The Birth of John the Baptist

The Birth of John the Baptist

Let's open this morning with prayer. Father, it's so beautiful that we can come into your presence, that we can come to worship you, come to hear your word. Lord, prepare our hearts to learn from you. Lord, focus our minds and our affections upon Christ this morning—at the 10 AM service and at the 11 AM as well. So Lord, we look to you that you would teach us from your word. We give you thanks in Jesus' name. Amen.

When a promise is made to bring you value, anticipation comes, and anticipation brings about something to be anticipated that is coming to pass. And what does it do? It fills us with hope. We saw that God made a promise to the nation of Israel in the book of Malachi. God, the Lord, would come to his people, and the Lord was going to send someone to prepare the way.

We discovered that God seldom fulfills his promises in the time frame that I expect. Oftentimes, when God fulfills his purposes, it requires waiting upon the Lord. Four hundred years passed from the time that God gave that prophecy in the book of Malachi to the time when God was going to intervene in human history.

We had learned in weeks past that during those four hundred years, the nation of Israel fell into horrible apostasy. They abandoned Genesis 15:6—Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness—salvation by grace through faith. They had developed a works system with the Pharisees and all of their traditions and unbelief. But God is faithful to his promises, and you'll recall that he sent the angel Gabriel to Zechariah on that day and set the wheels in motion of the Messiah coming.

This morning, we're going to see how that one who is to prepare the way has come into the world. I invite you to turn to Luke chapter 1, and we're going to finish that first chapter this morning as we look at the birth of John the Baptist.

We're going to begin in verse 57 of Luke chapter 1: "Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to her son. Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her."

"It happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, after his father. But his mother answered and said, 'No, indeed. He shall be called John.' They said to her, 'There is no one among your relatives who was called by that name.' And they made signs to his father as to what he wanted him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, 'His name is John.' And they were all astonished."

"At once his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. Fear came on all those around him, and all these matters were being talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea. All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, 'What then will this child turn out to be? For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.'"

"His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying: 'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited us and accomplished redemption for his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David, his servant, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from old, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. To show mercy toward our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to Abraham, our father, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.'"

"'And you, child, shall be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give to his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the sun from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.'"

"The child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel."

The Fulfillment of God's Promise

Now we pick up this morning. Nine months have passed. Elizabeth has lived in seclusion and spent those last three months with Mary, mother of Jesus. Now the time has been fulfilled, and in verse 57, she gave birth to her son.

In verse 58, her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed great mercy toward her. The friends and the relatives—because she was barren and obviously they didn't know—somehow they came to know, maybe when she came out of seclusion and they saw that she was pregnant. They had to give God glory. They had to acknowledge that God was doing this, that this was of the Lord because of her age. So they knew right away this was of the Lord.

They gathered around her, and after the child was born, verse 58 says they were rejoicing with her. This is really a fulfillment, in part, of what we see if you look back in chapter 1, verse 14. The angel Gabriel came to Zechariah when he was carrying out his priestly duties. The angel spoke about this boy, this child: "You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth." So we see that happening. That is being fulfilled. In this week of meeting, there is this rejoicing.

Circumcision and the Naming

Then, in accordance with the book of Leviticus 12:3, it prescribes that every Jewish male child would be brought to be circumcised. This was the fulfillment of the law which was originated back in the book of Genesis 17. Circumcision would be a sign of that covenant, and it was so important that it actually took precedent over the Sabbath. You could circumcise your child on the Sabbath.

Now they gather around, and it may seem a little strange to us in our culture. But in verse 59, at the end of that verse, they were going to call him Zechariah, after his father. The relatives had made this decision about what this child's name was going to be. They decided they would call him Zechariah—that was the father's name. That was not uncommon to name the child after the father or the grandfather in that culture.

And look what Elizabeth does. In verse 60, she speaks up vocally: "But his mother answered and said, 'No. Indeed, he shall be called John.'"

