Survey of the Gospels, Part 2

Well, greetings once again to all of you. We are in our monthly Bible study. You may recall that we are going through a survey of the Gospels. Last time, we covered the four Gospel writers, the three Synoptic Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and then also the Gospel of John, what their differences were, why they were different, a little bit of the background of those who wrote the Gospels. And today, we will actually begin to get in the Gospel. It begins, of course, the Gospels, particularly in the history of the chronology that we're going through with Matthew and Luke. It begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ. And if you look at the genealogies that are provided in both Matthew and Luke, they are different. They are in places dramatically different from one another. And remember how I spoke earlier about the importance that they were writing from different perspectives. Many people who are skeptics look at the differences between the two genealogies, those who don't want to believe that there was a Christ, and they say, well, this proves that these books are nothing more than marvelous fables. They can't even get their facts in order. They can't even agree with one another. But the reality is that they were writing for two different reasons, from two different perspectives, and we'll talk about that a little bit for a minute. First of all, Matthew tells the story of the genealogy of Jesus Christ from the viewpoint and the lineage of Joseph. His version places Jesus in the history of Israel beginning with Abraham, and he lists only 42 generations. So he's focusing on Israel, he's focusing from Abraham on is a period of time. Luke, on the other hand, tells the story from the viewpoint and the lineage of either Mary or Joseph's maternal and sister of traditionally the church we've caught. Of course, that it's the lineage of Mary. Luke's version links Jesus with the whole human race, and it doesn't just go to Adam or go to Abraham. It goes all the way back to Adam. Luke lists 77 generations within the genealogy of Jesus Christ, rather than just 42. So let's focus a little bit more on some of the differences. Matthew begins with Abraham, and he concludes with Joseph, the husband of Mary. Matthew inserts historical information, and he mentions women in the genealogy, but he omits some male individuals. There are some literal gaps of men that he leaves out. Matthew is divided into three historical sections, so he focuses on the history. Luke, on the other hand, begins with Joseph, and he carries it all the way back to Adam. He does not insert historical information. What is the key? What were both of them trying to say in their own way, from their own perspectives, from their own point of view? They were trying to say that this proves that Christ was a descendant of Abraham, which was important to fulfill prophecy of who the Messiah would be, and that he was a descendant of King David. Again, that is important to emphasize the fulfillment of prophecy, and that Jesus Christ was that fulfillment.

Matthew mentions four women. Luke doesn't mention any women, and to be honest with you, because of their culture, it's unusual that women would have been mentioned at all. But Matthew does mention four women in the genealogies. Why? Why these four women? Well, there are some correlations that they seem to have. For example, Rahab was a Canaanite, Bathsheba was married to a Hittite, Ruth was from Moab and was a Moabites, and Tamar's origin is unknown. She may have very well been a Canaanite, if you remember the history. Judah married a Canaanite, and then he found a wife Tamar for his son. It doesn't tell us exactly what her ethnicity was, but since he married a Canaanite, it's possible that Tamar is a Canaanite as well. What Matthew is doing is preparing the reader to understand that there's an inclusion of Gentiles in Christ's mission, that Jesus Christ had Gentiles as part of his lineage, because God's grace, the calling that Jesus Christ has, is for peoples of all backgrounds and colors and ethnicities. Another interesting thing to consider is that Tamar and Rahab were monogamously challenged. Bathsheba was an adulteress, and Jesus had common and sinful ancestors who needed God's grace. And that's another reason why many believe that Tamar and Rahab and Bathsheba are included in there. Some of the more skeptical scholars—this will probably upset some of the women here—but some of the more skeptical scholars would include Ruth in there, saying that she was a seductress. You see, if you remember, her mother-in-law said, before you go and lay at the feet of Boaz, put on some new dress, put on some perfume, freshen yourself up, and then when he's asleep, go and lift the blanket up and lay down at his feet. So some of the more skeptical scholars would say, because she did that, that she was a seductress and that she would kind of be included in this lower list. I won't go that far because I have to go home today and live with my wife. So let's go on to the next slide. All right, let's go into the book of Luke.

