The Blessing of Answered Prayer

I want to go back into the gospel
of Luke for the next few weeks and look at what Luke unfolds
to us regarding the advent of Christ. So we’ll be in Luke chapter
one this morning. I want to look at just the blessing
that answered prayer is. As any astute student of the
Bible knows, each of our four gospel accounts begin very uniquely. John begins his gospel, as you
know, in eternity past. He’s looking back into eternity
where he describes Jesus, the word, as being with, that is,
face to face with the Father. Mark, Mark doesn’t even address
the early life of Jesus at all, electing instead to open with
the review of John the Baptist’s ministry, and then immediately
into Christ’s temptation in the desert. Matthew, you will recall,
does provide an account of Jesus’ birth, but only Jesus’ birth,
But Matthew begins very formally with Jesus’ family tree, the
genealogy of the Messiah. Only Luke provides a second birth
account, that of John the Baptist. And that makes the opening chapters
of the Gospels one of the most diverse sections in all of the
Gospel accounts. The birth accounts in Matthew
and Luke fill in for us as believers a critical information gap. Because as the Messiah had to
be fully God and fully man, it’s important for the readers of
all ages to discover how it is that this union of flesh and
divinity came to be. And the gospels provide that
for us. Jesus didn’t just show up as if he was dropped out of
heaven. Jesus, even though he was miraculously
conceived, he was born through otherwise natural means, the
birth by a mother. As we noted. all four of these
unique gospel accounts, only Luke includes an account of the
birth of John the Baptist. He blends two birth accounts
together in his opening chapters, the account of Jesus’ birth and
the other less esteemed and rarely considered account, that of the
birth of John the Baptist. Luke doesn’t just drop us into
John’s birth, however, or even to his boyhood. In this special
servant of God, he takes us all the way back prior to his conception
to the remarkable circumstances into which God providentially
intervenes in his parents lives. If you would, I want to read
verses 5 through 25 of Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1 verse 5. In the days of Herod, king of
Judea, There was a priest named Zacharias of the division of
Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her
name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous in the
sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements
of the Lord. But they had no child because
Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.
Now, it happened that while he was performing his priestly service
before God in the appointed hour order of his division, according
to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot
to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole
multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour
of the incense offering, and an angel of the Lord appeared
to him standing to the right of the altar of incense. Zacharias
was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.
But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zacharias, for
your petition has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will
bear you a son, and you will give him the name John, and you
will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight
of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will
be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the
sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. It is he who will
go as a forerunner before him in the spirit and power of Elijah. to turn the hearts of the fathers
back to the children and the disobedient to the attitude of
the righteous so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Zacharias said to the angel,
How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife
is advanced in years. The angel answered and said to
him, I am Gabriel. who stands in the presence of
God. And I have been sent to speak
to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you shall
be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things
take place, because you did not believe my words, which will
be fulfilled in their proper time.” The people were waiting for Zacharias
and wondering at his delay in the temple. But when he came
out, he was unable to speak to them. And they realized that
he had seen a vision in the temple and he kept making signs to them
and he remained mute. When the days of his priestly
service were ended, he went back home. After these days, Elizabeth,
his wife, became pregnant. And she kept herself in seclusion
for five months, saying, this is the way the Lord has dealt
with me in the days when he looked with favor upon me to take away
my disgrace among men. Luke wants to focus. He wants
us to understand the blessing of answered prayer and In this
consideration of answered prayer, I see that there are four phases,
if you will, of answered prayer in this account, in these verses
5 through 25. The first of which is the longing
for answered prayer in verses 5 through 7. The longing for
answered prayer. Just glance down at it if you
would. Luke opens this very orderly account of Christ’s life and
ministry with a unique narrative of the birth of John the Baptist.