Elizabeth, at some point, must have communicated to Zechariah—probably in writing—that this child was to be named John. This is what the angel Gabriel told her, that this child was to have that name. So Elizabeth very boldly steps up and says, "We're not going to call him Zechariah because of no. His name shall be called John."

And Mary is breaking custom here, because for her to name the child would be unheard of in that culture. But look at verse 61. Now she gets some pushback from the relatives. They're not happy about this. They say to her, "There is no one among your own kin who is called by this name." We don't have anyone named John. The friends are saying the same thing: "There's no one in your family named John. Why would you call him John?"

So what do they do? Verse 62: "They made signs to his father, to Zechariah, as to what he wanted him to be called."

Now some commentators believe that when it speaks about making signs, it was not only that he was mute and couldn't speak, but that God had made him deaf as well. We don't know for certain. But for whatever reason, people decided, "Well, we're going to ask Zechariah, and surely he's going to side with us. Surely he wants his name to continue on. He wants to have his legacy, the family legacy to carry on."

What did they do in verse 63? "He asked for a tablet, and he wrote as follows, 'His name is John.'"

Of course, he needed a tablet because he couldn't speak. They bring the tablet to Zechariah, and here is his moment. This is his moment. What is he going to do?

Look at what he does. He writes on there: "His name is John." He doesn't say, "His name shall be called John." He doesn't say, "His name will be." He says, "His name is John"—because that is the name that God gave him. This wasn't his decision. This was God's decision.

And then miraculously, the people were astonished. Look at verse 64: "At once, his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak in praise of Almighty God."

He is praising God. The very first thing he does when he gets his speech back is to praise God.

Zechariah's Trial and Discipline

Now there is something I want us to notice this morning. When we think about the life of Zechariah and Elizabeth, those nine months were a joyful time for Elizabeth. In her old age, after all those years of waiting, now she was pregnant, so she was filled with joy. Mary came to stay with them. They were rejoicing together. This was a joyous time for Elizabeth.

But what about Zechariah? This was a very difficult time for him. First of all, he couldn't speak. Possibly he couldn't hear. But I think even more difficult than that, he had to live with that personal failure. The very fact that he had failed God in that moment. Here he was, a man of God, and I'm sure deep down within him, he was disappointed in himself. I wonder if there were times when he was alone and he thought to himself, "How could I have doubted? God sent this angel to me. He was this heavenly being in my presence. How could I be so foolish and doubt God?"

Perhaps he reflected to himself as well: "I've served God all these years, all these years as a priest. Why did I not believe that nothing is impossible with him? Why did I doubt Almighty God?"

And I think even more grievous in his heart would have been the fact that he disappointed God. That he disappointed his God in unbelief. And God's discipline upon him—God disciplined him in that moment. He lost his speech.

But how did he respond? When affliction came upon him, he didn't murmur. He didn't turn away from God. In fact, he went back and fulfilled his priestly duties, even though he couldn't speak. Then the Bible tells us that when that week of service was done, he humbled himself. He owned his sin before God. He knew what he had done, and he humbly accepted the consequences of his unbelief and disobedience.

And then comes this moment—this great moment. Here's the pressure: Think of the pressure of all these relatives. They're all rejoicing and they're all keen on the circumcision ceremony. Usually, the baby would be named at birth, but for some reason, they waited till the ceremony. And they would all be excited. They say, "No. His name is Zechariah."

So here's the fracture. Once again, Zechariah—are you going to obey God, or obey man and obey the flesh?

And what does he do? "His name is John."

His attitude is completely changed. God used that time of discipline to build his faith, to grow him in maturity, to humble him before his God. And when he acted in faith, isn't it amazing how in that moment his speech came back? The moment God had accomplished his purpose in discipline, God had set the parameters. It's going to take this long, and if you respond in the right way, God took it away in his time and in his way. That very moment when he learned the lesson God wanted him to learn, the discipline was lifted.

