Video teaching coming soon
There is no online teaching for this study yet, but the written notes and any available study resources are still below.
These are the original teaching notes from this passage.
Review…
- The Gospel of Luke…
- The focus of Luke is on the humanity of Jesus – showing Him as the perfect flawless man…
- The key phrase in the Gospel of Luke is – ‘the Son of Man’ – speaking of Jesus’ humanity…
- Key Verse – Luke 19:10 – “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
- God loved us so much – He was willing to come down and live as a man – die on the cross!
- All because we were lost – we had no hope – we were destined for death and hell…
- Jesus came to bring us back – give us the hope of salvation and heaven!…
- Luke 1:1-4 – A solid foundation…
- Luke wrote his Gospel to confirm / give us confidence in our hope in Jesus…
- 1st – Through the writings of others – Gospels of Matthew / Mark…
- 2nd – Through the testimony of the 1st hand witnesses of the life of Jesus…
- 3rd – Through Luke’s own study of the life of Jesus (not a 1st hand witness)…
- 4th – Through the simplicity of the Gospel – the work of Jesus on the cross!
- The announcement of the birth of John the Baptist (3 things)…
- 1st – The people of God… vs. 5-7
- The timing of the events – ‘In the days of Herod the King’ – ruled 37 B.C. – 4 B.C.
- The name Herod can be confusing – because there are 4 of them in the Bible…
- Herod the Great – was the 1st Herod – King of Judea (under Rome)…
- A brilliant builder – he undertook massive construction projects in Judea…
- Building cities – Caesarea Maritime, Masada, the Herodian (man made mountain)…
- Most importantly – he rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem (2nd Temple)…
- He was not Jewish – he was the last Edomite (descendant of Esau)…
- He was a deeply paranoid man and he had several of his own wives and sons killed…
- His deep paranoia led him to try and kill Jesus – ‘The King of the Jews’ – Matthew 2:3
- Herod Antipas – was the son of Herod the great – married his brother Philip’s wife…
- John the Baptist apposed the adulterous marriage – Matthew 14:1 / Mark 6:14
- Herod had John arrested – and subsequently beheaded – at the request of his ‘wife’…
- Herod Agrippa – was the grandson of Herod the great (through Aristobulus)
- He was the man who killed the Apostle James (brother of John) – Acts 12:2
- He was killed by worms when men praised him as ‘the voice of a god’ – Acts 12:23
- Herod Agrippa II – was the great grandson of Herod the great (son of Herod Agrippa)…
- One of the judges of the Apostle Paul – sent him to stand trial in Rome – Acts 26
- Zacharias and Elizabeth…
- Zacharias was a priest – of the ‘division of Abijah’ – from the tribe of Levi…
- The priests – descendents of Aaron – divided into 24 groups – I Chronicles 24:1-18
- Abijah was the name of the 8th out of those 24 divisions…
- Each division would serve for 1 week in the Temple – two times each year…
- Elizabeth was also a ‘daughter of Aaron’ – from the priestly tribe of Levi…
- Both were righteous before God – walking in all the commandments of the Lord!
- They served the Lord faithfully – as priests – representatives of God to the people…
- All that to say Zacharias and Elizabeth were really good people…
- Yet they had no children – and were now very old…
- Not doubt they wanted children – they had prayed for children – but still no kids…
- When God does not answer the prayers of ‘bad people’ – that makes sense to us…
- But when God does not answer the prayers of ‘good people’ we get confused…
- We wonder why God would allow ‘good things’ to happen to ‘bad people’…
- And why God would allow ‘bad things’ to happen to ‘good people’…
- We forget that it is the goodness of God that leads to repentance – Romans 2:4
- And that it in the hard times – that is when we are the most dependent on God!
- So God lets ‘good things’ happen to ‘bad people’ to bring them to Jesus!
- And God lets ‘bad things’ happen to ‘good people’ to make them dependent on Jesus!
- We may not always understand how – God is always working to bring us to Jesus!
- 2nd – Prepared by God… (4 things) vs. 8-20
- 1st – Consistently coming to the Lord… vs. 8-14
- While Zacharias was serving his week in the temple as Priest… vs. 8
- His lot fell to offer incense to the Lord… vs. 9-10
- A once in a lifetime opportunity for a priest – a great honor…
- The Alter of incense was used to burn incense before the Lord in the Temple…
- It stood just in front of the Veil – the doorway to the Holiest of All (no Ark)
- The Lord told Israel He would meet with them there at the Alter – Exodus 30:36
- The incense was a picture – represented the prayers of the saints coming up to God…
- * Revelation 8:3 – “Another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.”
- We don’t have the Temple – or the Alter of Incense – to go to and meet with God…
- We have something better – access to the Lord anytime – anywhere – through prayer!
- And because Jesus removed the Veil – we can come right into God’s presence!
- Talk to God – hear from God – find help for the difficult times – Hebrews 4:16
- An angel of the Lord appeared to him standing on the right side of the Alter… vs. 11-14
- Zacharias was understandably frightened – but the Angel told him not to fear…
- His prayers had been heard – Elizabeth would have a son – John (God is gracious)
- I am sure this is a prayer Zacharias prayed MANY time – perhaps given up hope…
- Yet God did have an answer – God would bless him with a child – in His time…
- So often when we pray we give up after a week – or a month – or a year…
- But God does not call us just to pray – God calls us to be a people of prayer…
- If you child wants you to give them something – do they just ask once…
- A child asks – OVER and OVER and OVER – until we give them what they want…
- If we know how to give gifts to our kids – how much more our heavenly father!