And true to his intent to make his work a chronologically accurate
account, he even pinpoints the time period in which these things
occurred. It was in the days of Herod. that is Herod, the so-called
great, great as much as anything else for his ego. As one writer
quipped of him, he was capable, crafty, and cruel. Luke introduces
us immediately to a Jewish couple A married couple, Zacharias and
Elizabeth. Zacharias, we are told, was a
priest. Elizabeth, he informs us, was
also from a line of priests. From the daughters of Aaron,
he says, a direct descendant of Israel’s first priest. And that would make Zacharias
and Elizabeth a highly esteemed couple, worthy of great respect
in the community. Look, if you would, at the descriptive
statement in verse six, that they were both righteous in the
sight of God. That needs to be qualified. Because
we know from biblical testimony, not to mention our own personal
experience, that there are none righteous. Without a mighty work
of God’s grace, no person can be truly righteous. And so these
people are not actually righteous, having achieved this high level
of human moral perfection, nor are these two godly people righteous
in the New Testament sense as having been declared righteous,
like you and I, which is only possible because of our faith
in Jesus Christ. Instead, What they point to here
when they speak of Zacharias and Elizabeth being righteous,
it is a generally conformed lifestyle to the Lord’s ways. They were
people who acknowledged their sin and desired to purge that
sin from their lives. In other words, these two people
were good people. They were good Jews. They were
just. They were upright in the Jewish
community. Luke tells us plainly in what
sense they were righteous in the remainder of verse 6. Glance
at it if you would. It goes on to tell us that they
were walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements
of the Lord. So if you look at the Ten Commandments,
they were pretty much in line there. No murder. They loved
the Lord their God. And they were careful not only
to observe the moral law, the commandments as best they could,
but they also followed God’s prescriptions for ceremonial
ordinances and requirements. Not only those commandments,
but the requirements of the Lord. Alfred Edersheim, if you don’t
have this book, you should secure a copy. His masterful work, The
Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. He described this pair, Zacharias
and Elizabeth, in these terms, just listen. Such a household
as that of Zacharias and Elizabeth would have had all that was beautiful
in the religion of the time. Devotion toward God, a home of
affection and purity, reverence toward all that was sacred and
things divine and human, ungrudging, self-denying, loving charity
to the poor, the tenderest regard for the feelings of others so
as not to raise a blush nor to wound their hearts. Above all,
intense faith and hope in the higher and better future of Israel. That’s what Luke means when he
says they were righteous. We might even refer to Zacharias
and Elizabeth as saints in the Old Testament sense of that word.
They were not perfect, but they were exemplary members of the
Jewish community there. Well, as Luke proceeds to tell
us, Elizabeth was barren, childless. like Sarah and Rachel and Hannah
before her. And Dr. Luke is careful to point
out here that the time had very evidently passed them by. They
were both advanced in years. Remember advanced age is what
prompted both Abraham and Sarah to laugh at the suggestion of
pregnancy in their old age. This little detail Elizabeth’s
childlessness, it immediately hints of conflict. Because in
that day in culture, barrenness was about the worst state in
which a woman could find herself. Scripture teaches us that God
is the one who opens the womb, that children are a gift from
the Lord. But those truths typically do
not stop heartless people from practicing their cruelty. People
would have assigned the woman the blame as bearing the mark
of God’s disfavor because of some sin in her life. Barrenness
led Rachel to long for death, remember? And for Hannah to weep
bitter tears. What is worse, the woman, the
Jewish woman would have been ridiculed by others for her inability
to receive and such a woman was often divorced by her husband. And every young Jewish woman
would have begun her marriage with the hope that she might
be the one who would bring forth the Messiah. And so for a godly
couple, who might otherwise have been highly esteemed in the community
and honored within their society. The opposite was true, especially
for Elizabeth, but there’s hope. There’s prayer. And in this case,
there’s the promise of answered prayer. We come into that in
verses eight through 17, the promise of answered prayer. And
as the Lord would have it, Zacharias happened to be on duty as a priest. He was actively serving in that
capacity. And at that point in time, there
were literally thousands of priests. David himself was the one who
first divided the priests into 24 groups, and he implemented
this system of rotating their service week by week. You can
read about it in 1 Chronicles 24. A group of these priests
would serve for a week. according to a very carefully
designed rotation. Each of the groups served twice
per year from Sabbath to Sabbath, so essentially eight days. In
addition to the general duties of the priests on duty, several
were selected by lot to a very special priestly service. In
the case of Zacharias here, Luke tells us, verse nine, that according
to God’s providence, he was chosen by law to enter the temple of
the Lord and burn incense. Now we should note that the use
of the word temple here is very general. Anyone could go and
attend services at the temple. All Jews could go to the temple.