End of the book of Luke here and begin examining some of Luke's writings as we're going in an orderly fashion through the survey of the Gospels. Luke chapter 1 and verse 1, inasmuch, as many have taken in hand the set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered to them, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first to write to you an orderly account, most excellent theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. What Luke is basically doing here is Luke was a physician, and by the very nature of being a physician, he had to be analytical. He had to be organized. He had to take a look at this and this and this and come to a conclusion. So, unlike some of the other Gospel writers, he was very systematic and organized in the way that he wrote the Gospel of the life of Christ. Now, the phrase most excellent theophilus for the believer study Bible says that that's a personal name, meaning friend of God, the person to whom the books of Luke and Acts were written, continuing, quote, however, his exact identity is unknown. Speculation has ranged from the generic friend of God intended to all Christians to a specific benefactor, perhaps in high social and or political standing. If the latter is true, the name may have been a pseudonym to protect the individual from persecution. So, Luke says, I'm going to write it as systematic and organized study of the life of Jesus Christ, and I'm writing this for you, theophilus. Let's pick it up now here in verse 5.

We begin the birth of John the Dipper. Now, if you were to look at the word Baptist in the original Greek, the meaning is very clear and why we have immersion baptism is he was known as, if you look at the Greek, Dipper, John the Dipper, because when he baptized, he literally took people and he dipped them, immersed them in the water and brought them out of the water, which is symbolic of the complete death, burial, and resurrection that we will certainly we long for. We look forward to because someday we will shed off this physical tent and need to be resurrected from the dead. Jesus Christ himself died and was resurrected from the from the dead. In baptism pictures, all water regraved. That's why when I was a five-year-old boy and taken to the front of the Methodist Church, and I remember this event because I was terrified as a five-year-old boy, I was drug up in front of the Methodist Church and they had a beautiful little ceremony and sprinkled water on me. And they called that baptism, but that is not a biblical form of baptism. A biblical form of baptism is an immersion which puts you in that watery grave and pictures and represents the old life dying, the old man with the urges and poles and temptations dying and coming up a new creature in Jesus Christ. And that can only be symbolized when you were immersed and put completely into the water and brought outside of the water.

So let's begin now, beginning in verse 5. There was, in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth and they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And it's because they were really fine people that they, as much as they could.

At this point, they don't have God's Spirit, but we'll see when they receive God's Spirit as we go through these scriptures. They were a people who strove for righteousness. And it's because they lived that kind of a life that God was able to work with them and use them in a powerful way. The name, by the way, Zacharias means Yah or Yahweh remembered. God remembers, and we'll see very shortly that God remembered his prayers. Here's what Adam Clark's commentary says about that phrase, division of Abijah.

That was in the verse that we just looked at. I want to quote, When the sacerdotal families, that is the priestly families, grew very numerous so that all could not officiate together at the tabernacle, David divided them into 24 classes that they might minister in turns. And it gives the scriptures and chronicles where this was instituted, each family serving a whole week. And again, it gives more scriptures. It says, Abiah was the eighth in the order in which they had been originally established.

Now, what does that mean? I'm going to try to give you a little bit of a chronology of how we can understand approximately when the birth of Christ occurred. Abijah was the eighth in the order. The order, according to Jewish tradition, began at the beginning of a new year. That's when the cycle started. The beginning of the Hebrew new year, which of course was in the springtime. So its service, the time that he served, would have been about eight to nine weeks after the beginning of the new year in the spring.

So around Pentecost of that year, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant. His one-week service would have ended. He would have gone home. She became pregnant, according to the angel's prophecy. Now, approximately March, the following year, nine months later, Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist. All right, let's continue following this through. According to Luke chapter 1 and verses 26 and 36, Mary was told by the angel, Gabriel, that she would soon conceive Jesus when Elizabeth was six months pregnant. And that is exactly what the angel said six months.

