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Luke 1:1-25 (John’s birth announcement)

INTRODUCTION: We are starting a new message series today called, “Preparing for Christmas.” This always seems to be a busy time of the year for most of us – the four-to-five-week period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We even have a word for it in our culture. Now in the church we call it “Advent,” but in the culture we call it the “Christmas rush,” which is pretty sad when you think about it. This is such a busy time of the year for everyone preparing for Christmas – getting a tree, shopping for presents, putting up the lights and decorations, scheduling the various events and get-togethers on the calendar. There’s a lot to do between now and Christmas.

But this series is not so much about all the physical preparations for Christmas. Rather it is about preparing your heart for Christmas, especially as we spend some time together reflecting on how God prepared for the birth of Jesus that very first Christmas. And so, between now and Christmas we are going to be looking at the first two chapters of the gospel of Luke. Luke provides the greatest detail of any of the biblical writers concerning the birth of Jesus and the preparations that God made for the birth of his Son. Interestingly, the story does not begin with Mary or Joseph or Jesus, but rather with an elderly couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth. (Read Luke 1:1-4 and pray.)

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, 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, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1-4)

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An Orderly Account: Before jumping into the account of Zechariah and Elizabeth, I want us to look at these four verses we just read. Here in verses 1-4 Luke gives us an introduction to the whole Gospel of Luke. You will notice that Luke addresses his gospel to a man named Theophilus. The book of Acts, which was also written by Luke, is also addressed to Theophilus.

So, who was this Theophilus? We really don’t know. The only time he shows up in Scripture is here and at the beginning of the book of Acts. His name means “friend of God” or “one who loves God.” The fact that Luke addresses him as “most excellent Theophilus” indicates that he may have held a position of honor in the Roman government.

Verse four tells us that Theophilus had been taught about Jesus, but it is not clear whether he was still a seeker at this time or already a believer in Jesus. Luke may be writing to him as a seeker to help him come to faith, or he may be writing to him as a believer to help strengthen him in his faith. Either way, it is clear that Luke and Theophilus are friends, and that Luke writes this gospel so that Theophilus may know the certainty of the things that he has been taught.

How will Luke’s gospel bring Theophilus such assurance? Because Luke has carefully investigated all these matters from the beginning. The word carefully here means, “diligently, accurately.” Luke mentions that others had also written about these things that had been fulfilled among them, and he says these things were handed down by eyewitnesses. These eyewitnesses would include such people as Zechariah and Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary and certainly Jesus’ twelve disciples.

Luke tells Theophilus, “I took all these writings, all these eyewitness accounts, I did my research, and I put it all together into an orderly account.” Luke was not only a careful historian, meticulously researching all the details for his gospel. He was also a careful writer. He put together an accurate and orderly account for the benefit of Theophilus and for anyone who would read his gospel. In fact, Luke’s writings have stood the test of time, and Luke has shown himself to be a very careful and accurate recorder of the events that took place in the time of Jesus.

This, by the way, is one of the things that sets Christianity apart from almost all other religions in the world. The teachings of Christianity are firmly rooted in history. Let me read to you from the opening paragraphs of historian Paul Maier’s excellent book, The Fullness of Time:

Of all religious beliefs in the world, past or present, none have more thoroughly based themselves in history than Judaism and Christianity. The divine-human encounter in the biblical faiths always involves claims about real people, living in real places, who acted in real events of the past, many of which are also cited in secular ancient history…. It can, in fact, be argued that every religious system before or since Judaism and Christianity has avoided any significant interaction with history, and instead has asked its followers to believe, by sheer faith alone, the claimed revelation of its founder(s).

But not so with Christianity. History is not the enemy of Christianity but rather its friend. When you put your faith in the God of the Bible, you are putting your faith in the God who has revealed himself throughout history and recorded that revelation for us in the Scriptures. Luke was part of that process.

Perhaps you are a seeker this morning, even as Theophilus may have been a seeker. Perhaps you are not sure about the things that you have heard about God and Jesus. As we study these opening chapters of Luke over the next several weeks, I would encourage you to look and see how Luke’s account of Jesus and his birth are so firmly embedded in historical events. Luke has written a carefully researched and orderly account for a purpose, that you may know the certainty of the things that you have been taught.

I. The silent suffering of a godly couple (5-7)

As we mentioned earlier, Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth does not actually begin with Mary and Joseph, but rather with Zechariah and Elizabeth. Look at verse 5 with me:

“In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.” (Luke 1:5)

Right away we should be struck with the historicity of the account. First, we are given the historical time. These events took place during the time of King Herod. Herod became the governor of Galilee in 47 B.C. at the age of 25. Ten years later the Roman Empire appointed him as king over Judea. He ruled over Judea from 37 B.C until his death in the spring of 4 B.C.

Notice that we are also given historical details concerning Zechariah and Elizabeth. Zechariah was a priest descended from Aaron, the brother of Moses. He belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. His wife, Elizabeth, was also a descendant of Aaron.

All of Luke’s details here are historically precise. Only descendants of Aaron could lawfully serve as priests. There were twenty-four divisions of priests who rotated their duties at the temple. Each would come to the temple twice a year to serve for a full week. Zechariah belonged to the division of Abijah which was the eighth division out of twenty-four in the rotation.

