The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
JOHN’S BIRTH FORETOLD
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
JOHN’S BIRTH FORETOLD
Lesson Plan:
1. Prologue
2. The Darkness of the Night Overshadowing the World
3. Promise Rays Shining Through the Darkness
4. Providential Preparations in the World’s History
5. Saints Watching, Waiting, Praying (vs 5-10)
6. The Herald of the King Announced (vs 11-14)
7. A Vision of His Character & Work (vs 15-23)
8. Conclusion
Lesson Setting:
Time: About a year before the birth of Christ.
Place: The announcement of the birth of John was in the Temple at Jerusalem. Herod the Great was king of Judea under the Emperor Augustus of Rome.
Luke and his book (Lk.1:1-4): To many students of God’s Holy Word, the Gospel of Luke is the most beautiful book ever written. Luke was Paul’s “good physician” and companion. He was a well-educated man, “having a command of good Greek not possessed by any of the other apostles.” He traveled over a large part of the civilized world. He showed great literary skill in the fact that he gathered information from all reliable sources, thus providing a wealth of the choicest materials from which to make selections for his Gospel. The Gospel of Luke was written probably between 60 and 70 A.D. One most notable characteristic is the number of songs embodied in its earliest chapters. Another is the prominence of women and domestic scenes. So “the beautiful gate” of the Temple opened into the Court of the Women.
Dawning Rays of the New Kingdom of God: Bring before your imaginations a vivid picture of the coming of a new day in the east, the darkness and the storm clouds with a heavenly star shining through the rifts; the first faint rays of the dawn coming through the clouds; the light increasing in depth and extent; the movement of the earth toward the east; the rays kindling the mountain tops with celestial fires; the clouds dispersing, the darkness receding, and all the earth waiting for the rising of the sun. Keeping this in mind, you will have an illustration which will stand throughout this lesson, impressing its truths on both memory and heart.
A moral darkness covered the earth at this time. There was a general decline in religion; a great increase of crime and every form of immorality and inhumanity. Perhaps the destruction of Pompeii soon after these days, so like that of Sodom, may have been to preserve the records of the horrible nature of the vice and crime during this period as a testimony to the fruit of darkness.
Stars Shining in the Night: (a) God never left mankind without light and guidance from heaven, as Paul declared to the Athenians. From the time He breathed His own living spirit and nature into the animal body He had made, God has spoken to man. As a child of God he has a conscience, moral impulses, the power of truth and love, and righteousness. (b) The next brightest star is in His revelation to the chosen nation whose duty it was to make God’s voice heard throughout all the earth. (c) Every great religion contains beautiful sentiments and precepts of high morality. Socrates and Plato taught righteousness and justice in words that are an effective power today. We find noble ideas, uplifting truths, in the ancient books of China, Japan, and India. Christians (especially missionaries) rejoice in these heavenly stars that shine in non- Christian lands, for they are a blessing and show the need of the rising sun. They awaken longings for the fuller light as shown in the lands where Gospel sun shines.
All through the Bible there are scattered promises of the coming of the King and the Kingdom, promises growing brighter, fuller, more and more definite throughout the long ages. Indeed the whole history is a history of the preparation of the world for the King and “the good times coming.” Like snow on the mountains, melting, uniting into rivers, flowing to the ocean.
“In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3; 28:14); “His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6); “Behold, one like the Son of Man; there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him” (Dan. 7:13, 14); “The Desire of all nations shall come” (Hag. 2:7); “He is just, and having salvation. He shall speak peace unto the heathen” (Zech. 9:9-10); “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Is. 11:9). "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Is. 60:1-31)
There has been no period in the world’s history when there has been such a marvelous conjunction of events and circumstances, adapted to make the coming of Christ and His Kingdom most successful. The Kingdom of heaven is like a seed. If the seed is to be sown the field must be prepared.
(A) The Roman Empire and Christ – born at the same time. The Roman Empire and the Church of our Lord were providentially appointed for each other. The Roman Empire was the shaken heap of meal appointed first of all to take up the leaven of the Gospel. There has never been a second empire in the whole world course of history which so united in itself all the cultivated nations of its time. There was a unity of diversity, a diversity of religions, a multiplicity of gods. Petronius of Italy makes a woman say that it is easier to find a god than a man. This state of things made it easier and safer to proclaim a new religion and the true God.
