The Father of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-23)
This sermon was preached on 22/4/2012
The
Gospel writer who tells us about the father of John is Luke who tells us that
his name was Zechariah, and that he and his wife Elisabeth were aged and
childless. Further he informs us that Zechariah was a priest of the line of
Abijah. Zechariah was a devout man, careful to walk in the Lord’s commandments.
It is important to note that he was a good man in an evil time. Luke points out
that evil Herod was on the throne and we know from the Gospels that evil
practices were prominent both in the Jewish and the Gentile worlds at that
time. Yet similar to how God had a remnant of faithful people in the days of
Elijah, so he had them in these days as well.
The
circumstances he was in
The
first detail to note about Zechariah is that he was an old man who wanted to
serve the Lord. I suppose he could have opted out of this activity in Jerusalem
because of his age, and no-one would have found fault with him. Instead they
would have acknowledged that he had served the Lord well for many years. But
Zechariah was not that kind of man. He did not want to stop working for the
Lord. In his life we see an example of the promise found in Psalm 92:12-14: ‘The righteous flourish like the palm tree and
grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the
house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age; they
are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no
unrighteousness in him.’ And what a blessing he would have missed if he had
decided to stay at home that year.
Nevertheless
we can see that there was a big burden in Zechariah’s personal life, which was
that he and his wife would have no children. Perhaps they had lived with this
disappointment for many years. In Old Testament times, to have many children
was a sign of God’s rich blessing. Yet here was Zechariah and he did not have
any, and his wife Elisabeth could not have any. No doubt they would have been
disappointed with divine providence. Yet it was such a person that God intended
to use.
The
problem would have been exacerbated in his public life by the fact that he was
a priest. The priesthood in Israel was hereditary and priests liked to be trace
their genealogy through their ancestors back to Aaron. But no-one in the future
would trace their line through Zechariah. Instead of being a channel of future
blessing, it seemed as if he was a blockage. Yet it was for such a person that
God had great plans.
The
difficulty with problems is often our response to them. When such things come
along, we basically have two ways of responding. One is, ‘Why is God treating
me so badly?’ and the other is, ‘In what ways can I glorify God in this
situation?’
We are
introduced to him when he was taking his turn as a priest to serve in the
temple courts. This would an occasion that he would have regarded as a great
privilege. There were about 18,000 priests at that time, divided into
twenty-four divisions, and each division would serve for two weeks each year in
the temple. However the specific task of offering incense would come to a
priest once in his lifetime and he was chosen by this privilege by the practice
of taking lots. Two priests were selected for each day, one in the morning and
one in the afternoon. No doubt he would have looked forward with spiritual
delight to engaging in this honourable activity.
His task was to attend to the altar of incense
and as he did so he was praying, as were the crowd outside. What was Zechariah
praying for? An initial answer to that question might be that he was praying personally
for a son, yet a little reflection might suggest otherwise. If he had been
praying for a son, it is very surprising that he did not believe that his
prayer would be answered. If that had been his prayer, he would have known that
only a miracle could provide the answer. Yet he does not seem to have been
expecting such an answer.
Is
there another petition that would have been on his heart? Yes, there is, and it
would have been connected to his public role, which would include a petition connected
to the coming of the promised Saviour. I would suggest he was praying for this
on behalf of the people he was representing, but he did not expect that he
would be the personal father of the prophesied forerunner. He was praying for a
wonderful matter, but he did not expect that he would have anything to do
personally with it. So although he was a praying man, he was not ready to do
God’s will when it was explained to him.
We can
be in similar situations, can’t we? Often we pray for the Lord to do something
in particular and we might pray for it very regularly and earnestly. Yet it may
not have crossed our mind that the Lord might want to use us in his answer to
our own prayers. And when he comes with an answer we are totally unprepared for
it. We should not only pray with anticipation that somehow God will answer his
promises, but we should always bear in mind that the Lord may want to use us
personally in bringing about the answer.
The
consternation of Zechariah
As we
noted from the chapter, an angel suddenly appeared. Not surprisingly, Zechariah
was afraid, although his fear was not based on superstition as if he had seen a
ghost. Instead he was afraid because he would have known that sometimes heavenly
messengers came with a word of judgement. Had he done something to offend God
as he performed his duties?