Verse 5 places Zechariah and Elizabeth in an historical context for us. THe next verses go on to fill in some of the personal details of their life. We read in verse 6:

“Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. (Luke 1:6)

“Both of them were upright in the sight of God.” This is a godly couple. They are not just faking it. They are not just putting on a show. You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool God any of the time. They are not just upright in the sight of their family, friends or neighbors. They are upright in the sight of God. Luke says they observed all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. That does not mean that they were perfect. No one is perfect. We all sin. But they were blameless, which means they sincerely followed God and his ways, that their overall lives were pleasing to God.

Verse 7 then follows with the word, “but.”

“But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.” (Luke 1:7)

They were a godly couple, upright in the sight of the Lord, but there was one great sorrow in their life. They had no children. Elizabeth was barren. She was unable to conceive a child.

In that day and culture childlessness was viewed as a curse. And those who bore no children suffered great shame and disgrace in the community. As a godly couple I am sure they brought their request for children before the Lord many times over the years. But their prayers remained unanswered. Their hopes remained unfulfilled. God remained silent.

And now they had a double strike against them. Not only was Elizabeth barren, but they were both well along in years. Even if Elizabeth were no longer barren, they were both well beyond the expected age for childbearing. Humanly speaking, they no longer had any hope for a child, and perhaps they given up that hope a long time ago anyways.

Don’t let anyone ever tell you that godliness will protect you from suffering in this life. Godliness does not exempt you from pain and sorrow. It will protect you from a lot of painful consequences resulting from bad choices, but godliness is not a ticket to a trouble-free life. Also, don’t make the opposite mistake of thinking that just because you are suffering in some way, that God must be angry with you over some sin. Zechariah and Elizabeth were a godly couple, and yet they silently suffered the disappointment and sorrow of bearing no children.

Now, if you are familiar with the Bible, their situation should remind you of another couple in the Bible – Abraham and Sarah. Sarah was also barren. Abraham and Sarah were also both past the age for childbearing. But God gave Abraham the promise of a son through Sarah, and God fulfilled that promise through the birth of Isaac. In fact, it was through Isaac and his offspring that God would fulfill his earlier promises to Abraham about making Abraham into a great nation and about all the nations of the earth being blessed through him. The people of Israel eventually grew to understand that this promise would be fulfilled not only through their nation but through the coming of the Messiah sent from God.

And so Zechariah and Elizabeth are in the same position as Abraham and Sarah before God spoke to them. Elizabeth is barren, they are both well along in years, and they both have probably long ago given up hope for a child.

II. The angel’s announcement of Christ’s forerunner (8-22)

But just as God intervened in Abraham and Sarah’s life so many years before, so now he is about to intervene for Zechariah and Elizabeth. Look at verses 8-10:

“Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.” (Luke 1:8-10)

So, what was this burning of incense in the temple? There were three main sections in the temple – the outer court, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The outer court was where the people were allowed to go, but only if you were Jewish.

The next section in was called the Holy Place. This is where the altar of incense was located, and only the priests could enter here. Twice a day, every morning and evening, the priests would offer up incense on this altar before the Lord and pray for the people of Israel. The incense on the altar was symbolic of the people’s prayers going up before the Lord. This is where Zechariah was offering up incense in our text today.

The altar of incense was directly before the curtain that barred the way to the third and inmost section of the temple, what was called the Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place symbolized God’s immediate presence among the people. Only the high priest entered the Most Holy Place, and that only once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

So, what is happening with Zechariah in verses 8-10? This was one of the two weeks out of the year when Zechariah’s division was on duty at the temple, and out of all the priests in his division, Zechariah is chosen by lot to go into the temple to burn the incense. This was a great honor and privilege for Zechariah. There were more than 8,000 priests in Israel at this time, which meant that many who served as priests never got to burn incense at the altar. And if you did get chosen, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You would probably never get to do it a second time. So, this is the highlight of Zechariah’s entire priestly career. You can just imagine the sense of wonder and awe that Zechariah would have felt as he entered the Holy Place for the first time in his life in order to burn the incense and offer up prayers for the people.

However, this turns out to be an even greater event in Zechariah’s life than he could ever have imagined. Look at verses 11-12:

“Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.” (Luke 1:11-12)

Now any angelic appearance would be startling enough. Add to that an angel appearing at the right side of the altar while you are offering incense in the temple. That is even more startling. But there is something else happening here as well. At this particular time in history, God was not speaking to Israel. They had no prophets. There were no angelic visitations. The last prophet had been Malachi, and that had been four hundred years earlier. We sometimes call this time “the four hundred years of silence,” the four hundred years that marked the pause between God’s revelation in the Old Testament and God’s revelation in the New Testament. So now add in the fact that God has not spoken to his people for four hundred years, and trust me, Zechariah is startled and gripped with fear.