(B) Universal Peace. Under Augustus Caesar the whole world came to be at peace. Hitherto war alone had brought men together; now for the first time this was accomplished by peace. For after the fearful assaults and revolutions of the Civil Wars the Empire was really peaceful. The doors of the temple of Janus, god of war, were closed. They were closed only three times during the 700 years from Numa, who dedicated the temple of Janus (715 B.C.) to the time of Augustus. Janus, “the door,” was represented with two heads because every door looks two ways. Nothing could be more appropriate than in the political peace made by war should be born the Prince of Peace who brought peace by love and the Golden Rule.
(C) Roads and Commerce. Starting from the Golden Milestone in the Roman Forum, erected by Augustus as a symbol of the center of the world, there extended throughout the entire empire a network of artificial highways even then nearly completed. These roads were so many cords binding the conquered world to the center, Rome; so many for the impulses which steamed forth from it. On these roads marched the legions to keep under control a subjugated world; on these roads Proconsuls and Praetors went into the provinces to administer law and justice; over these highways Commerce moved. All this prepared the way for the Gospel messengers, the spread of the good news and the march of the King of Kings to the ends of the earth; just as today the highways of commerce, the means of business, the facilities of travel, the practical control for safety of the whole world by Christian nations, make it possible to evangelize the whole world and to hasten the coming of the Kingdom of God.
(D) A Universal Language. Even more than Latin, Greek raised to the rank of a universal language. Whoever spoke it could count upon being able to make himself understood everywhere in the East and West. A religious impulse given at one point now would be no longer in danger of perishing in the little circle of an isolated people. If it only had sufficient power, it no longer found a limit anywhere.
(E) The Jewish Dispersion. The Jews had been dispersed through all lands, carrying the Old Testament, which bore witness to one God and held the prophecies of the Messiah; and they had established synagogues in almost every town, so that there was a place in which to preach the Gospel and a people who could easily be reached. The Old Testament had been translated into Greek (the Septuagint version) and could be read by nearly everyone.
(F) Intellectual and Moral Awakening. Intellectual and Moral Awakening was extending through the empire. Some of the greatest writers in the world lived during this time. Culture was becoming universal. Schools were multiplying. The diffusion of books was great. The equivalent of a page of print cost about 2½ cents.
(G) Spiritual Unrest. There was a widespread spiritual and religious unrest. The people had begun to lose confidence in their idol gods. A hopeless pessimism prevailed, so that to many the new Gospel came as food to the hungry and water to the thirsting soul.
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:5-10
5. Saints Watching, Waiting, Praying v 5 ... “In the days of Herod” the great, the founder of the Herodian family and rebuilder of the Temple in great magnificence.
v 5 ... “King of Judæa,” under the Roman Emperor.
v 5 ... “A certain priest named Zacharias.” The Greek form of the Hebrew Zachariah, the same as Zechariah meaning “remembered by Jehovah.” Nothing is known of him beyond what is recorded here.
v 5 ... “Of the course of Abia.” Greek for Abijah. Priesthood duties were divided up in David’s day into 24 divisions, 16 of Eleazar and 8 of Ithamar (1 Chron. 24:4-19). These divisions each served for either: two week periods annually or, perhaps, a one month period every two years (cf. 27:1-15). The rest of the time they ministered to people in their own hometowns (Edersheim, The Temple, pgs. 82-104).
v 5 ... “And his wife was of the daughters of Aaron,” and therefore in the line of the priesthood. Both John’s parents were of priestly rank and therefore among the nobility of the Jews so far as they had any. v 5 ... “And her name was Elisabeth.” The word means “God is my oath;” i.e. “I worship God.” Their Character: “They were both righteous before God” (v 6). Not in outward conduct only but in heart and desire; not merely where man could see but where God only could see. They could say with Peter, “Thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee” (Jn. 21:17).
v 6 ... “Walking,” (the whole movement of their life) “in all the commandments and ordinances.” God’s law was their rule and guide.
v 6 ... “Blameless.” No one could find fault with them; their faces were ever toward the goal. There are people who look like some medieval palace, outwardly beautiful, but with hidden dungeons of evil thoughts and torture chambers of conscience, but not so these saints.
v 7 ... “Both were now well stricken in years.” Therefore with little hope of having children. Note: It is quite possible for good men to live in bad times.
