form of an angel and the promise of a forerunner and in the declaration of the Messiah to follow." And Zacharias knows exactly what this means. What it means is the covenants are about to be fulfilled. This is the connection between the old and new from a Jewish perspective. And this fuels Zacharias' song of praise. Israel's redemption is near. It's redemption both from political power and also from spiritual sin, or sin and the conquering of that spiritual sin, or that sin.
Do you have any doubts about the veracity of the Bible? If so, what is the basis of your unbelief? Perhaps today you should ask God to give you faith to believe. I know this is a prayer that God will answer if you ask him with humility and sincerity.
The Apostle Peter wrote, and we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:19 through 21.
So, to summarize, so far, we've seen Elizabeth's parturition, which is the birth of John, Zachariah's praise, and now let's explore Zachariah's prophecy.
The Prophetic Role of John
"And 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, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven, to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."
Zachariah's prophecy contains five prophetic utterances that link John to Elijah. John will be a prophet of the Most High. John will prepare the way of the Lord. John will give the Jews knowledge of their salvation. John will point to God's steadfast love, his covenant-keeping love. And finally, the Messiah will visit the Jews and give them true peace.
What is the source of true peace for you? Do you have true, everlasting peace? True peace is peace with God. It's peace with oneself, and it's peace with others. And of course, the source of this peace is Jesus Christ.
Of course, these prophecies have been fulfilled by the incarnation of Jesus Christ, his earthly life and ministry, his voluntary substitutionary atonement, his death, his burial, and his resurrection, and his ascension to heaven where he is seated at God's right hand.
Furthermore, we, meaning the church, are awaiting his imminent second coming. We've just celebrated his first coming, his first advent. But he will come again. He will have a second advent. And at that second advent, those in Christ will rise from the dead, those dead first, and then those who are still living will rise to meet him in the air.
John's Preparation for Ministry
And then judgment will come upon those who do not believe in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. As we complete this passage from Luke chapter 1, we conclude with the last verse, verse 80. And I call this John's preparation.
And the child, John, grew and became strong in spirit, and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel. You know, the Bible doesn't give us a lot of details about John's infancy, early childhood, teen years, and early adulthood. However, we can make some observations and ask some pertinent questions. Listen to some of these questions: Since Zachariah and Elizabeth were elderly, how long did they live after John was born? If they died while John was still young, who raised John until he was able to be on his own? Did Zachariah have an opportunity to instruct and train John in the priesthood? Did John accompany his father and mother to Jerusalem to celebrate the annual feasts and festivals? Did John spend time with his Aunt Mary, his uncle Joseph, and his cousin Jesus in Nazareth? Did Jesus and John have an opportunity to do chores together, play together, memorize the Torah together, and attend synagogue together? What prompted John to leave his village in Judea and go into the desert? Was he lonely while he was in the desert? Did anyone come to visit him?
Scripture is silent on these matters, but Luke does tell us at least seven things about John from Luke chapter 1, verses 15 through 17, and also in verse 80. Here are the things that I observed: John will be great in the sight of the Lord, verse 15A. He will be alcohol-free, verse 15B. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit in his mother's womb, verse 15C. He will turn many Israelites back to the Lord, verse 16. He will be the forerunner of the Messiah, verse 17. He will prepare a people ready for the Lord, verse 18. He grew, when we can assume he grew physically, mentally, and emotionally. He became spiritually strong, verse 80. He lived in the wilderness or the desert, and he appeared publicly to Israel where his ministry was inaugurated, verse 80.
Dwight Pentecost concludes, though theoretically eligible to become a priest, John had not prepared himself to function as a priest. Instead, he had been set apart from birth to another ministry, the one to which God had called him and for which the Spirit had endued him from birth.
Okay, you've been very patient with me. So now, as Beau would say, make sure your seatbelts are fastened because we're on final descent and we're going to land the plane.
Conclusion and Call to Action
We're almost done. Just a reminder, what was the big idea that I wanted you to know today? God fulfills all of His promises, and we can experience genuine hope and joy through faith and obedience. And secondly, that God hears and answers prayer.
The four main points that we exposited from the Gospel of Luke today were John's birth, Zachariah's praise, Zachariah's prophecy, and John's preparation. Finally, Zachariah and Elizabeth were righteous and walked blameless in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. They prayed fervently for a child, but their prayers were seemingly ignored by God. But God answered their prayer according to His eternal wisdom to provide salvation to Israel and to the nations through the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, which pointed to a forerunner, John, their son, and the promised Messiah, Jesus.
Zachariah and Elizabeth truly were surprised by prayer, and oftentimes so are we. I have two questions as I conclude. One, if you are in Christ, are you willing to be surprised by prayer by faithfully and obediently asking and waiting on God to answer your prayer according to His eternal plan and purpose? And I have a question for those who are not in Christ: Are you willing to offer a prayer to God whereby you repent of your sins and believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation?
I was surprised by prayer, and so was Wanda when we lived in Southern California. More than once, but this particular time was a surprise. Like many of you, we'd been taking our two young children to church there in Mission Viejo, California. They were asking a lot of questions. We were trying to answer their questions as best we could. And we got home from church one Sunday, and we sat down at the kitchen table to have lunch. As we were finishing up lunch, both of our children asked, "We would like to be Christians. We would like to be saved."
And frankly, it kind of took us by surprise. And so Wanda, like a good mother would be, she offered to clear the table while I tried to answer their questions. And I did the very best that I could. But I say I was surprised by prayer, and I know she was too, because we have been praying for their salvation since they were in their mother's womb. And graciously, God answered that prayer when they were young children, and they're still walking with the Lord.
So God will answer your prayer according to His eternal plan and purpose. But our job is to ask and to pray and to wait by faith.
Let's pray. Loving and gracious God, thank you for the salvation you offer to Jews and Gentiles through the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer. We ask you to give us faith to believe your word regardless of the circumstances in our lives. We ask you to fill us with the Holy Spirit and produce the fruit of the Spirit in us so that we may be in Christ, that we may be Christ's ambassadors and bring glory to your holy name. I ask boldly in Jesus' name, Amen.