And when God's discipline accomplishes its purpose in the lives of his children, normally what proceeds is praise and joy. And that's what happened in his life.

A Word for Those Who Have Failed

Perhaps this morning, you can really identify with Zechariah. You failed to obey God. You're disappointed in yourself. You say, "How in the world could I have done this? How can I have acted this way? How can I have disobeyed God? I know better than that."

Humble yourself as Zechariah did. Humble yourself. When you're sinning, because here's what happens: When we don't own our own sin, take responsibility—you know what God does? He turns us over to it, and the discipline gets more severe. And oftentimes more lame and fleet. We have to humble ourselves, whatever the consequences are of your sin and my sin. When we disobey God, what do we do? We confess it. We repent of it. We thank God for his forgiveness. We humble ourselves and we accept whatever the consequences that our heavenly Father—who knows best—determines we need in that time. And he will apply that as long as he deems it necessary. And eventually, like Zechariah will experience, that joy will come. Your faith will grow. You'll grow closer to him, and you will understand that Scripture that says this: God disciplines those whom he loves.

Those nine months were difficult for Zechariah. You may be in a season now that's extremely difficult. You may have guilt. You may have regret over things you have done. But listen, dear friends—my brother and my sister—God's not done with you. God has not cast you away. In fact, listen to this verse. Listen to what he says in Psalm 30:5: "For his anger is but a moment, his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may remain for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."

That's his promise to his people. Weeping may remain for the night, but the morning shout of joy comes in the morning.

The Response of the People

Now we have this scene here. We see that Zechariah is now filled with joy. The first thing he does is praise God.

But what about the response of the people who were there?

Well, if you look in verse 63, it's going to tell us that they were astonished. The people were astonished just by the fact that he wanted him to be called John. So the first response we see of the people as they witnessed God's working here is that they were astonished.

But then they also look at verse 65: "Fear came upon all those living around."

So now fear set in. We shouldn't think of this as terror, but certainly there's reverence here. There's awe. Because when his mouth was opened, they knew something miraculous had happened. So we know here that at that moment, God's intervention had happened. People were filled with fear.

The third response we see of the people in verse 65 we could say is conversation. Because all these matters—at the end of verse 65, the second half of the verse—when all these matters were being talked about, all throughout the hill country. So the word got out. People are talking about it all around.

In verse 66, it says they were pondering. "And all who heard them kept them in mind, saying, 'What then will this child turn out to be? For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.'"

The hand of the Lord is a common Old Testament expression meaning the power of God. Notice they're not pondering what this child will put in, but what he will be. They know he had some kind of divine mission.

And then Zechariah, he went on and he set the scene. So all this is going on—he's named the baby. The baby will be called John. People are amazed. People are in awe. People are wondering what is going on, what kind of child will this be? Words are getting out. What does Zechariah do? You see, his obedience brought about the return of his speech, and he does what believers do when we experience God's discipline and come out on the other side. What does he do? He praises God.

Look what it says in verse 67: "His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit." Now you remember we learned that John was filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb. That's why he leaped when Mary came—he leaped for joy. But not only that, but Elizabeth, around verse 41, she was filled with the Holy Spirit of God. That's why she blessed Mary and knew that that child was the Lord in her. But now we find Zechariah—he's filled with the Spirit. And what did we learn? That being filled with the Spirit means to be under the influence, under the control of the Holy Spirit. And what he's going to do—it says here—he prophesied. So here is this priest now going to prophesy. The Holy Spirit of God who is in him, filling him, controlling him, is now going to give him the words to praise God.

And very much like Mary—if you remember last week we looked at Mary's Song of Praise and we examined that—there is similarity with Zechariah's to God. Both of them are very steeped in the Old Testament scriptures. Scriptures come out with everything they're going to say. But there is one difference. Mary's praise was more personal. Mary spoke of God, "my savior. What you have done—you recognize me in my humble estate." It was personal praise to God. Zechariah's here, his praise is going to be on behalf of the nation of Israel. His praise is going to be praising God for sending a redeemer to the house of Israel.

