JOHN THE BAPTIST IS BORN LUKE 1: 57-80

JOHN THE BAPTIST IS BORN
LUKE 1: 57 - 80

   57) When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.  58) Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

 59) On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60) but his mother spoke up and said, "No!  He is to be called John."

   61) They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name."

   62) Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.  63) He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John."  64) Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God.  65) The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things.  66) Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?"  For the Lord's hand was with him.

   67) His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

68) "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

   because He has come and has redeemed His people.

69)He has raised up a horn of salvation for us

   in the house of His servant David.

70) (as He said through His holy prophets of long ago),

71) salvation from our enemies

   and from the hand of all who hate us--

72) to show mercy to our fathers

   and remember His holy covenant,

  73)  the oath He swore to our father Abraham:

74) to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,

   and to enable us to serve Him without fear

   75) in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

76) And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most

   High;

for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way

   for Him,

77) to give His people the knowledge of salvation

   through the forgiveness of their sins,

78) because of the tender mercy of our God,

   by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

79) to shine on those living in darkness

   and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace."

80) And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.    Luke 1: 57-80   The Life Application Study Bible   (NIV)

COMMENTARY

   The circumcision ceremony was an important event to the family of a Jewish baby boy.  God commanded circumcision when He was beginning to form His holy nation, and He reaffirmed it through Moses.  This ceremony was a time of joy when friends and family members celebrated the baby's becoming part of God's covenant nation.

   Zechariah's relatives talked to him by gestures, because he was apparently deaf as well as speechless and had not heard what his wife had said.

   Zechariah praised God with his first words after months of silence.  In a song that is often called the Benedictus after the first words in the Latin translation of this passage.  Zechariah prophesied the coming of a Savior who would redeem His people, and he predicted that his son John would prepare the Messiah's way.  All the Old Testament prophecies were coming true--no wonder Zechariah praised God!  The Messiah would come in Zechariah's lifetime, and his son had been chosen to pave the way.  

   The Jews were eagerly awaiting the Messiah, but they thought He would come to save them from the powerful Roman empire.  They were ready for a military Savior, but not for a peaceful Messiah who would conquer sin.

   This was God's promise to Abraham to bless all peoples through him.  It would be fulfilled through the Messiah, Abraham's descendant.

   Zechariah had just recalled hundreds of years of God's sovereign work in history, beginning with Abraham and going on into eternity.  Then, in tender contrast, he personalized the story.  His son had been chosen for a key role in the drama of the ages.  Although God has unlimited power, He chooses to work through those who are faithful to Him.

   Why did John live out in the desert?  Prophets used the isolation of the uninhabited desert to enhance their spiritual growth and to focus their message of God.  By being in the desert, John remained separate from the economic and political powers so that he could aim his message against them.  He also remained separate from the hypocritical religious leaders of his day.  His message was different from theirs, and his life proved it.

   MY THOUGHTS

   What an awesome time!  The message had been told for generations, now Zechariah's son was to play a part in the most important event ever in history.  What an honor! 

   I praise God for those who chose God in the past, and I pray for us today, that God might find "50 righteous".  (This phrase comes from Abraham asking God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah). Amen? 

   Do you know my Jesus?  Click this link to know more about His gift of salvation:  http://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html. 




If this ministry is a blessing to you, you are encouraged to leave us a comment and to share this post on your favorite social media.  

You can also follow me at http://omaspolitics.blogspot.com/, http://omaslife.blogspot.com/, and http://omashealth.blogspot.com/.  Just click the links.