There was a court also for the women. The women could go to
the temple. And there was even a court of the Gentiles. The
Gentiles could go to the general temple. But three times in this
section, verse 9, verse 21, and verse 22, our writer here is
referring specifically to a portion of the temple in which priestly
services would be performed. He’s referring to the sacred
buildings. So Zacharias was chosen to burn
incense. Now to our modern, Western, and
Gentile ears, that doesn’t sound like such a big deal. Like lighting
a candle. But it was a big deal to a Jewish
priest. Because it was a big deal to God himself. In Exodus
chapter 30, God had set forth the explicit instructions even
for the construction of the altar of incense. It resided in the
holy place, and God gave equally precise instructions about the
offering of incense. As you might recall, this was
one of the very things against which Eli’s sons transgressed. So to enter into the holy place
and to burn incense would have been the highest and most honorable
duty for a priest. And because there were so many
priests, some would never have this opportunity and not in their
entire lifetime. If selected, a priest was given
a once in a lifetime opportunity to enter into the holy place,
to offer up an incense offering. And so the offering of incense
was the most distinct, most solemn, the highest calling a priest
could ever have. This one responsibility would
have been the highlight of Zacharias’s career as a priest. And he would
have been completely focused on the sacred task at hand. And
so there he is in the holy place offering incense. And he’s almost
finished. Priests serving in that capacity
dared not stay any longer than was absolutely necessary. You
did what you did, what you were supposed to do, and you exited
promptly. They didn’t want to incur God’s
wrath through some clumsy or careless act. Their habit was
to do their duty and exit the holy place promptly out of fear
and reverence. But as Zacharias is initiating
his hasty withdrawal just at that moment, he’s greeted by
an angelic being, verse 11. This was no figment of his imagination,
but an angel of the Lord, there in the holy place with him, standing
right beside the altar of incense, Luke doesn’t describe this heavenly
being. He presumes upon his readers
understanding of the Old Testament, which had conditioned God’s people
to understand that angels were everywhere watching over us.
But it’s plain that Zacharias knows exactly who this being
is. Zacharias likely thought he was
a dead man. Because of his consciousness
of his own sin, he was troubled and fear gripped him. We’re not
told what that looked like. A pale face, physically shaking,
a horrified look on his face, an audible gasp. But it was such that the angel
not only noticed, but immediately sought to provide the priest
comfort. Do not be afraid, Mrs. Zacharias. I’m not here for judgment. I’m
here for grace. And before Zacharias can even
begin to compose himself, the angel begins this great proclamation. It’s a birth announcement. Your
petition has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear
you a son. You will give him the name John. That must have floored this aging
priest. Your petition, your prayers,
they’ve been heard. Noting perhaps that in that solemn
moment, Zacharias had uttered his deep longing for a child.
And so what wonderful news from this angel. A son, a boy, a baby
boy, John. Could there be any greater news?
Well, it does get better. This isn’t just going to be their
long awaited child, a child for whom they’d almost quit hoping. But he’s not only gonna be special
to them, he’s gonna be special to many. The angel continues,
look at verse 14. You will receive joy and gladness.
Many will rejoice at his birth. What a sweet thing to say about
the future of someone’s child, right? That statement might’ve seemed
appropriate enough since he and Elizabeth were well beyond childbearing
years. Yes, gladness and rejoicing. I don’t know who’s gonna stay
up all night to feed the lad, but gladness and rejoicing. But
the angel tells Zacharias why his son is gonna be so beloved
by others. Because it’s a son, verse 15,
he will be great in the sight of the Lord. Not just in his
parents’ eyes, or his teacher’s eyes, or his coach’s eyes, but
great in the sight of the Lord. He will drink no wine or liquor.
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even while in his mother’s
womb. These things describe not merely
an exceptional young man. They describe a Nazarite. one
with an exceptional mission. Verse 16, he will turn many of
the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. That’s his mission.
This would have been the life mission of every prophet, to
call the wayward people back to the Lord. And then in verse
17, it says that he will go as a forerunner before him in the
spirit and power of Elijah. I mean, this just gets, better
and better by each phrase. But even this must have seemed
somewhat mysterious to Zacharias, the forerunner in the spirit
and power of Elijah, turning hearts, making people ready,
prepared for the Lord. What could it be that this angel
was communicating to him? The entire announcement had to
be so overwhelming. Not even Zacharias standing there
toe to toe with an angel would have provided him definitive
help. He couldn’t get his head wrapped around it. How could
this be? Here is this angelic being providing
these astonishing details and Zacharias is trying to understand
the most basic element of the announcement. He’s still stuck
on the idea that Elizabeth is going to have a son. Well, Zacharias unwisely, is
about to seek proof. Proof for this promise. And he
will receive an award of assurance. We find that beginning in verse
18. In verse 18, Zacharias finally conquers
his fears. And he utters one question. That most bewildered him. Basically, he says to God’s messenger,
could you prove it? How will I know this for certain? Zacharias is not alone in his
doubt of such an astounding promise. You might remember Abraham. Genesis
17 records that he fell on his face and he laughed at basically
the same announcement. fell on his face, and Sarah,
his wife, did the same thing. At least Zacharias didn’t do
that. But Zacharias did have those instructive episodes in
his Bible, and that made his own doubt even worse. He knew
of God’s unlimited power, and so his response is no less dishonorable
than Abraham’s. He doubted. He challenged the
angel. And he basically asks for proof. And as if an angel of the Lord
needed instruction on human reproduction, Zacharias spells it out for him. I am an old man and my wife is
advanced. You see how wise Zacharias is
here? He did not call his wife an old
woman. He basically says, Angel, look,
this proposition of yours is well nigh impossible. Why, we’re
usually in bed by 8 p.m. to sleep. And with that faithless
challenge, the angel has heard enough. And he moves to a more
formal, how do you do? Allow me, Zacharias, to introduce
myself I am Gabriel, and Gabriel points out that he has a delegated
authority from God himself. He’s there on God’s behalf. I
am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been
sent to speak to you. I’m an emissary, he basically
says, of almighty God himself, sent by him to talk to you, and
I came, as you’ve already heard, with a good message for you.
