Luke 1

Luke 1

I have to confess, I get way more fired up about Easter than Christmas. I like grown-up awesome Jesus conquering sin and rising from the dead more than sweet little baby Jesus with his barnyard friends. But there are epic, very grownup moments in the stories leading up to Christmas. Angel visits, unplanned pregnancies, genocidal kings, deceptive and evasive maneuvers to protect the newborn king. The world was in desperate need of a savior, and the powers of evil were desperate to prevent his arrival. Above all, the new understanding of Immanuel is a game-changer; God is not just up in heaven, God is among us.

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1-5)

Who is Luke?

- "Luke the beloved physician greets you" (Colossians 4:14 ESV)

- Travel buddy of Paul's - Luke 20 or 21 - he traveled the world with Paul, he met James, Jesus's disciple in Jerusalem. James and John were the sons of Thunder, Jesus's greatest disciples.

- Biographer of Jesus and Paul - he wrote Luke and Acts based on what he saw and firsthand accounts in his travels.

Who is Theophilus?

His name means God-lover - Luke dedicates his books to him.

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

What story does the old barren woman remind you of?

Abraham and Sarah, right? Anytime old wrinkly women start having babies, you know God is up to something!

They (the angels) said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "She is in the tent." The Lord said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?" The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son." But Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh." (Genesis 18:9-15 ESV)

Back to Luke -

Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.

How do you know if you are speaking with an angel? (It might be fun to have someone pretend to be Gabriel and act this out)

1. You are scared to death

2. The angel says "peace be to you" or "don't be afraid" or "behold I bring you good tidings"

3. He gives you a mission or message

4. You tell the angel that his miracle is impossible/crazy/ridiculous and the angel puts you in your place. Now you should be afraid.

5. Place putting may involve punishment, talking donkeys - numbers 22:22; flaming swords - genesis 3; visions if thousands and thousands of angel armies - 2 kings 6:15-17

But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people.

What's up with the spirit of Elijah? Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament and it contains a bunch of prophecies about all kinds of things including the front-runner before Christ.  So the Jews would have been looking for an Elijah to precede the Messiah.

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction." (Malachi 4:5, 6 ESV)

And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."

Just like Sarah, Zech questions God. . .what more sign do you want than an angel standing in front of you?   Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:38-40 ESV) - there is no sign great enough to satisfy us - an angel standing in front of you is not enough proof? Raising the dead an walking on water is not enough proof? How will you know that your old wife will be pregnant? She'll be pregnant!!! Is that not enough of a sign! This is why Jesus was so amazed at the faith of the centurion and the Syrophoenecian woman - because the people of God who spent their entire lives serving God were so slow to believe.

And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, "Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people." (Luke 1:1-25 ESV)

Do you know who Zechariah's son is?  John the Baptist. His job is to preach and tell people the messiah was coming. He baptizes people for repentance and riles up the Pharisees! He is like a tornado siren proclaiming Jesus is the Messiah.

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"

Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:1-17 ESV)

Who will bring salvation? Jesus. Not religion, not politics, not a family name. Get ready, crazy looking John-the-Baptist says, because the true Messiah is not Santa Claus or the Easter bunny. Jesus is not a duck.

That's part one of the Christmas story! We'll pick up more next week.