John the baptist

Luke 1: 1-25 Luke wrote this detailed account for someone called Theopolis He opens the story with the promise of the coming of John the Baptist. It had been foretold that Elijah would come and call the nation back to God. However we now know that the prophecy meant that a TYPE of Elijah would come, and prepare the way of the lord. Elijah wore coarse clothes and he preached to the nation in the wilderness. John the Baptist did the same thing. Zacharia was chosen by lot. This happened once in a lifetime, or not at all to go into the that part of the temple, the holy of holies where the common people never went and where even the priests went on fear of death. To be chosen was an honour, and those who were chosen, would look upon it as a once in a lifetime experience to be before the alter, and experience God as they had never experienced him before. He would have been excited, but also have a holy reverence for the one he served and for what he was going to do while in there which was pray and burn the incense. An angel appeared. Priests went in on fear of death, and we are told that when he saw the angel, he was gripped with fear. He would have thought that God was not pleased with him in spite of his good life, and he was about to be put to death. Immediately the angel reassures him and says, “Do not be afraid” “Your petition has been heard”. What petion? Your wife, Elizabeth will bear you a son and you will name him John. It was the custom of the time that sons would be named after other members of the family, and there was no one in his family with that name. This would have caused a discussion. “Did you hear? Why has he given him that name? There is no one else in the family called John? We know that he called him john, in obedience to the lords command. Zacharias was overwhelmed. He asked a question, V18 “How shall I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years? The answere“I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to you. Note” Who stands in the presence of God” It is like saying to him, I appear directly in front of God and he has sent me directly to you to tell you this yet you do not believe even though you know that these things were prophesied. Therefore because you have not believed, you will be silent until the boy is born. Zacharies was probably tired. Note this conversation started with the announcement. “Your Petition has been heard. In that respect Gabriel came at Zacharieses own request. Yet he did not believe. It is probable that he and Elizabeth prayed for a long time for a child who never came, and they had given up on asking and so when he is told that this request has been granted he does not believe because he has given up, and accepted his situation, and he thinks that God has said NO because now he and Elizabeth are too old to be parents. Sometimes God waits a long time to answer prayer, and when he does, we may be surprised at what he does. Malachi 4: 5 -6 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, lest I came and smite the land with a curse. Gabriel was telling Zacharia that this prophecy was about to be fulfilled. Possibly he and Elizabeth had prayed that God would carry out this prophecy as he had promised, but he could never have imagined in his wildest dreams that the Elijah spoken of would be his son. You will recall that the disciples asked Jesus why the scribes said that Elijah would come first, and Jesus told them that Elijah has come and he was rejected by them. At that point they realised that he meant John the Baptist. The scribes were right, but they were also wrong. They did not see what was before their eyes. They did not recognise John as the fulfilment of this prophecy nor did they recognise Jesus for who he was. It should not surprise us that God carries out his will in ways that we do not recognise. Somehow the knowledge that John was the Elijah promised had not been communicated. His father knew it and presumably the family knew it, but that knowledge was not with the great and mighty. Large number of people came to John to hear him and be baptised into repentance as had been promised, but the hearts of others was hard. He prepared the way for the messiah, his cousin, and thus begins the Christmas story of Christ Coming to earth at the behest of the father in order that you and I may be saved. There may be those who come to carol services, who only come to church once every year, or for weddings and funerals. What they need is not the sentimental gentle Jesus the baby all meek and mild as in some of the carols, but the Jesus of the bible whom John the Baptist supported.