And before stunned, Zacharias can even muster an apology, Gabriel
issues a rebuke to Zacharias, a rebuke for his doubt of God’s
promise. Behold, you shall be silent and
unable to speak. And Gabriel spells it out for
him. Behold, he says, listen to this. Take note. This punishment is because you
did not believe my words. Now it’s possible that Zacharias
is so completely stunned and now embarrassed on top of it
that he might already have walked out of that room speechless. But the angel says definitively
that he would be unable to speak. That’s very different. His ability
to talk had been divinely taken away. And for all intents and
purposes, he is now dumb. But Gabriel explains that this
is not a permanent condition. It will, however, last, he says,
until the day when these things take place, pointing back to
verse 13. Until they’re fulfilled in their
proper time, that is until Elizabeth gives birth and Zacharias names
the child John. Those will be his first words.
For the nine months that it takes for your child to develop, Zacharias,
So long will it be that you will be unable to speak. But there’s
one last phase of this answered prayer. It’s the fulfillment
of answered prayer. We find that in verses 21 through
25. It had to be such a dynamic moment. When Zacharias finally walked
out of that holy place, and ultimately into the outer courtyard to greet
all the people. What a mix of emotions. The promise
of a son and a very special one at that, but a son for which
he had doubted God’s ability to provide and for which he was
immediately punished. But the corporate worship of
the people wasn’t over. He still had a job to do. And
they were waiting on Zacharias because upon his re-entry into
the outer courtyard, the priest would have been expected to give
the final benediction. A prayer of blessing upon God’s
people as God first commanded Aaron. The Lord bless you and
keep you. The Lord make his face to shine
upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance
on you and give you peace. And the people The people would
have responded with songs of praise, but now Zacharias faced
a concerned audience of people who were upset about the delay
of this priest in the holy place. As I said, priests typically
exited very promptly. And so what was the matter with
Zacharias, they wondered. Why the delay? And their concerns
were not immediately quieted, even after Zacharias emerged,
because now he’s unable to speak. We don’t know how they knew. Perhaps Zacharias was wide-eyed. Perhaps he was shaking. Perhaps
he gestured in such a manner that they drew the appropriate
conclusion that he had seen a vision. And he was able to gesture. He
kept making signs, it says, but he remained mute, unable to speak. All of those in attendance that
day would return home with more questions than answered, but
they would know this was no ordinary day at the temple. For Zacharias,
his ministry as a priest came to an end through normal courses.
As Luke just records that he went back home. Verse 23, and
we know how that reunion with his wife went based on the following
verse. After these days, Elizabeth,
his wife, became pregnant. It would be an astounding conception
through normal means of procreation. And for the first time in this
narrative, the focus shifts to dear Elizabeth. Her husband is
home. She’s with child, but for reasons
that Luke does not provide, she kept herself in seclusion for
five months. We don’t know whether it was
from embarrassment because of her age, or maybe she wanted
to avoid the inevitable questions, hurtful remarks. Perhaps she
maintained some measure of defensiveness at the prospect of perhaps losing
the child. Perhaps it was even out of spiritual
devotion to the Lord, gratitude. We don’t know. All we know is
she sequestered herself, hiding in complete obscurity well into
her second trimester. What a beautiful story of God’s
kindness to this couple. Sweet, faithful, elderly. I’m not done. It’s a story of God’s mercy.
