John the Baptist's Birth (Luke 1:5-25; 57-80)

Ryan Strother

How Christmas Happened • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

Luke 1:5–25

0 ratings

· 100 views

Learn through this sermon how John the Baptist's message is still very relevant today.

Notes

Transcript

Sermon Tone Analysis

Emotion

Language

Social

View more →

INTRO

Let me remind you why Luke wrote his gospel. Look at 1:3-4. We don’t know exactly who Theophilus is, and it might actually be a general designation for all believers. Theophilus = “lover/friend of God.”

Anyway, Luke’s writes as an eyewitness so that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. Many scholars say that Luke was written around AD 62-65, so approximately 30 years after Jesus’ resurrection.

So you have people talking about Jesus all this time— all the things you have been taught. And at this point, moved by the Holy Spirit, Luke, who saw and heard Jesus— he experienced it— writes down a record of it all so that we can have certainty.

Let me suggest this theme: The certainty we can have from God’s Word should lead us to worship Him. We know its true, and so we know God accomplished His purposes and that He’s worthy of worship.

Worship is a priority in Luke’s account. It’s interesting that Luke’s gospel begins and ends in the temple.

In the last chapter, 24:52-53, Jesus’ disciples worshiped with joy and were continually in the temple.

1:8. Luke’s account begins in the temple, when Zechariah is serving his priestly duties.

Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, summarizes the reason for praising God in 1:68—> ““Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people” (, ESV)

In 24:51-53, they more fully understood that God had visited and redeemed his people! They had been with Jesus, heard him, saw him crucified, saw him resurrected, and saw him ascend back to heaven— surely he had visited and redeemed his people. This is what Christmas is all about.

We can be certain that God has visited and redeemed his people.

Now let me tell you why we include JTB in the Christmas account. For Zechariah, the certainty that God had visited and redeemed his people came before Jesus was even born. 1:68 was a response of worship after JTB was born, but Jesus, the Messiah who would deliver God’s people, was still in Mary’s womb.

It’s important to study JTB because he was a fulfillment of OT prophecy. He was to come before the Messiah as a forerunner, an announcer, of the Messiah who would come.

Zechariah acknowledges the fulfillment of prophecy in 1:70. The holy prophets of old spoke and now they are seeing it fulfilled.

tells us that JTB is the fulfillment of . He would be the voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. Just like the angel told Zechariah in 1:17— JTB would make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

In , Jesus clarifies that JTB is the fulfillment of the Elijah-like prophet that is mentioned in . That passage is actually quoting from , the one who would come before the Messiah.

JTB is important because he is another example of how God fulfilled his promise that was prophesied years before of the Messiah who would come.

JTB is a fulfillment of prophecy. He was set apart from birth for a very specific purpose.

1:14— He will be great before the Lord. There’s a great purpose for JTB. John= Yahweh has been gracious.

God was being gracious to Zechariah and Elizabeth by providing a Son.

God was being gracious to Israel and ultimately to all people because He was going to send the Messiah, and John would announce his arrival.

V.15— indicates that JTB was being set apart as holy for God’s purposed. The mention of no wine or strong drink could be a reference to JTB being under the Nazarite vow that we read about in the OT (). This was one of the requirements of that vow. Popular characters under the Nazarite vow were Samson and Samuel.

We know he was set apart. Now, for what was he set apart? Verses 16-17 tell us this, and this is where I want to focus our time.

Turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

Turn in the NT is a word for conversion. The people would turn to, convert, their lives to the Lord their God.

Remember the context of the Intertestamental period—400 years of silence from God. From those words of Malachi that prophesied a Messiah would come until here at the time of JTB, there had most likely been some waning in the Israelites’ faithfulness to God. They were already known for their unfaithfulness, and there would obviously be some in that period of silence from God.

JTB would turn people to God, bring conversion, by pointing them to Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

This is his most important function— pointing people to Jesus. And that’s exactly what he did when you keep reading about his life.

Go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah

Interesting how “him” in v.17 refers to Jesus, the Lord. The divinity of Jesus, the Messiah, is already being mentioned, even before he’s born.

The spirit and power of Elijah—there’s the prophetic reference I’ve already talked about. But think about the Holy Spirit empowering JTB— There was a power about JTB’s ministry. He never performed miracles, so the power must be referring more to the power of the words he spoke as he taught and the way that he baptized.

Turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous

This is a reference back to . Most likely it is referring to a restoration of family relationships. Fathers and children. The disobedience that might exist in a family that strains their relationships.

Through Jesus, the disobedient will be able to turn to the wisdom of the just, or the righteous ones.

But notice the order of JTB’s functions: first, a person must be converted to God the Father. That is going to enable the possibility of a powerful restoration of other relationships.

To make ready for the Lord a people prepared

Get ready. That’s the message. It was the message then and it is the message now.

Then, it was get ready for the promised Messiah. There was a new kingdom and rule coming to the Israelites. The Messiah who would come, what we celebrate at Christmas, this was going to change everything. And JTB’s job was to get people ready.

Let me tell you that JTB’s message is exactly the same message we need to declare at Christmas time. GET READY!

Because here’s what we know— Jesus came to this earth, God incarnate, to bring salvation to sinners.

And now He is going to come again, this time to call together all of His followers for eternal glory at the same time ushering in an eternal separation and torment under the wrath of God to all who have rejected him.

So yes, the message of JTB is still relevant! Get ready for the return of Christ.

Related Media

Related Sermons