And what he does, we'll spend the rest of our time this morning looking at how he blesses God under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, how he breaks forth in praise and blesses God.

First, He Blesses God for the Fulfillment of Prophecy Concerning Salvation

He blesses God for fulfillment of the prophecy concerning salvation. Look at verse 68. He says, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited us and he has accomplished redemption for his people." God is ushering in a new era of salvation history.

First of all, he blesses God. He says for accomplishing redemption. Now this is really anticipation. He's speaking about this redemption—God has set this plan in motion. This is God's eternal plan for the ages, and he has set it in motion at this time. And he blesses God for what he will accomplish. It seems to be past tense—"accomplished redemption"—but really this will be completed when the Messiah comes, when he gives his life, his death, and his resurrection.

Then he says in verse 69, he praises him: "That he has raised up a horn of salvation in the house of David." What do you mean by that—affording salvation? Well, the horn symbolized power in the Old Testament. And that old phrase, "a horn of salvation"—that is full of messianic anticipation. It speaks of the horn of salvation from the house of David. It speaks of that Messiah that we saw several weeks ago that is going to be sent, who he's describing here.

Then in verses 70 and 71, he blesses God with the words of the prophets that are fulfilled. "He spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets. These are the Old Testament prophets. And he said salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us." Now if you look down to verse 74, there again he speaks about being rescued from the hand of our enemy.

What we see here is Zechariah is probably thinking at this time of political deliverance—deliverance from physical enemies. Probably thinking along the lines of ending occupation. He's thinking about the Messiah coming and breaking the bonds of slavery. But I believe really what this points to is the Messiah, and that he is going to rescue us from a greater enemy. You see, the people of Israel are looking for a physical deliverance. When Jesus came upon the scene, they were looking for one who was going to break the yoke of Rome and set an oppressed people free. And yet Jesus came. The greater deliverance he brings is this: he brings freedom from these enemies:

• Satan
• sin
• death
• hell

Those are the enemies Jesus came to set us free from. Now we know at the second coming of Christ, in Revelation 19, when Jesus comes again, he is going to destroy the enemies of God. He will do that. But in this prophecy, he's praising him for these fulfilled prophecies of the Old Testament.

And in verse 72, for God's faithfulness. Look at this. He says, "And he has remembered his holy covenant, in verse 73, which he swore to our father Abraham." So he's blessing God for keeping that covenant, that promise in Genesis chapter 17 when God told Abraham, "I will make you a great nation, the father of a multitude of nations." He is fulfilling that. And he says here, "And the people of God will serve God in righteousness and holiness and fear." So he's offering up that praise for the salvation, the fulfillment of prophecy that is coming to pass right before their very eyes that day.

But Not Only That, He Is Praising Him for the One Who Is to Come

He's praising him for the prophet who is going to prepare the way. If you look in verse 76, now he's speaking of his own son. He's speaking of John the Baptist here and speaking of John's role in salvation history. Look what he says: "For you, child..." So now he's turning his praise to this child, his own child. "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High."

Now who will this child be? Well, there is our answer: Prophet of the Most High God. He is going to be a prophet of God, the last of the Old Testament prophets, and he is greater than any of the Old Testament prophets. You say, "Is he greater than Moses?" Yes. "Is he greater than Isaiah?" Yes. "Is he greater than Daniel?" Go through the list. Jesus said he is the greatest of all in Matthew chapter 11. Remember that? He said there's not a person born of woman is greater than John. That's what he tells us about who this child is.

But then he prays—we got the "who," but what about the "what"? What will this child do? What is the mission? The "who" is: he's going to be a prophet of the Most High God. But what will be his mission?