Mercy and grace in his willingness to provide. It is that. But that isn’t the main point. It isn’t just that God provides
a godly couple a son. If that is all we come away with
from this narrative, we’ve missed the point completely. This narrative,
of course, comes in the context that there had been 400 silent
years in Israel, four centuries during which there had been no
direct communication from God, no prophets, no miracles, nothing
but political oppression, evil leadership, spiritual compromise,
and moral decay. Israel had longed for her Messiah
for so long that many had begun to give up. The Christmas hymns capture Israel’s
lament, O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that
mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. We see that this, from this passage,
five through 25, is really the story of a God who is redeeming
sinners, don’t we? We see it in the anticipation
of the answered prayer, verses five through seven. Would you
glance back at those verses just for a few moments? This is the
context in which the narrative of Zacharias and Elizabeth occurs,
and the clues are plentiful that there is much more to this story
than just God giving a couple a baby. It’s an account of God redeeming
sinners. Consider the first clue, Zacharias is a priest. Zacharias
is a priest, the redemption of sinners is in focus as soon as
we come to an understanding, a realization that the people
needed a priest, an intermediary between them and a holy God. One who would intercede on their
behalf. And that priesthood figures into many other provisions that
God had designated. We learn about the need of God’s
redemption of sinners in verse six, when it tells us that the
nature of this God is as a judge. That’s right. Zacharias and Elizabeth
were both righteous in the sight of God. You know what that tells
you? It tells us that this God is not only a God who watches,
who sees, he has the ability to see all. But having seen all,
he is one who evaluates. He’s one who scrutinizes. He’s
one who judges. And so as a watchful judge, he
must be accommodated. His wrath must be satisfied.
One’s sins must be constantly addressed. But God, this God is a God who
is redeeming sinners, and we see that also in the promise
of answered prayer, verses eight through 17. Would you glance
at those verses just briefly again? Verse eight presents that
scenario to us as well, that a man, Zacharias, was actively
engaged, performing his priestly service, along with hundreds
of other priests. ministering before God on behalf
of the people. Not only is there a need for
a priesthood, there’s a need for a temple. Verse nine, a holy
place into which the priest could go on behalf of the people to
intercede before God. The temple was the designated
place. Where God’s people could go and worship God on his terms. And it was the place that God
had ordained for sacrificial atonement. There were set standards
and prescriptions for the priestly service. On the occasion before
us, the chosen priest would approach the sanctuary wearing a white
robe, no shoes. This was a holy place. Two other
priests would assist the priest assigned to incense. One would remove the ash that
remained from the previous offering. And when finished, he would back
out of the holy place, worshiping the Lord as he went. The second
would come in bearing burning, smoldering coals and lay them
on the altar. And then he too would back out,
worshiping as he went. Once these two had completed
their tasks and departed, Zacharias would have been completely alone.
in the holy place. A place which up until this moment
he had only read about in the scriptures. And there he was,
there in the flickering light was the seven-branched lampstand,
golden. And there was the incense altar
sitting atop a gold-covered table. And a golden table of showbread,
a table on which was placed 12 cakes of unleavened bread as
a constant reminder. Man shall not live by bread alone.
But on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. There
just beyond the altar. Would have been another room.
The Holy of Holies. In which the glory of the Lord
in the Ark of the Covenant were. He couldn’t enter that room.
That holy room was separated from where Zachariah stood only
by a curtain. The same curtain that would be
torn in two on the night in which Jesus was crucified. This was
now the nearest that any human being could be to God himself. And he’s there all alone. What
a fantastic and exhilarated moment this would have been for any
priest. And at the same moment, just outside the holy place,
the high priest would be sacrificing a lamb on the altar. And at the
precise designated time, Zacharias would have been signaled to place
the prepared incense onto the altar of incense, creating an
aromatic smoke, symbolic of prayers raising heavenward to God himself. And the priest’s own prayers
were to be mingled with this smoky aroma, while the people
out in the courtyard were offering quiet prayers of their own. The
priest’s special prayer for this occasion was for the redemption
of Israel, for God’s promised deliverer, the Messiah. The moment
would have been one of the most solemn and significant, heart-pounding
moments of Zacharias’ life. And perhaps he was taking in
his last glimpse of this sanctified place, the candlestick, the incense
altar, the table of showbread. He would never see it again.
And the people on behalf of the priests who were interceding
would not be idle during this process. They were all out humbly
engaged in quiet prayer outside of the holy place. And Zacharias
had a prayer of his own And we might say perhaps it was for
a child, a son. But it would be very simplistic,
wouldn’t it? To think that Zacharias, standing there before God on
this most solemn of occasions, would put his own desires before
that of the nation. Yes, indeed, before humanity’s
great need. Even before that which God himself
desired. the redemption of his people.