One Desire Unsatisfied: “And they had no child” (v 7). This seems to have been the one great trouble of their lives. To have no children was a trial deeply felt in Israel, because it cut off all hope of the birth of the Messiah in that family; it was a great misfortune in itself. We can hardly realize how great a sorrow such misfortunes are to Eastern women, i.e., a son is affection, support, position. A family without children misses much. The care and training of children is one of the best possible ways of training the older people in the whole list of virtues and graces. It is hard for any person to become his or her best without personal contact with the minds of children. Note: Regarding development, Bible School is a cherished blessing of the church of our Lord. The greatest factor in the life of the church is a child, for it gives those who have no children of their own an opportunity to be with and around children, to be their teachers, friends and companions. Every such Christian man or woman should beg and beseech the leaders in the church to give them a chance to teach children; small classes give the whole church an opportunity to teach. God skimmed the church and put the cream into Bible School. But faithful teaching in Bible School can turn skim-milk into cream. The motto over the gate of a London playground read, “No admission for adults unless accompanied by children.”
Wider Longings: There is no doubt that these pious people had much larger desires and more earnest prayers than for children. Like Simeon they were “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” Love is like a pair of compasses. One point is fixed on a small, particular spot, but from the other can sweep the circle of the world.
v 8 ... “Zacharias executed the priest’s office” in the Temple when his duty (one day probably in the autumn of 6 B.C.), as designated by lot, was to burn incense at the hour of prayer, either at 9 in the morning or 3 in the afternoon. The casting of lots took place twice a day. The priest who obtained it chose two others to help him; but they retired when their part was finished, leaving him alone in the Holy Place. This was the Supreme Religious Service of Zacharias’ Life. The golden altar of incense stood within the Temple proper, in the Holy Place (Ex. 30:6), before the veil that separated it from the Holy of Holies. It was as far within the Temple as anyone could go except the High Priest once a year. The priest entered in white robes with unsaddled feet. Live coals were brought from the altar of sacrifice in the court without, and when the daily morning sacrifice of a lamb was offered, the priest threw the sacred incense on the fire and the fragrant cloud ascended toward heaven with the prayers of the people. The incense was the symbol and visible expression of prayer. It was an aid to devotion as all forms of worship are intended to be. The voice, the natural forms, the bowed head, the bowed knee are real helps to the sincere spirit. The spirit will die out if all forms of expressing it are neglected.
v 10 ... “The whole multitude of the people were praying without in the temple courts.” They were praying each for the things he needed most in deep silence till the priest sacrificing the evening lamb at the great altar of Burnt Offering in the court gave a signal to his colleague Zachariah, in the shrine, who then threw the incense on the fire of the golden altar. Zacharias’ Prayer: While Zacharias was offering the incense, his own pious heart must have been glowing with silent prayer for the people. His own personal desires would be almost lost in his desire for the salvation of his people. But the answer to his own desires was enfolded within the answer for them. It would be his child who should lead multitudes to their God. Thus God blessed Job “when he prayed for his friends.” The best blessings come when our personal desires are absorbed in the salvation of men.
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:11-14
6. The Herald of the King Announced v 11 ... “An angel of the Lord,” one of the “ministering spirits” spoken of in Hebrews 1:14. This is the prelude to the song of the heavenly host which we shall study in the third lesson.
v 12 ... “Zacharias ... was troubled,” agitated, disturbed.
v 12 ... “And fear fell upon him,” not so much alarm or dread of danger as holy awe. The presence of a mysterious power, whose methods are unknown and against which there is no defense, always causes alarm or awe in the human heart. We are often afraid of God’s messengers which come to bring His choicest blessings. They come in the disguise of sorrows or in unexpected opportunities, seemingly too bright and good.
v 13 ... “Thy prayer is heard.” The prayer he had been urging for many years and the wider prayer which grew out it, i.e., the redemption of his people and the coming of the Messiah. Both were answered in the forerunner John.
v 13 ... “Call his name John” meaning the grace of Jehovah. It is the same as 'Jonah.' The name expressed God's favor to the world, the message of grace and goodwill toward men which John was to usher in.
v 14 ... “Joy and gladness.” The latter word means exultant joy, transports of joy.
v 14 ... “Many shall rejoice.” This is the answer to the wider prayer for the good of all the people.