The
angel, however, assured Zechariah that there was no reason to be afraid. I’m
sure that he conveyed his message with joy. It is interesting that often
Gabriel appears to give information about the coming of the Saviour. We can see
something of the importance of the message by noting the status of Gabriel. He
says in verse 19 that he stands in the presence of God, clearly waiting to be
sent on important missions, but we cannot ignore the prominence he has even
among the angels.
The
message of Gabriel has many fascinating details about the ministry of John. So
we can look at some of them and see what we can discover.
The
first detail is that God promised to work a miracle. It was impossible for
Elisabeth to have a son, and yet here was one promised to them. Surely
Zechariah should have recalled what had happened before through Abraham and
Sarah. Here he was reminded that nothing is too hard for the Lord. Gabriel
begins his message by reminding Zechariah that God can do great things today as
well as in the past.
The
next detail is that the promised child would be a sign because of his name,
which means that God is gracious. One reason for this identity would be to
ensure that John never forgot who he was. Whenever anyone spoke his name, they
would be declaring that the Lord is gracious. He would be a source of joy to
all who heard about it.
The
third detail to highlight is that he would be a great person. His greatness is
seen in several privileges that he would be given. Unlike earthly greatness,
which is often attained by human effort and dubious means, heavenly greatness
is a gift from God.
To
begin with, he would be great in the sense that he would be filled by the
Spirit. Unlike others who are controlled by other spirits, John would be under
the control of the Holy Spirit. This would not only be true of his adult years,
it would also be true of his childhood. From the moment of his birth he would
be dedicated to the Lord. It is likely that John was regenerated by the Spirit
while he was in his mother’s womb. He was born a sanctified child, one on whom
God’s hand was and who would be prepared for his future role from birth.
He
would also be great because of the success of his preaching (v. 16). Zechariah
is here told that his son is going to be involved in a great spiritual revival,
one in which many will be converted, who will turn to the Lord in repentance.
What a prediction to be given! Zechariah would not live to see this great
period, but here he is given the comfort of knowing that it will happen.
The
third feature of John’s greatness would have astounded Zechariah. His newborn
son would not only be filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb and a
successful preacher as an adult, he would also be the forerunner of the
Messiah. Zechariah would have been aware that Malachi had predicted that God
would send a forerunner that would herald the arrival of the Messiah, and he
would do so by preaching the doctrine of repentance.
As we
consider what Zechariah was told, we can see that he was given a great
privilege by God to have the opportunity of bringing up such a child. How would
he do this? He would do so by prayer for him, by informing him about the Bible,
and by teaching him about holy living. Although John was regenerate when he was
born, he still needed to be instructed. God gave this blessing to an old man.
The
details also challenge us about the importance of repentance. This is how
revival comes and it is how we prepare ourselves to meet with Jesus. The angel
identifies two areas in which there were problems: the first was family
responsibilities and the second was wise living. Both these areas are very
practical. And of course, repentance is very practical. We must remember that
repentance is not remorse. The latter is giving up in despair about our
failures; the other is changing direction and asking for divine help.
A third
detail that comes out of the angel’s message is the consideration we must give
as to raising future preachers. John’s arrival as a baby brought joy, and his
arrival as a preacher brought even greater joy to many people. Have we thought
about what may be the future of some of the children who are currently
attending our church? While we do not have the divine certainty that Zechariah
was given about John, we do have the requirement of praying for our children’s
sanctification and future roles, and it may be that they would see better days
than we see at present.
The
consequence of his unbelief
Surprisingly,
devout Zechariah then lost his present enjoyment of his future blessing. We may have imagined that he was overwhelmed
by what he had been told. Yet he should not have doubted God’s promises. He
lost the enjoyment that would have come from sharing with others what he had
been told. The judgement would last for more than nine months.
Further,
his unbelief prevented him from giving the usual priestly blessing to the
gathered crowd. How could he have pronounced peace when there was unbelief in
his heart? The Lord prevented him from sinning further. The lesson is to trust
God’s Word above common sense.