Luke 01.56-66 We
see this morning in The Forerunner’s Birth: that 01. God’s Promises Are True (Luke 01.56-58); 02. God is Gracious (Luke 01.59-63); & 03. God’s Power (Luke 01.64-66).
01. God’s Promises Are True (Luke 01.56-58)
Dr. Luke now transitions from The Praise of Mary (Luke 01.46-55) to the birth of John, the
forerunner of the Messiah that was prophesied by Malachi (Malachi 03.01; Malachi 04.05-06).
Dr. Luke tells us that Mary stayed for about three months,
meaning that Elizabeth was about nine months pregnant now, as we were told in Luke 01.36 that
she was six months pregnant. Mary then left to go home to Nazareth. If you
remember from a couple weeks ago, we saw that Nazareth was more like a village
(as the Greek word that is used for “city” here is G4172
poliv polis pol’-is:
which means any gathering of people who live in close proximity) of a few
hundred people. If Zacharias and Elizabeth were living in Hebron, then it was a
trip of about 100 miles to Nazareth.
Luke 01.56 “…and then
returned to her home.” According to some this means that what Dr.
Luke records in the rest of this chapter occurred shortly after Mary left.
There are others who believe that Mary was there for the birth of John, and
then she left for home.
Luke 01.56 “…her home.” in the Greek this reads “oikon authv” or “her house”,
meaning that she was still a virgin and not yet married to Joseph.
Luke 01.57 Just
as God had said through the angel Gabriel to Zacharias that Elizabeth would
bear him a son (Luke
01.13), now it happened! Just like with Abraham and Sarah (Genesis
21.02-03), the LORD is always faithful to His Word (Numbers 23.19;
Titus 01.02;
Hebrews
06.18). What God says will always happen, you can be sure of that.
God’s promises are always true.
Luke 01.58 We
see here the great (G3170=
megaluno) mercy of the Lord. The neighbors and relatives rejoicing with
Elizabeth was in fulfillment of what Gabriel said to Zacharias in Luke 01.14.
Contrast this time of joy for Elizabeth with her lifetime of
shame. Elizabeth acknowledged that the Lord gave her great favor and that He
took away her disgrace of being barren (Luke 01.24-25).
The Greek word for disgrace that is used in Luke 01.25 is (G3681. oneidov on’-i-dos) oneidos and it means to taunt, to
reproach and to shame. Being an old
woman without any children caused great shame, even being taunted by others
(see Peninnah provoking Hannah in 1Samuel 01.06). So for Elizabeth to have given
birth to a son, it brought Elizabeth great joy, much like what the Psalmist
says in Psalm
113.09.
The reaction of Elizabeth’s neighbors and relatives is
similar to that of another birth many years before in Ruth 04.14-17 when Ruth gave
birth to Obed, the grandfather of David.
Paul told the church at Rome how
to react to the circumstances that occur to others, whether good or bad in Romans 12.14-16. To weep with those who weep is easy (Romans 12.15),
because we can feel sorry for that person and the hard situation that they are
in. To rejoice with those who rejoice can be difficult because we can allow
jealousy to swell up inside of us, asking “why not me?”
or “they
are always so blessed and I’m not!” To rejoice with those who rejoice
means to rejoice with others as if it was you would receive the blessing. The
neighbors and relatives of Elizabeth rejoiced with her because of the great
mercy from the Lord to her in giving her a son in her old age.
Paul tells the church in Corinth (1Corinthians 12.26) that because
we are all in the body of Christ, what happens to one member affects us all,
whether good or bad. God wants us to show concern for one another, as well as
to rejoice with one another.
02. God is Gracious (Luke 01.59-63)
God is a gracious God who desires to be gracious to sinners
(Isaiah
30.18-19; Romans 05.20). God
is “the God of all grace” (1Peter 05.10), who “gives a greater grace” (Psalm
84.11; Proverbs 03.34; James 04.06; 1Peter 05.05) and He sits on the “throne of grace” (Hebrews 04.16).
God’s grace is seen here throughout this section.
Luke 01.59 We
are told that God used circumcision as a sign between Him and Abraham’s descendants
(through Isaac and not Ishmael) of the covenant that God made with Abraham that
they were His chosen people (Genesis 17.01-27; Genesis 21.03-04; Leviticus 12.03;
Acts 07.08).
Zacharias and Elizabeth were faithful to the command of the
LORD to have their son circumcised on the eighth day. Not only was circumcision
a requirement of the law for all Jewish males, it also came with some health
benefits. In the ancient world, personal hygiene was essentially unknown like
it is today. They didn’t know the dangers of bacteria like we do today. So by
cutting off the outer skin it diminished the potential of infections being
passed from a man to a woman. There are some people who attribute the generally
low rate of cervical cancer in Jewish women because their Jewish husbands were
circumcised.
Notice that the LORD required that circumcision take place
on the eighth day after a boy was born? That is because it is on the
eighth day that the level of Vitamin K is at its highest it will ever be in
that baby’s life. Vitamin K is necessary for normal blood clotting in adults
and children.
How gracious is our God? He commanded that the
rite of circumcision be on the eighth day after birth because He knew that on
the eighth day is the only time in a baby’s life when his Vitamin K level will
naturally exceed 100 percent of normal.
Circumcision had a spiritual
meaning as well, for it was an illustration of man’s need for a heart cleansing
from the corruption of sin (Deuteronomy 10.16; Deuteronomy 30.06; Ezekiel 44.07;
Acts 07.51).
The physical act of circumcision wasn’t a requirement to be
a follower of Jesus (Galatians 06.15; Colossians 03.11), though some
Jewish Christians tried to enforce it on Gentile Christians (Acts 15.01;
Galatians
06.12) but the apostles resisted this movement (Acts 15.01-21). Paul says that circumcision
of your heart is a work done by the Holy Spirit (Romans 02.28; Colossians
02.11).