Well, verse 76: "For you will go before the Lord to prepare his way." He is to be the forerunner of the Messiah. I want you to look at this verse again. If you turn to your left to the last book of the Old Testament, and it's important to see this clearly—this was written, we're talking about four hundred years earlier. Look at Malachi chapter 3.

This is the paragraph before Matthew's gospel. Let me look at chapter 3, verse 1. God says, "Behold, I am going to send my messenger and he will clear the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, Behold, he is coming," says the Lord of hosts. There is that prophecy.

Now look over in chapter 4, verse 5. God says, "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord." Now you remember the announcement that Gabriel made to Zechariah was that this child will come in the spirit of Elijah—not Elijah resurrected, not Elijah come back, no—but in the spirit of prophecy, to declare the message of repentance.

So when we turn back to Luke, when we ask, "Whom will this child be?" or rather, "What will his mission be?" it is simply that he's going to prepare the way for the Lord. The "who" is: he's the prophet of the Most High. The "what" he will do is: he's the forerunner of the Messiah.

How Is He Going to Prepare the Way?

How will he do this? Well, verse 77: "He's gonna give his people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins." Knowledge of salvation—that is his goal to preach. He's gonna preach to them about the kingdom of God. He's gonna call them to repent for the forgiveness of sins. He's gonna tell them how their sins can be forgiven.

But not only that, look over Luke chapter 3, verse 3, because we'll hear right from John. When John comes to the district around the Jordan, look at Luke 3:3: "And he, listen, John came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin."

So the way John is gonna prepare the way is he's preaching this message of repentance. "Recognize you're a sinner." When you go to Matthew chapter 3, you see very clearly the words of John—that he is preaching against sin.

But not only did he come to preach, he came to point—point people to the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just to turn from your sins, not just to repent, but to look to Jesus. Remember what he said in John chapter 1? When the Lamb of God, when Jesus came walking on, what did he say? "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

So John's ministry was preaching and pointing to the Messiah.

And Then Lastly, He Praises God for the Messiah

The one who is going to bring salvation in verses 78 and 79. Salvation is going to be accomplished in the one who is to come. And what is God's motivation for saving sinners?

Well, look at verse 78: "Because of the tender mercy of our God." It's the mercy of God. Why is God enacting this whole plan of salvation—this plan from eternity past? It's the mercy of God to save sinners. And again, this goes against what apostate Israel had embraced at this time, where they believed in a works system and all kinds of man-made traditions. No. It was the mercy of God that cannot be earned.

But not only that, but God's means for saving sinners—look what he says in verse 78, the second half of the verse: "With which the sunrise from on high will visit us." Is he speaking out there? Who's the sunrise from on high? Jesus. Who's going to visit us? The Lord Jesus Christ. Yes. That's speaking of John chapter 1, verse 14 when he says, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." That Jesus Christ, and he said he came to visit us. He left the glory of heaven to come down to earth to walk amongst sinful men and women like us, for the purpose of giving his life. And he is the one who is called to bring about salvation.

In verse 79, look what he says: "To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death." Jesus is that light. John chapter 1, verse 9 says, "He is the true light who has come into the world who enlightens all men. The true light who's come into the world." And it says here, he's gonna shine on those who sit in darkness—those who are in spiritual darkness. Think about this. Sit in darkness. Think of that imagery. Picture someone sitting in a prison cell, bound up by the chains of their sin. It's spiritual darkness. Jesus says, "I'm coming to you." Those are the ones whom he is coming to.

And the ultimate purpose—if you look at the end of verse 79—"to guide our feet into the way of peace." That's what mankind needs. Peace. What type of peace? Peace in the Middle East? Peace in the United States? Peace with Almighty God.

When the angels appeared to the shepherds, what did they declare? Do you remember? Peace. Peace on earth. What kind of peace? Peace between God and man. Why? We're separated from God because of our sin, and he came to bring about that peace. That was the mission of the Messiah—to bring peace between man and God. And that's the only way men and women can have peace among one another is first to have peace with Almighty God.