So this makes John six months older than Jesus. So if John was born in March, April of 4 BC, following the chronology of events that we've just walked through, Christ would have been born six months later, around September, October of 4 BC, near or literally on one of the fall holy days.

So that is a good general rule of thumb, in which can help us to determine when Christ, about the season Christ, would have been born in 4 BC. Let's go back to Luke now, chapter 1 and verse 7. But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. So it was that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord and the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the door of incense.

Now this is kind of fascinating because it was considered a distinct honor to be the one that was chosen by Lot to burn incense in the temple. This shows just the beginning of a series of events where God is intervening in Zacharias life to answer prayers and to begin to fulfill prophecy. The very Bible note says that the privilege of burning incense would happen only once in the lifetime of any priest.

By this time, there were so many priests, so many Levites, that the odds of the Lot falling on you was quite rare.

Now the burning of incense was considered an incredible honor within the priesthood in the tabernacle. On the high days, only the high priest could burn incense, but every other day, even common days, there were two times during the day that incense were burned in the morning and in the evening. And the incense were put on what was called an altar of incense, which was before or in front of the Holy of Holies.

Remember, only the high priest could go in there on the day of atonement. But before you got to that was an altar of incense. And enough would be put on this altar so that it would kind of linger. You would put some on in the morning, some on in the evening, and it would linger virtually 24 hours. It would have this scent of incense in the temple. The recipe was so sacred that if anyone tried to duplicate it, that they were immediately cut off from Israel. The recipe of this incense was so unique that no one was allowed to exactly replicate it and sell it within the community as a form of perfume or or incense that you might want to burn in your home.

So it was considered a very special act for the lock, the fall on you, and for you to be able to be in charge of burning incense in the temple. Let's go now to verse 11. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled and fear fell upon him. Because you don't see an angel standing on the right side of the altar of incense every day. He said, verse 13, but the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard.

What was his prayer? For years, he had been praying for a son. He had been praying even though his wife was now biologically too old to have a son, he had been praying faithfully for a son. And your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his 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 shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.

He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. Now, again, biologically, Elizabeth was too old to bear children. But we see here that John had quietly, within his temple duties, been praying for a son. Elizabeth is a personal name. That means, my God is good fortune, and we're going to see that good fortune would soon fall upon her, or my God has sworn an oath. John, on the other hand, is the Greek form of a Hebrew name, meaning Yahweh, the Lord has been gracious. It's very unique that anyone was given the Holy Spirit from birth. You did not find many individuals throughout the Old Testament or the New Testament that literally received the Holy Spirit at birth or in the womb.

The reason that John did is he was given a very special mission, and that mission was to prepare the way for the ministry of Jesus Christ. God was being gracious to them, to give an old couple who, biologically speaking, had no ability to have physical children, and to intervene in their lives and perform a miracle so that they could literally have a son who was given a special spiritual task. Let's now go to verse 16. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

He will also go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and, disobedient, the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready of people prepared for the Lord. Verse 18, and Zacharias said to the angel, How shall I know this?

For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years. Isn't that just like us as human beings? We pray for something, and when God answers that prayer, then we say, Well, how do I know that this is really going to happen?

Sometimes God must just scratch his head and say, They just don't get it. They just don't understand. Here was a man who had been praying perfectly for a son. Miraculously, an angel shows up, not just any angel, but Gabriel shows up and says, Your prayers are being heard. You're going to have a son. And he's skeptical. He says, Oh yeah? Well, how do I know I'm going to have a son?