Luke 01.59 “…and they
were going to call him Zacharias, after his father.”
It was a tradition among the Jews to name the child when
they were circumcised, and usually the name of the first-born son was given the
name of his father. Originally, the circumcision surgery was performed by the
father (Genesis
17.23; Genesis 21.04) except for the one time in the
Bible that it was done by Zipporah, the wife of Moses in Exodus 04.25. According to later
Jewish tradition, there had to be at least ten witnesses present, in case it
was ever in doubt if the baby was really circumcised. The practice of naming
the baby boy on the eighth day is not mandated in the Old Testament but became
common practice later on, as many Jews cite that the names of Abram and Sarai
were changed when the LORD first gave to Abram the rite of circumcision (Genesis 17.05;
Genesis
07.15).
In his book The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,
Alfred Edersheim says that “…a benediction was spoken before
circumcision, and that the ceremony closed with the usual grace over the cup of
wine, when the child received his name in a prayer…‘Our God, and the God of our
fathers, raise up this child to his father and mother, and let his name be
called in Israel Zacharias, the son of Zacharias. Let his father rejoice in the
issue of his loins, and his mother in the fruit of her womb, as it is written
in Proverbs 23:25,
and as it is said in Ezekiel 16:6,
and again in Psalm 105:8,
and Genesis 21.04’;
the passages being, of course, quoted in full. The prayer closed with the hope
that the child might grow up, and successfully, ‘attain to the Torah, the
marriage-baldachino, and good works.’” (Book 2 Chapter 4 p111
[1.158])
Luke 01.60 So
during the ceremony, when it came time to name the son of Zacharias and
Elizabeth, the appointed person mentioned that the name of the baby was going
to be Zacharias and Elizabeth interrupted and said (emphatically in the Greek) “No indeed”
or in our modern vernacular “No way!” Elizabeth was unyielding, stating that
his name is John. This of course was in fulfillment of what the LORD had said
through the angel Gabriel to Zacharias that the name of his son was going to be
John (Luke
01.13), which is the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Johanan”, which
means “YHWH’s gracious gift” (Luke 01.13).
Luke 01.61 Because
it was traditional in the Jewish culture to name a son after his father, and
that according to the people who were present, there was no one in their family
named John, so they couldn’t understand why Elizabeth wanted to her son John.
Luke 01.62 Not
knowing why Elizabeth was so adamant about naming her son John, they tried to
get Zacharias attention to ask him what he wanted to name the baby.
Of course Zacharias couldn’t speak from his lack of faith in
Luke 01.18-20.
The fact that they had to make signs to get his attention seems to imply that
not only was Zacharias mute, but he was also deaf.
Luke 01.63 The
tablet refers to a small, wooden, wax-covered writing tablet. Zacharias made
signs for a tablet to write on, and he wrote that the name of the baby was to
be John. When the people saw what Zacharias had written on the tablet, they
were “astonished.”
If Zacharias was deaf, this would explain why they were so amazed
that John would write down the same name that Elizabeth had said. The choice
for the name of John symbolized that God was about to bring forth His most
gracious gift, His Son, the Lord Jesus the Christ!
The names of John’s parents also show us aspects of God’s
plan for salvation. “Zacharias” means “God remembers” (meaning that He is
faithful to His promises) and “Elizabeth” means, “my God is an oath” or that He
is faithful.
03. God’s Power (Luke 01.64-66)
“his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed,” Unbelief closed his mouth, and believing opened
it again. One act of disbelief (Luke 01.20) caused him to be deaf and mute for
over nine months. It is the LORD who can open and shut mouths…He truly is
powerful!
Just as the LORD told Moses “…Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is
it not I, YHWH?” (Exodus 04.11)
It is probable that many of the people around Zacharias all
thought that his present condition about not being able to speak (or even hear)
was a permanent one.
“64 and he began
to speak in praise of God” In his nine plus months of silence,
Zacharias must have learned that proper use of his tongue was to praise God and
not to doubt. So now that he was able to speak again, he started to praise God.
The very member that expressed doubt now magnifies God!
David wrote in confession of his sin with Bathsheba asking
the Lord to open his lips so that he would be able to praise the Lord (Psalm 51.15).
David also wrote about how the LORD uses affliction in our lives to bring us
closer to Him and His Word (Psalm 119.67; Psalm 119.71; Psalm 119.75;
Psalm 119.92;
Psalm
119.107; Psalm 119.172).
Luke 01.65 Everyone
heard quickly about these events surrounding miraculous birth of John to old
parents, the fact that bot of his parents named him John and that Zacharias could
speak (and hear) again!
Luke 01.66 Such
were the astonishing events surrounding the birth of John; everyone was wondering
what the Lord had planned for this child. They all acknowledged that the hand
of the Lord was with him. We know how great John the Baptist was because we
have the luxury of looking back, but these people could only look forward to an
unforeseen future and wonder.
“For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.”
Everything in the story of John up to birth reveals that the hand of the Lord
was completely involved. The hand of the Lord was evident in the angel
Gabriel’s announcement of the birth of John to Zacharias in the Temple, and Zacharias
being struck deaf and dumb for not believing Gabriel’s words. The hand of the
Lord is further seen in Zacharias and Elizabeth conceiving a child when both
were physically impossible to bear a child, as well as in Zacharias’s hearing
and speech being restored when he named John.
The angel told Zacharias that his son John would be “great in the
sight of the Lord” (Luke 01.15), which is the only type of
greatness that matters! The hand of God is the symbol of His power,
and in this case it is a symbol of His power and favor (Ezra 07.06; Ezra 07.28).
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