And in verse 80, he summarizes the ministry of John—or the childhood, you should say, his young adult life: "The child grew and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the desert until his day of his public appearance to Israel." So when he grew, he retreated to the desert. And there's all kinds of speculation. If he was one of the Essenes in that community and we don't know. But what we know is simply this: he was chosen by God. He went away for a season to be with God. I'm sure God ministered to him in that solitude in the desert. He was a man totally devoted to God.

And I wanna leave you this morning in a similar way to where we left off last week. You remember when we looked at Mary? My friends, the amazing thing about Mary was, and so overlooked, is she was a woman of the Word of God. She knew her scriptures. She recounted all of her praise—it was just recounting God's work through the scriptures. But Zechariah too. You say, "Well, he was a priest." But again, remember, they didn't own scripture like we do. This was a man, Zechariah, whose life was dedicated to serving the living God. But he was saturated. His mind was saturated with the Word of God.

And isn't it interesting? When he praises God, just like Mary, where does this praise come from? From the Word of God. We've been counting the works of God in the nation of Israel down through the centuries. And listen, when we praise God, what an example for us. Do you ever feel dry in your praise and you just feel like, "I'm just thanking God for the same old things"? Well, get in the scriptures. Praise him. Read a passage of scripture and look for something in that passage to give him thanks for, to see his quality, to see who he is.

And let me run through this quickly. I'm gonna show you how everything he says in this passage right out of the Old Testament.

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel." Psalm 141:13 says the same thing: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel."

He calls him "the horn of salvation." That's from Psalm 18, verse 2. David says, "The Lord is my shield, and the horn of my salvation."

He speaks about salvation from our enemies. Well, Psalm 106, verse 10 says, "He redeemed us from the hands of our enemies."

God remembered his covenant. Psalm 105, verse 8 says, "He remembered his covenant, the covenant he made with Abraham."

All coming from scripture. When he talks about the one who will go before us, the one who's coming, he got that from Malachi chapter 3, verse 1, that passage we just read.

Not only that, but he gives his people forgiveness of their sins. That's a reference to Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 34—that whole new covenant. He's thinking of that covenant that is to come.

"To shine on those who sit in darkness." Isaiah 9:1—"The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light." And Isaiah 59 speaks of this as well.

of the way of peace. He speaks of the lost world. Their feet don't know the way of peace. But he is going to come—one who will bring us into the way of peace.

And you see, for Elizabeth, for Zechariah, for the nation of Israel, anticipation is building. That hope for this one who is to come is building within them. They're looking ahead to this day that has come very shortly. For us, that hope has been realized. Our sins have been forgiven. We have been taken out of the kingdom of darkness and put into the kingdom of light. God has done that. Christ has shown his light in our heart. Paul says, "Christ in you, Christ in me." That is the hope of glory that we have. It's all about Jesus Christ. And we have experienced Christ. We have that hope. They had the hope, but they didn't experience it yet.

And I think of a verse I want to leave with you in closing, very familiar: First Peter 3:15. What does Peter tell us? Always be prepared to give an account, to give the reason for the hope that is within you. Always be prepared to tell of what that hope is within you. Tell them how Jesus Christ has shown in the darkness of your heart and my heart, how he is the light of the world, how he is the only hope for this lost and fallen world.

We have one message. Here's the message we have for this world, and that's simply this: There is hope for the hopeless. And that hope is found in one person and one person alone. That is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this account of this godly man, this godly woman. Lord, how you chose them and how you used them to bring forth your perfect plan for the ages of story. And Father, I pray that we might have our hearts and our hope fixed upon Christ. Thank you, Lord, that he lives on the inside of us. And I pray, Lord, that we would be a people who would share that hope with others, telling them that there is hope for those who are hopelessly lost and is found in Christ. Thank you for the example of these your godly people in ages past, Lord. May we be found faithful as well in Jesus' name.