He says, Because he answers him, I am Gabriel. I'm not just any angel. I'm God's personal emissary. I am his personal representative who serves by him in his throne to come down to make this information known to you. I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their own time. So, verse 17 says, In the spirit and power of Elijah, though John was of priestly descent, his role would be that of a prophet, rather than as a priest, like his father was. And he would sternly preach the need for repentance, just like Elijah did. And he would boldly confront political leaders, just like Elijah did, in order to encourage people to repent and change their ways. The believers study Bible says, To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children probably refers to the peace between fathers and children that would follow their response to John's ministry. One of the initial results of a new commitment to God should be the renewing of family life. And as we are called into the faith, and hopefully our families are eventually called into the faith, it should bring harmony and unity. And it should bring a greater sense of love and bond within our families, rather than tearing us apart. Verse 19 says, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. And again, Gabriel is a personal name, and it means the strong man of God. So it's God's personal emissary. God didn't just send any angel, but his very personal associate, his personal emissary. Gabriel also spoke to Daniel twice. If you look throughout scriptures, and you'll see that we will see he proclaims the birth of Jesus in Luke chapter 1 and verse 26. So even though Zacharias prayed for his son, he lacked faith when God answered his prayer. And how many times do we do that? How many times in our lives have we prayed for something, and God tries to answer that prayer, and we doubt. And we react by God trying to answer prayer in our lives by showing a lack of faith and showing doubt. Luke chapter 1 and verse 21.

Now, I'm going to read this in the New Century version. It says, So God made a promise, but he had to do his part in there being a son born into the world. So he left his temple duties, he went home, and he did his part as the husband so that he could show that it requires both faith and works in order for things to be achieved. The second thing that I want to draw to this verse is that Elizabeth's shame that she didn't have a child was because of a product of her culture.

God doesn't feel that way, but in the Semitic cultures, because they had very little physically, to have a child was very important. And not to be able to bear children in their cultures was considered shameful. Now, that's culturally induced. That's not biblically induced. That's culturally induced. But she had felt this sense of shame for a long time. By now, she was an old woman. She had never had children, and she had felt a sense of shame.

And that's why she kind of hit herself for a five-month period of time. Now, let's go to verse 26. Now, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel, same angel that spoke to Zacharias, was sent by God to the city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. But the virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, rejoice, highly favored one. The Lord is with you, blessed are you among women. But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was.

Like any of us, if something showed up out of nowhere, and you had an angel talking to you, you would be a little bit concerned and worried, because that is not an everyday event. Verse 30, then the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God, and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus.

Verse 31, you'll call his name Jesus. The Greek spelling of that word is I-E-S-O-U-S, and if you've ever wondered how it would be pronounced in Greek, it's Iesus. We say Jesus, we anglicize it because of our English culture, but the Greeks would pronounce his name Iesus. Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which of course is a Hebrew name, and means the Lord is salvation, and what an incredibly fitting name for none other than Jesus Christ, because he provides salvation, because of his life and death.

This is a personal name, and supersedes any Old Covenant name or title for the pre-existent Christ of the Old Testament. We are New Testament Christians, we are not Old Testament Christians, we are not under the Old Covenant, we are under the New Covenant, and our relationship with the Son of God is a relationship in knowing Jesus Christ. Now, in the New King James Version, the personal name Jesus is used 683 times without being connected to the word Christ. It just says Jesus doesn't have Christ anywhere in that verse. How many times?

Five times? Twenty times? A hundred times? No? 683 times. Now, some people are uncomfortable using the name Jesus alone without adding Christ to it. And I have felt the sting of that. I have been criticized. People say, well, Mr. Thomas uses the name Jesus too much.

You should be saying Christ, or Jesus Christ. Well, that's a Protestant thing just to say Jesus, and not to say Jesus Christ. Well, I'm sorry, but that understanding or that concept is a doctrine of men. That's not biblical. It's not biblical according to the 683 times that Jesus is used without Christ. Now, I'm the first one to admit that I get a little turned off if someone is Jesus, this, Jesus, that, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, almost like a mantra.

You know, I don't think that's very productive, and I don't think it's beneficial to do that. And in my own speaking, just for the sake of variety, I will oftentimes, and if you ever reviewed my notes, you would say that, you see where I say Jesus, and I might say Christ, and I might say Jesus Christ, because I'm looking for variety in the way that I present the personality of Jesus Christ. But, brethren, it is a doctrine of men.

