Luke 1:6-17 Bible Teaching

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So we left off where Luke, speaking chronologically, introduces John the Baptists parents, Zachariah and Elizabeth and said in verse 6:

Luke 1.6-17
April 14th 2019
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6And they were both righteous before YHWH, blamelessly walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
7And they had no child because that Elisabeth was barren and they were both advanced in years.
8 Now, when serving as priest during the cycle of his service,
9According to the custom of the priest’s office, he was, by lot, to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
10And the whole multitude of the people were outside praying at the hour of incense. 11And an angle of the Lord appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12And Zacharias was troubled seeing him, and fear came upon him.
13But the angel said to him, Fear not, Zacharias: for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elisabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John.
14And you will have joy and gladness; and many will have joy at his birth.
15For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and will not drink wine nor strong drink; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
16And will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their YHWH.
17And he will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

This is a fascinating passage because IF you are a biblical literalist then we must take the passage at face value and decide that prior to Christ it was possible for a human being (in this case human beings) to walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly AND to be called righteous before God!

Of course, this rhetoric smacks directly against the evangelical speech that says all are condemned before God and they quote the passage that says,

The is none righteous, no not one,” a phrase that is repeated several times in the Old Testament.

So what do we do? How to reconcile these apparent conflicts?

It seems that relative to the Law, Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous and blameless before the Lord – and that the other passages mentioned are speaking of people relative to their own merits and without the temporary covering of the blood of bulls and goats.

So John the Baptist came from royal lines as his father was a priest and his mother the daughter of a priest.

As we said last week they were descendants from the family of Amram, with a priestly heritage that came through the most illustrious characters of the Nation of Israel.

We note, however that even though Luke is describing the Baptists heritage in this way, Jesus said, in Luke 7:28

“For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of YHWH is greater than he.”

So back to the story of his birth (verse 7)

7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

Of course we again have a scenario that hearkens back to the Old Covenant and Abraham and Sarah here. In verses 8-10 Luke lays out some history for us, saying:

8 And it came to pass, that while he (Zachariah) executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,
9 According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

The custom was that they would casting lots to decide who would do what when in the temple service (verse 10)

10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the time of incense.

Verse 11

11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

In Judges 13:22; Daniel 10:8; Luke 1:29; 2:9; Acts 10:4, and Revelation 1:17 we have instanced where angels interact with human beings and the results in each of those cases were terror, fear, weakness and even falling on the face.

There is something powerful that exists in an exchange between human and heavenly beings and in most accounts from the Bible we read of people having the same response as Zachariah. Verse 13

13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John

Now, we do not know what prayer the angel is referring to. For starters, the angel could have been referring to a prayer that had been offered years or even decades before that they would be able to have a child, or in more probability a son as to me it seems doubtful that he or Elizabeth were still asking to get pregnant.

I could be wrong about this, but this is the first thought. The second thought is he could have been praying that God would sent the Messiah to save them.

Or perhaps it could have been both?

We don’t know. All we know is that in direct correlation to his prayer, the angel says that it has been answered, and that his wife was to bear a son, and they were to name him John (which means, God’s gracious gift).

The angel continues and says:

14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. (WHY? He tells us . . . verse 15)
15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord,

Isn’t that a fascinating line? He will be GREAT in the sight of the Lord! I mean that is really saying something isn’t it?

He will be megas is the Greek, which can mean Big, or great or large, loud or mighty! I’ll go with mighty.

Note that the words are, “He WILL be great in the sight of the Lord.”

I suggest that this eliminates any sort of pre-existence worthiness or merit on the part of the Baptist but instead that God established, prior to his existence, what he would be and do.

In addition to Jeremiah 1:5, where we read:

“before I FORMED thee in the belly I knew thee and sanctified thee a prophet,”

This is a fantastic passage that depicts the omniscience of God’s knowledge and his hand in orchestrating the purpose of life in some people.

Finally, the phrase, “In the sight of the Lord” – best means in “the presence of the Lord” and not sight as in his vision.

I personally really find this fascinating. John the Baptist was one unique individual created by God in such wild ways to do such wild and unique things – some of which the angels continues to describe, saying:

. . . and (he, meaning the Baptist) shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.