God is a God of redemption. One historian captures the essence
of this convergence of prayer, the priests and the people. At
such a moment, all the hopes of one who looked for Christ
as the consolation of Israel would gather themselves into
one great intercession. Please give us a savior. when Gabriel announces to Zacharias
Clancet, verse 8, your petition has been heard. Just because
he adds, your wife will bear you a son, doesn’t mean that
that was the soul or even Zacharias’ primary request. Zacharias, as a good priest,
knew Israel’s greatest problem was her sin, not his lack of
a son. His task would have been explicit
according to his function to intercede on behalf of the people,
not for himself. He would have had to pray for
redemption and especially that God would provide them the longed
for Messiah, the consolation of Israel. Can we imagine a person who God
has already judged as righteous should use so profound an occasion
for his own personal gain? The narrative will go on to show
how unlikely, even impossible, Zacharias considered pregnancy
to be at his age. Would he pray for that now and
then immediately doubt the very one announcing the so-called
precise answer to his prayer? No. What Zacharias prayed for
was exactly what the angel Gabriel announced, not just the provision
of a son. the provision of a Messiah for
mankind. Gabriel came to inform Zacharias
that his son was to be the forerunner. A forerunner in the spirit and
power of Elijah, turning hearts, making people ready, prepared
for the Lord. Zacharias should have caught
this. Even this mysterious description, Zacharias should have recognized
that his son was coming in the spirit and power of Elijah. Many Jews were looking for a
literal return of Elijah. That’s not what God promised.
So some understood that this would figuratively be Elijah
in his spirit and power. John, John himself would grow
up and be asked this very direct question. Are you Elijah? No. But he was like that. What Zacharias
failed to grasp through Gabriel’s enigmatic words was that this
miraculous, joy-bringing son, John, coming as a Nazirite, was
coming as the forerunner of the Messiah himself. I mean, glance at the passage.
Gabriel doesn’t identify him as the Messiah, but it’s so clear
he simply refers to him as him. John will go as a forerunner
before him. At the end of verse 17 tells
us very plainly, look at it. This him whom Gabriel refers
is the Lord. For whom John would make ready
a people. So Zacharias was not only doubtful about God’s ability
to provide him a son, he was slow to understand the stunning
significance of Gabriel’s message. It wasn’t just about his family. This was about God’s redemption
of sinners. Gabriel’s message was not so
much about the messenger as it was about the message. This is John, who would one day
declare, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world. This is John who would in time
redirect all honor and glory toward Christ. He must increase,
but I must decrease. Zacharias must understand that
his son was to be the forerunner of the Messiah. And we see that
this is a God who is redeeming sinners in that third section,
the assurance of answered prayer. Look at verses 18 through 20. We breezed right past this in
verse 19, but when Gabriel rebukes Zacharias, he does so because
Zacharias missed the whole point. He didn’t grasp the significance
of the message. Do we? Gabriel uses a very familiar
term to refer to his message to Zacharias. He calls it good
news. It’s the first time in scripture
that this word is used, but this term would go on to be understood
as what we commonly refer to now as the gospel. You see, Gabriel
came to announce the good news, the gospel, that the Messiah
was coming, the redemption of sinful humanity would be accomplished
through him. Gabriel came to provide good
news to Zacharias But not merely or even primarily good news about
a son. But the good news about the Messiah.
The Lord Jesus Christ. And finally. We see that this
is a God who is redeeming sinners in the fulfillment of the answered
prayer. Would you just glance at verses
21 through 25 once again? Truer words could not have been
forecasted when Luke tells us in verse 23 that the days of
Zacharias’ priestly service were ended. With the coming of the
Messiah, Jesus Christ, the days of men’s priestly service would
be ended forever. Jesus Christ himself would be
the mediator and the intercessor. And poor, dear, sweet Elizabeth,
we don’t know what she knows. After all, her husband is mute. But it appears that all she knows
is that she’s suddenly with child. But even her words in verse 25
take on a deeper significance in light of Gabriel’s announcement
of the Messiah. Because God has indeed looked
with favor. God has looked with favor, not
just upon Elizabeth, but upon all sinners. And likewise, he
has taken away our disgrace as well among men. This was the
most significant announcement that had ever been presented
to humanity, that God was providing her Messiah This is a God who is redeeming
sinners. Would you humble yourself before
this God?