If you feel uncomfortable saying Jesus, or hearing the word Jesus, not associated with Jesus Christ, the two words together, then that's something that's our problem. That's not a biblical problem. That's not a doctrinal problem. That is our individual problem that we need to work on. So, I just wanted to point that out. Verse 32, And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you. Therefore also, that holy one who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

Now, indeed, Elizabeth, your relative, and they were related, they were either first or second cousins, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age. And this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God, nothing will be impossible.

And I would like to highlight the fact that that's a good thing for us to remember. You're going through problems in your life? Are you going through frustrations? Are you going through things in which it doesn't seem like there's an answer? Well, if God could have a woman who was a virgin conceive a child, if the same God could have a woman who biologically speaking was no longer possible for her to have a child like Elizabeth and she became pregnant, then with God, nothing is impossible.

And no matter what you're going through in life, no matter what the trials and problems or temptations or frustrations, always remember with God nothing will be impossible. God can intervene, He will intervene, He loves you, and He wants to make a difference in your life. So I think that's a very important lesson that we all can learn from. Verse 32. I want you to notice the phrases that the angel uses here. It'll give him the throne of his father David.

Verse 33, rain over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Why is the angel using these phrases? Well, first of all, they're biblical, but they're from the Old Testament, and they were things that were promised by the prophets. All of these are prophecies, and they're true, and they will be fully completed upon His second coming. But what we're going to see is that they did not fully understand that is the people, even the people God was working with, they did not fully understand that Christ had a first coming before He had a second coming.

They were all looking forward to Israel being restored. They were all looking forward to a kingdom being established by or on earth. And they say that over and over again. But what they didn't understand is that He had the first come to earth as a lowly, humble servant of God. He had the first come to earth to be the ultimate Passover and die and shed His blood. That something had to happen to make the reconciliation possible so that He could come back in His second return, and He could at that time restore Israel, and He could restore God's kingdom on earth that God had originally intended, an Eden that was lost through human sin.

Let's go now to verse 4. Once while He was meeting with them, He ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised. And the reason I want to insert this scripture from the book of Acts is I want to show you again that even after three and a half years of working with His disciples, they didn't quite get the fact that He had to come twice. Everyone was always looking for the kingdom.

And you know what? Perhaps if I lived in the oppressed Roman Empire, maybe that's what I would have thought about all the time too. You know, get me out of here. Tear down this Gentile kingdom. Restore your kingdom on earth. Have all of these beautiful and wonderful prophecies regarding Abraham's descendants fulfilled. So it says, this is just before Jesus is ascended. Once while He was meeting with them, He ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised. And Jesus said to them, I've told you what the Father promises. John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

So He's edging them on about the fact that there's something important that has to happen before I can return to earth and set up this kingdom and restore Israel and complete all of these beautiful prophecies. What is that task? That task is preaching the good news of who and what I am, and that I am coming back with that kingdom throughout the whole world. But you know what, brethren? They didn't get it. They were looking for physical, instant fulfillment of a kingdom right now. Verse 6. So when the apostles came together, they asked Him, Lord, is this the time when you're going to restore the kingdom of Israel? And Jesus says in verse 7, Jesus told them, you don't need to know about times or periods that the Father is determined by His own authority. Verse 8. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you then. You will be my witnesses to testify about me in Jerusalem throughout Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. That is the role and purpose, the completion of His first coming, the preaching of the Gospel. That's why we're going to have the kingdom of God seminars. That's why we invest so much money in television and booklets. And the things that we do as an outreach, the preach, the Gospel. Because that has to be completed first before these beautiful prophecies about restoring Israel and establish a government without end over all the earth can even happen. And unfortunately, His disciples and many of the Jews at that time didn't get the fact that He had to fulfill and do something first, the first time He came to earth before anything else could even happen. Now, Mary, I find this interesting. I'll go back to the survey of the Gospels. Mary is a Greek personal name equivalent to the Hebrew marium, and it means rebellious or bitter. Now, we don't get the impression that she herself was rebellious or bitter, but it could reflect the fact of how the typical Jew felt that day under the thumb of the pagan Roman Empire. That people were bitter under the bondage that the Romans had them under. They didn't have religious freedom.

