Christ is Comming
The Messenger
A. Gabriel
1. One of the two angles named in the Bible
2. Comes from standing in the presence of God
3. His name means “God’s strong man” or “God is my strength” or even “God is Strong.”
4. God message comes in power
B. He comes in three different ways
1. Zechariah — Luke 1:5-25
a. In the temple by the alter of incense
b. In the presence of God as signified by the smoke
c. God is here
d. Zechariah troubled and afraid
2. Mary — Luke 1:26-38
a. In her room
b. In the quiet
c. God is here
d. Mary is troubled at this greeting
3. Joseph — Matthew 1:18-25
a. In a dream as the thought about his seemly unfaithful wife
b. As he slept
c. God is here
d. Joseph is troubled by the circumstances he has found himself in, but not by the appearance of the angel
II. The Three Messages
A. Zechariah
1. To a godly family - of the priests
2. Your wife will bear a son
3. They were old
4. Yet they would have a special child
5. God Gets the Glory
6. Elizabeth’s reproach would be removed
B. Mary
1. To a graced child of God
2. Pure and holy
3. To young
4. Yet she would have a special child
5. God Gets the Glory
6. Mary’s reproach would be removed
C. Joseph
1. To a Just man
2. Pure and holy
3. Wants to do the right thing
4. God’s servant
5. God is doing this thing so don’t give up
6. God gets the Glory
7. No reproach for Joseph
III. The Two Promises about the Children
A. John
1. He will be a joy and delight to you (v. 14). Luke frequently used the word “joy” in his accounts in Luke and Acts, often linking it closely with salvation. An illustration of this is in Luke 15, where three times joy and rejoicing came because something lost had been found, a picture of salvation. And John the Baptist’s ministry brought joy to the Israelites who believed his message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (3:3).
2. He will be great in the sight of the Lord. The expression “in the sight of” (enoμpion) is characteristic of Luke. Though it appears 35 times in Luke and Acts, it is used only one other time in the other Gospels (John 20:30).
3. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink. Later John voluntarily took on himself a Nazirite vow, refusing to drink anything fermented (Num. 6:1-21). Luke did not specifically state that John would fulfill all aspects of the Nazirite vow. Instead, John would avoid taking any wine perhaps to support his contention that his message was urgent. Another way he emphasized the urgency of his message was to dress, act, and eat like Elijah the prophet (cf. Matt. 3:4; 2 Kings 1:8).
4. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. “From birth” is literally “from his mother’s womb.” When Mary visited Elizabeth before John was born, the baby leaped in her womb. The ministry of the Holy Spirit was important to Luke, and he often went to great length to show His empowering and enabling ministry. Both of John’s parents were filled with the Spirit (Luke 1:41, 67).
5. Many of the people of Israel would he bring back to . . . God. Crowds of Israelites did turn to the Lord through John’s ministry (Matt. 3:5-6; Mark 1:4-5).
6. He will go on before the Lord. John the Baptist was the Lord’s forerunner, announcing His coming in the spirit and power of Elijah. Luke here referred to two passages in Malachi which speak of messengers: a messenger was to be sent to clear the way before the Lord (Mal. 3:1), and Elijah’s return was promised before the day of the Lord (Mal. 4:5-6) to restore the hearts of the fathers to their children. Zechariah apparently understood that the angel was identifying John the Baptist with the messenger in Malachi 3:1, for in his song of praise he noted that John would “go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him” (Luke 1:76; cf. 3:4-6). Jesus affirmed that John was the fulfillment of Malachi 3:1 (Matt. 11:10) and stated that John would have fulfilled Malachi 4:5-6 if the people had accepted his message (Matt. 11:14).
B. Jesus
1. He will be great.
2. He will be called the Son of the Most High (cf. v. 76). The Septuagint often used the term “Most High” (hypsistou) to translate the Hebrew ÔelyoÆn (cf. v. 76). Mary could not have missed the significance of that terminology. The fact that her Baby was to be called the “Son of the Most High” pointed to His equality with Yahweh. In Semitic thought a son was a “carbon copy” of his father, and the phrase “son of” was often used to refer to one who possessed his “father’s” qualities (e.g., the Heb. trans. “son of wickedness” in Ps. 89:22 [kjv] means a wicked person).
3. He will be given the throne of His father David. Jesus, as David’s descendant, will sit on David’s throne when He reigns in the Millennium (2 Sam. 7:16; Ps. 89:3-4, 28-29).
4. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. Jesus’ reign over the nation Israel as her King will begin in the Millennium and continue on into the eternal state.
5. His kingdom will never end. These promises must have immediately reminded Mary of the promise of Yahweh to David (2 Sam. 7:13-16). David understood the prophecy as referring not only to his immediate son (Solomon) who would build the temple, but also to the future Son who would rule forever. David stated that Yahweh had spoken of the distant future (2 Sam. 7:19). Mary would have understood that the angel was speaking to her of the Messiah who had been promised for so long.