- He will not give us things that will harm us – and He may not give us everything now
- But like our kids – we need to be persistent in seeking the Lord – don’t give up!
- Matthew 7:7 – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
- When the Lord does answer – there will be ‘great joy and gladness’!
- 2nd – Set apart for the Lord… vs. 15-17
- The Angel told Zacharias two things about John…
- 1st – His son would have a Nazarite vow – Numbers 6:2 – no wine/strong drink…
- A vow of separation – set apart for the work of God – from his mother’s womb
- Rather than being filled with wine – John would be filled with the Holy Spirit!
- God has called us to be set apart for Him – we are not to be like the world…
- If we look and act just like the world – why would they want to hear about Jesus!
- The world gambles / drinks / parties – all they have is momentary pleasure…
- If we are doing the same things – how are we any different from the world…
- * Ephesians 5:18 – “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.”
- When full of wine you do things you will regret (and likely not remember)
- When you are full of the Spirit you will do great things for God that never fade!
- 2nd – His son would go out in the Spirit and the power of Elijah…
- The very last verse of the Old Testament – the promise of Elijah
- Malachi 4:5-6 – “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children to their parents.”
- Elijah was to return and prepare the hearts of the people to receive the Messiah…
- John the Baptist would deny he was Elijah – John 1:21
- But Jesus would confirm John came in the ‘Spirit of Elijah’ – Mark 9:12
- Restoring the relationship between families – ‘heart of the fathers to the sons’
- Pointing to the restoring of relationship between God and man – through the cross…
- If we know families that are falling apart – no love – the answer is Jesus…
- If we know people who are far from God – the answer is Jesus…
- As we are set apart – different from the world – we will show them that answer!
- 3rd – Abiding in the Word of God… vs. 18
- Zacharias wanted proof – it was all too incredible to believe…
- An old man and woman having a son – is such a thing even possible…
- It sure was – this was not the first time it had happened – Abraham & Sarah…
- When God told Sarah she would have a son – she laughed – Genesis 18:9-15
- Sarah had not been able to have children when she was younger…
- How much more would she not be able to have kids now that she was very old…
- Sarah looked at the circumstances and saw that what God said was impossible…
- That means it was not her great faith that allowed God to do a Great work…
- God doesn’t do extraordinary works with extraordinary men and women…
- He does extraordinary works – through very ordinary, often doubtful, people!
- Nothing is too hard for the Lord…
- Luke 18:27 – “[Jesus] said, ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.’”
- Too often we look at God in terms of our abilities – what we are capable of doing…
- Because WE can’t do it – not enough time / money – we think it is impossible
- God isn’t limited by our abilities or understanding – God has no limitations at all!
- Our God is the God of the impossible!
- If Zachariah had looked to the word – rather than his circumstances – believed…
- To often we look at our mountain of problems and think – ‘its too big’…
- Our challenge is to get our eyes off our circumstances – and get them onto Jesus…
- Get into the Word of God – to strengthen our faith in Jesus – Romans 10:17
- Then we will see that Jesus is the God who has – and still does – move mountains!
- The Angels answered Zachariah – ‘I am Gabriel’…
- Gabriel – warrior of God – one of only two angels given a name in the Bible…
- He and Michael are believed to be Archangels – the chief of Angels…
- Michel is mentioned in relation to battling satan – Jude 1:9 / Revelation 12:7
- Gabriel is mentioned in connection to the coming of Jesus…
- Daniel 8:16 / 9:21 – prophesying the coming of the promised Messiah…
- Luke 1:19 – The announcement the birth of John the Baptist – forerunner of Jesus
- Luke 1:26 – The announcement of the birth of Jesus to Mary
- Because you did not believe…
- Zacharias wanted a sign – so Gabriel gave it to him – he wouldn’t be able to speak
- When we do not get into God’s Word – we will find we have nothing to say…
- The world has lots of idea/words – lots of solutions to the problem of life…
- But in reality they have nothing to say – just a lot of empty words…
- It’s only God’s Word that has all the answers – powerful – able to transform lives…
- 1st – Consistently coming to the Lord… vs. 8-14
- 3rd – Used by God… vs. 21-25
- Coming out of the Temple…
- The people outside were amazed Zacharias took so long in the Temple…
- But when he came out he could not speak – give the blessing to them – Numbers 6:24
- Instead he tried to tell them what had happened with his gestures…
- They got the idea – Zachariah had seen a vision from God while in the Temple!
- It had been 400 years since God spoke to His people through the prophet Malachi…
- Now – once again – God was using a man to reach out to His people!
- God desires to speak to His people – He desires to use us as His instruments…
- 1st – As we are persistent in prayer – we will get an answer for God – in His time…
- 2nd – As we are set apart for the Lord – not conformed to the world – shine for God…
- 3rd – As we abide in the Word of the Lord – we will believe God can do anything…
- We will find we are being used by the Lord – to reach out with His love to lost people!
- The promised Son…
- When Zachariah returned home – just as God promised – Elizabeth became pregnant!
- She hid herself for 5 months – likely in disbelief she was actually going to have a son!
- There is nothing more certain or sure in life – than God’s Word…
- If God says it – that settles it – there is no question – it will happen!