There were many things that they could not enjoy. They could not fulfill the Old Covenant relationship with God because they were under the thumbs of the Roman Gentile rulers. So because of that, that could be why she was particularly given the name Mary. All the Jews felt a sense of rebelliousness wanting to throw off the shackles of the Romans and being able to try to restore the lineage of David and the throne of David. And that's why they talk about that so often. Verse 35, it said, And since it was the Holy Spirit that overshadowed her and the Holy Spirit that came upon her, you would expect in that case that the Holy Spirit would be the actual Father of Jesus Christ, not God the Father. But the Holy Spirit is not a personage. There is no Trinity. It is not part of a Trinity. It is the energizing power of God to do His will. And that's why it says, Verse 38, And it happened when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary that the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, this is also interesting because if you look at the Old Covenant, you will find oftentimes that the Holy Spirit would literally fall on people. It would fall on prophets and suddenly they would start singing songs or they would start just saying why sayings or prophetic statements out of nowhere. It literally fell on them. Whereas when you become part of the New Covenant, it is through a process after repentance and baptism and you receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. But in true Old Testament fashion, she literally, instantly, was filled with the Holy Spirit as the babe leaped in her womb.

Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, Verse 3, let's take a look at this verse again. It says that she had left her own city in haste and entered the house of Zacharias and she greeted Elizabeth. You may remember the fact in Luke chapter 1 and verse 36 where Elizabeth was called a relative. They actually were first or second cousins.

Mary was very young and this may shock you in your modern 21st century sensibilities. But in Jewish society, a girl was betrothed to be married at age 13. Usually she was married within a year, a little year or more. So quite young for our society today. On the other hand, Elizabeth was very old. She was beyond childbearing years.

Yet they were related. They were first or second cousins. That also means that John and Jesus were also related. They may have been third cousins or cousin far removed or whatever, but they also had a relative relationship, both John and Jesus together.

Verse 43, And then when we enter verse 46, we go into 10 verses which literally are a song or a poem from Mary. Now, the Catholics make a big issue of the Magnificat. We don't, but it's still, it is a beautiful 10 verse song or poem that is uttered by Mary.

So we'll take a look at it in verse 46. And Mary said, Let's stop right there before we finish the rest of the poem.

The Believer's Study Bible says, regarding these verses, 46 to 56, Mary's song, called the Magnificat, makes free use of the song of Hannah from 1 Samuel and is a song of praise to God. This is the first of four hymns that are recorded in Luke, and it shows you there where they are recorded. Also her phrase, The word savior is from the Greek word sotar, meaning deliverer. She was saying, My spirit rejoices in God, my deliverer, and indeed Jesus Christ would deliver all of us from our sins. Let's continue in her psalm or her poem.

And those are the ten verses. If you look closely at those ten verses, you will find 16 Old Testament verses.