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:15-23
7. A Vision of His Character and Work
First – He will be a great man: “Great in the sight of the Lord” (v 15). Not merely in God’s sight, i.e., true greatness, but indicating the sphere or type of his greatness: in the region of ethics and religion. His whole nature was great in goodness, great in character, great as the servant of God who filled his loving soul and full of divine power. He was great in his mission, great in his work for the kingdom of God. Christ bore this testimony, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matt. 7:11).
Second – He had the greatest of self-control: “He shall drink neither wine nor strong drink” (v 15); i.e., he would be a Nazirite (Num. 6:1-5), one separated from others for a particular mission; and example of holiness, consecration, and self-control by habits manifested to the world. The Nazirites were eminent in abstinence in order by example to raise the popular standard of mastery over bodily appetites.
Third – He was great because he was allied with the Divine power: “He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost” (v 15), the Holy Spirit; the personal power of God. He was not merely to receive the Holy Spirit, but to be “filled,” full of all His mighty influences. He gave himself up to this influence which guided him into all truth, inspired him with all life, and endowed him with divine strength. All can be filled with the Holy Spirit if we open our hearts to Him and choose Him with all our mind and heart and strength: verse 15 ... “Even from his mother’s womb.” He began in his early boyhood to become the man who did the great work. Occasionally older people say, “The worse young boys usually turn out to be the best and strongest adults.” This is a dangerous concept or thought, a moral heresy and not true in the form spoken. It is true that overflowing life in a boy is a good sign. But the only way to make the best and strongest man from the boy of overflowing, restless activity is by being trained in self-control and guided in worthy channels, i.e., filled with the spirit of love, courtesy and obedience.
Fourth – He was great because he did a great, difficult and dangerous work successfully: “And many ... shall he turn” (v 16), bring back, convert.
v 16 ... “unto the Lord their God,” where they rightly belong. A life of sin is rebellion against God, i.e., being away from His Kingdom, from His character, service from faith in Him and love to Him. John would lead men back to God, to His worship, to love of Him, to trust in Him, to a character like His, to abiding in His presence and His spirit.
v 17 ... “And he shall go before him,” the Messiah, like the herald before a king.
v 17 ... “In the spirit and power of Elias.” Greek for Elijah, who was the bold and great reformer in the time of King Ahab and saved the Israelites from being ruined by idolatry (see Matt. 11:7- 14). His work was ... v 17 ... “to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.” Either literally to produce domestic concord; the disruption of families being one of the most common signs of the decay of religion in the community and the beginning of moral chaos; or figuratively to turn the hearts of the fathers, the Israelites, to the Gentiles, the children, apostate, prodigal outcast, but still children. This last interpretation is confirmed by Isaiah 29:22, 23 and 63:16 in which the Gentiles are treated as children, whom Israel, however, did not recognize; and by the actual ministry of John the Baptist, who preached to the Roman soldiers and the publicans, as well as to orthodox Jews (Ch. 3:12-14). The meaning may be that the patriarchs will no longer be ashamed of their children.
v 17 ... “The disobedient,” Jews, to or into the wisdom of the just. Righteousness is always wisdom and disobedience is folly.
v 17 ... “To make ready a people prepared for the Lord,” to receive and obey the Lord who was to come.
v 18 ... “Whereby shall I know this.” There was a good deal of reason for doubting and Zacharias naturally and rightly asked for some proof. The proof was: (a) The nature of the messenger; (b) That God had sent him; (c) That the tidings were glad and worthy of a loving God; (d) A sign that would be a perpetual reminder to himself and to others that the promise would be fulfilled.
8. Conclusion
Answers Beyond Expectation: The answer to Zacharias’ prayer was his highest expectation. He had faith, expecting an answer, but not one enfolding such glorious blessings (Lk. 1:18-20). So God loves to give to His people. They expect a fair crop from the field He give them, but that field has marvelous unknown treasures hid beneath its soil. The telescope that was invented to see more clearly distant earthly objects had within it the power to reveal worlds in the heavens. Almost every blessing God gives us contains other blessings which the eye of the asker had not seen, nor had entered his heart to conceive. So it is with the gifts of the new heart, of larger faith, of opportunities of usefulness, of the Holy Spirit.