The angel speaks, and God breaks the silence of four centuries. Look at verse 13:

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.” (Luke 1:13)

God assures Zechariah through the angel that he has heard Zechariah’s prayer. Some people wonder whether the angel was speaking about the prayer that Zechariah had just offered up at the altar for Israel, or whether the angel was speaking about the personal prayers of Zechariah and Elizabeth for a child, probably stretching back decades. Perhaps both are meant. Through all those years of silent suffering, God was right there. God heard their prayers for a child and was just waiting for the right time. God’s silence does not mean God’s absence.

But God has also just heard Zechariah’s prayer for Israel, his prayer for the Messiah to come and deliver the people. And the answer to both prayers is wrapped up in the promise of a son. Just as with Abraham and Sarah centuries before, God will open up Elizabeth’s womb, and she will bear Zechariah a son in their old age. They are to give him the name John, which means “God’s favor,” or “God’s grace.” In answer to Zechariah’s prayer, Zechariah and Elizabeth will give birth to John the Baptist.

The angel goes on to say in verses 14-15:

“He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for 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.” (Luke 1:14-15).

Notice the references to joy in these verses. John will not only be a joy and delight to his parents in their old age, but many will rejoice because of his birth. The Christmas season is usually associated with joy, and rightly so. As you read through these first two chapters of Luke, you find the note of joy sounded over and over again.

The angel prophesies that John will be great in the sight of the Lord, and indeed Jesus himself will later testify: “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John.” (Luke 7:28) John was set apart for the Lord from birth. Like the Nazirites before him, he was never to take any wine or fermented drink. He would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth, or literally, right from his mother’s womb.

The angel continues to explain John’s mission in verses 16-17:

“Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And 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.” (Luke 1:16-17)

John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and he was sent with a great and glorious mission. He was the forerunner to Christ, the one sent before the Messiah to prepare the way for the Messiah. The last word of the prophets that Israel had heard before these new events was in Malachi 4, where God promised to send the prophet Elijah before the coming of Christ. Then came four hundred years of silence. Now in the temple God speaks to Zechariah and announces the coming birth of John who will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord, for Jesus who was coming from heaven to earth.

You can just imagine how overwhelmed Zechariah must have felt by all this. And so, Zechariah voices what seemed to him the obvious objection. Look at verse 18:

“Zechariah asked the angel, ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.’” (Luke 1:18)

Zechariah was basically saying, “But we’re too old to have kids! How can I be sure that what you are saying is true? Can you give me a sign?” Have you ever wondered why when people are standing there talking to an angel that they still ask God for a sign? I mean, isn’t an angel enough of a sign? You would think so. But then, you and I have never stood face to face with an angel and been given incredible promises directly from God, so who knows if we would do any better than Zechariah in this situation.

Zechariah asks for a sign, and the angel gives him one. Look at verses 19-20:

The angel answered, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.” (Luke 1:19-20)

Now this was probably not the sign that Zechariah wanted, but you’ve got to be careful what you ask! Just as God had been silent since the days of Malachi until John, so Zechariah would remain silent until the angel’s words were fulfilled, specifically until the actual birth and naming of John.

Verses 21-22 tell us:

“Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.” (Luke 1:21-22)

Apparently, John had been in the temple for some time. The people were beginning to get nervous. The normal procedure was for the priest to go into the temple, burn the incense, and get out of there. You did not linger in the Holy Place for fear of doing anything that might offend God’s holiness. You offered the incense and prayer, and then you came right out and blessed the people.

So, the people who were outside praying when Zechariah went in were all waiting and wondering what was taking him so long. And when he finally emerged, unable to speak, they realized that he had seen some type of vision. What they didn’t know was that God had answered Zechariah’s prayer. God was coming to help his people. God would give Zechariah and Elizabeth a son who would prepare the way for the Messiah.

III. The humble recognition of God’s favor (23-25)

Verses 23-25 tell us what happened when Zechariah’s week of service was over.

When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “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.” (Luke 1:23-25)

Elizabeth’s words show a beautiful and humble recognition of God’s favor in their lives. This was indeed a godly couple who took nothing for granted. They had silently suffered the bitter sorrow and cultural shame of childlessness for years. But they never stopped serving God. They never stopped following in his ways.

And now Elizabeth gives proper recognition to God who has done this wonderful thing for her. Remember, John’s name means “God’s favor or grace.” Elizabeth humbly recognizes God’s favor and grace in her life. She gives him praise for what he has done.

CONCLUSION: The coming of Christ into the world at Christmas is the central event of all history. This coming began with Christ’s birth and includes his life, his ministry, his death and resurrection. However, God did not initiate this event without any advance notice. He prepared for the first Christmas. He first called Abraham and promised to make a great nation out of him. From Abraham came the nation of Israel which God chose as his own people. And through Israel God gave the Law and the Prophets which pointed forward to Christ.

The birth of Jesus was not some isolated event that was later extrapolated into the teachings of Christianity. The birth of Jesus is rooted in history and prophecy. It was thousands of years in the making. God carefully prepared the world for this central event of all time.

The announcement of John’s birth to Zechariah in the temple was part of the final preparations. It was the breaking of the silence. God was preparing to send his Son into the world, and so he sent John in advance to prepare the world for the Messiah. As we approach Christmas this year, may we also prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas season.

© Ray Fowler

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