What does that mean? Well, it means that Mary was very knowledgeable and familiar with scriptures. Obviously she was motivated by the Holy Spirit as well, but she was an educated young girl who knew what the Hebrew scriptures said. So here Mary speaks as an Old Testament prophetess. Some of her statements she makes were fulfilled at the first coming of Jesus, and others that she just stated in these ten verses will be fulfilled completely at his second coming. So her song, her poem is actually a prophecy about Jesus Christ. Now let's go to verse 56. And Mary remained with her about three months, it could very well be that she was there until John's birth, or near the time of his birth, and returned to her house. Now Elizabeth's full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her. And it was unusual for a woman that old in order to be able to bear a son. It was truly miraculous. Verse 59, so what was on the eighth day that they came to circumcise the child, and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. His mother answered and said, no, he shall be called John. I'm just curious, those of you who had children, for those of you who had children, how many of the moms decided what the name was going to be? I was just kidding, don't raise your hands. I happen to know that it's a lot of moms, at least in our culture. Maybe the majority of moms today who decide what the child's name is going to be. But we have to realize that this set everybody back, because tradition said that the son gets the dad's name, and you do not deviate from that. Who says, well, you do not deviate from that? I mean, it was a cultural tradition. But they said, there's no one among your relatives who is called by this name of John. His mother answered again, she said, no, his name shall be called John. But they knew, they remembered, they respected what the angel Gabriel had said. He said, in Luke chapter 1 and verse 13, that Elizabeth would bear a son, and you shall call his name John. And it shows that they were going to reject tradition, no matter how much peer pressure they were under. They were going to reject tradition, and they were going to be obedient to what they had been told.

Luke chapter 1 and verse 62. So they made signs to his father, and he said, all right, well, we're not going to listen to Mom. We're going to go to the old man and find out what his opinion is on this matter. It says, so they made signs to his father what he would have him called. They tried to ignore Elizabeth altogether. Verse 63. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, saying, his name is John. So they all marveled immediately. His mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. So he had, because, you remember, he lacked faith when he was told his prayer fulfilled, and he was going to have a son. He questioned Gabriel. He immediately was unable to speak. So for this nine-month-plus period of time, he was speechless. He was not able to say anything. But at the time, on the eighth day, when it came time to dedicate this infant child, according to the law of Moses, you may probably know that on the eighth day of human life, the vitamin K levels are extremely high in children. And that is a reason that God chose the eighth day. It was designed that way so that when they would have their foreskin cut off, vitamin K is an important vitamin to clot the blood, so that the blood would clot and the child would remain healthy. When this came, that his tongue was loosed, and he immediately spoke after nine-plus months, and he praised God. Then fear came on all who dwelt around them, and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, What kind of child would this be? And the hand of the Lord was with them. So what do we want to emphasize here in verses 64 and 65? It says that fear came upon them all. This wasn't a fear of terror. This was a feeling of awe that they had personally witnessed a divine intervention in a series of miracles. They witnessed an angel having visitations with a number of people here. I mean, that is something that does not happen all the time. John, in his very action of burning incense in the temple, had the privilege of the visitation from not just any angel, but the angel Gabriel. Then, he was speechless. That was another miracle. He lost his ability to speak for nine plus months. And that was another miracle that kept them in awe, suspense, as I saw a series of events that were going on. Then Elizabeth became pregnant. That should not happen. She was an elderly woman who was beyond childbearing years. All of her eggs had been exhausted. She should not have become pregnant. Yet she did.

And that's not all! Then she gave a birth, a live, healthy birth, to John. And we have to realize that in this culture at this time, it was probably a small percentage of children who were conceived, whoever lived to literally be born alive. I mean, this was a period of time of disease. A lot of women died in childbirth. If you go to the Ohio cemeteries and just look at the graves of women who lived 100 and 150 years ago, you will be stunned at how many women died during childbirth at that time. Before there were C-sections. Before there were a lot of the monitors and things that we have now. It was quite common for women to die in childbirth. So she not only became pregnant, but nine months later she gave birth to a live, healthy son that was yet another miracle. And then, on the eighth day when John is circumcised, Zacharias, his speech returned. So they were all in absolute awe and wonder that this was something special, that this indeed was God's intervention going on in their lives. Luke 1 and verse 67, Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. So we saw where Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, Mary has been filled with the Holy Spirit. Now Zacharias has been filled with the Holy Spirit, saying verse 68, Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have since, who have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to Abraham our father. It's a very beautiful prophecy uttered by Zacharias as he is filled with the Holy Spirit. But again, brethren, as we saw earlier, there is excitement about the role of Christ establishing a kingdom, restoring Israel to throne of David, fulfilling the promises made to Abraham, the promises made by many other prophets. But Jesus had to have a dual role as a Savior and a King. First, he had to come to earth as a humble servant willing to be the ultimate, total, complete Passover lamb. And shed his blood so that men's sins could be forgiven, so that mankind as a whole and us as individuals could have a reconciliation and begin a meaningful relationship with our God. He had to establish his church, and that church had a worldwide mission, and that is to preach the good news of the second part of his role, the coming kingdom of God, and to preach it in advance, and to make disciples of those who would understand and believe what the role of Jesus Christ was. So these things had to occur first, and often his first mission was overlooked or misunderstood by most of the Jews of his day. Then only when that occurred, and that is still being fulfilled as the Gospel is being preached to the world, secondly, he would return to earth as King of kings, and as the one to restore the throne of David, and as the one to fulfill the covenant with Abraham, and to restore the kingdom of God on earth, kingdom without end. And certainly we all long for that, and we look forward to that at the return of our Savior Jesus Christ. Let's now go to Matthew 11, verse 27. And this is a scripture I actually read in my sermon last week, and I reversed it. I read this scripture talking about how Christ came to reveal the Father. Do you remember that? Well, the scripture also says within it that the Father came to reveal the Son. If you look at it closely, Matthew 11, verse 27.

What does that mean? Well, they know of the Messiah. They know because of the prophets of the King that will arrive to earth someday, that will restore Israel to its glory, that will usher in the kingdom of God. But what they don't know is that He is a son.

There's a family relationship, and because He is the Son, He has to come to earth. He has to empty Himself with His divinity, walk on earth as a mere man, resist temptations and trials and problems and not sin for 30-plus years of His life, die as the ultimate Passover, and remain the Son of God. Our High Priest, our Christ, our Jesus, Savior, our intermediary, that all of these things were revealed by the Father to you and I who are sitting in this room. So it says, no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. So the Jews knew about the returning kingly Messiah from the prophets, but they didn't know much about Jesus' role as the sacrificial Son. And that role had to be completed, and His Church's role, hint hint, had to be completed before the second role that Jesus Christ fulfills is done. Paul says, writing about Himself in Galatians 1, verse 15, But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me through His grace, verse 16, to reveal His Son in me, Paul knew about the prophecies regarding the Messiah, he knew about the prophecies regarding the Christ, but he did not know about the relationship of the Father and the Son. And what did he immediately do? That I might preach Him among the Gentiles, because it's about salvation. It's about reconciliation. Preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood. He just went and He did His job. He did what God called Him to do. Luke chapter 1 and verse 74, we're actually wrapping up the Bible study today, continuing in this statement here, To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life, and you, child, will be called the prophet of the highest. Very beautiful words about the birth of John. For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the dayspring from on high has visited us. They give light to those who sit in darkness, and the shadow of death that guide our feet into the way of peace. So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts, till the days of His manifestation to Israel. So He lived in the desert. He did not drink strong wine or wine or strong drink, and He prepared Himself for a time when He would begin His ministry as John the Baptist, to prepare the way for the ministry of Jesus Christ. Verse 77, it says to give the knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, and that's exactly what it says He did. In Mark chapter 1 and verse 4, He did preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. He did baptize by immersion. He put people, and if you look at the Scriptures, it says they came out of the water. If you're sprinkled with water, you don't come out of the water. And He literally baptized people for the remission of their sins. Now, what He didn't understand that was not part of His ministry was He did not have the ability to give people the power of the Holy Spirit, which comes by the laying on of hands. But He had His own particular ministry to fulfill before the return of Christ. In verse 78, when it says the day spring from on high has visited us, the Believer's Study Bible says the day spring from on high indicates that the Messiah's coming would be like the coming of dawn, light driving away darkness. And indeed, that happened. That's the end of today's Bible study. I thank you for your attention today.