Let me address this last line first because again, if you are a biblical literalist we have an exception to the rule that Jesus had to first die on the cross and be raised again BEFORE the Holy Spirit could indwell in anyone.

This is a standard view within theological circles. But if you are going to be literal, Luke here clearly suggests that even from his own mother’s womb, John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit.

So, let’s first look to the Greek words involved in this translation that says,
“filled with the Holy Spirit EVEN from his mothers womb.”

First of all, Luke is the only writer of any of the writers who describes the Holy Spirit as filled in a person (as being filled with or even full of – Luke is the only one who describes it this that way).

Other writers say, with the Holy Ghost, of the Holy Ghost, by the Holy Ghost, and/or through the Holy Ghost.

It could be that Luke uses this phrase most because he was the author of the Book of Acts which is when the Holy Spirit came into the world and dwelled in human beings.

And while there are other Greek words that describe fill filled or full, the term Luke uses here to describe not only John the Baptist (while in-utero), but ALSO that of his mother Elizabeth AND his Father Zachariah (even PRIOR to the birth of Jesus) it is the very same term he uses when describing the Holy Spirit falling and filling the Apostles at Pentecost!

Let’s consider the YLT translations to see what it says:

Luke 1:15 (YLT) for he shall be great before the Lord, and wine and strong drink he may not drink, and of the Holy Spirit he shall be full, even from his mother’s womb;

How could John the Baptist be filled with the Spirit before he was born if Jesus had not even paid for the sins of the world?

First of all, the scripture is clear:

Children, even infants possessed a sinful nature, which argues for the fact that we are born sinners.

Proverbs 22:15 says, “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child.”

David says in Psalm 51:5, “Surely I was sinful at birth, / sinful from the time my mother conceived me”

And Psalm 58:3 says “from birth the wicked go astray; / from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies”

Ephesians 2:3 says before being saved we “we were by nature deserving of wrath.”

The doctrine is that we deserved God’s wrath not only because of our actions but also because of our nature – a nature that we all inherited from Adam.

Romans 8:8 says:

“Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:8).

And so the doctrine is we were dead in our sins before Christ raised us to spiritual life (Ephesians 2:1).

I believe and accept this as universally true. But then we are presented with the curveballs of scripture. And this is one of them.

The in-utero John the Baptist isn’t described as having the spirit moving and influencing him like it did on the prophets of old.

The scripture makes it clear that John would be FILLED with the Spirit while he was in the womb.

Verse 15 is the prophesy of the angel to Zacharias. Several months later we read the fulfillment of the prophesy.

It appears to have occurred Elizabeth, preggars with John was greeted by Mary. We will cover these verses in depth but this is what is said:

Lu 1:39 ¶ And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;
40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe (John) leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled (same Greek as at Pentecost) with the Holy Ghost:
42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

From this I think we learn some interesting things:

That John did not say a sinners prayer but merely hearing the voice of the mother of Jesus was filled – according to his mother who was also filled.

Perhaps there is something to the idea that if a pregnant mother is spirit filled it can transfer to the child? We have a saying in the faith that God has no grandchildren but in the case of the Baptist, the record says that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and then Elizabeth confirms that the Holy Spirit moved the babe to leap.

Of course, the reverse could also be true and John, hearing the voice of Mary could have been filled and THEN his mother.

All we know is both Elizabeth and John the Baptist in-utero, were filled with the Holy Spirit before Jesus was even born, let alone suffered, died and rose again.

We also learn that in utero babies have a capacity to relate to things in the outside world. And whatever the leaping babe was trying to communicate, Elizabeth ties it to him being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Though in-utero John was in the presence of Christ, also in-utero, which seems to mean that here the Messiah was first presented to John.

This was enough, and while not a fully sentient being capable of language, the Baby John responded to the presence of the Messiah – which was his call in life – to make way for the Messiah. It seems to have started here while still inside the mothers.

From this we can say something zealots will not admit:

From what we can tell, the baby John did not understand the death, burial, and Resurrection of the Messiah.

Just like the Thief on the Cross did not pray a sinner’s prayer nor seemed to know that that Jesus was dying for his sins or the sins of the world. Nor did the thief demonstrate that he knew Christ would rise on the 3rd day.

Yet in spite of all this ignorance and all the overwhelming mockery around him, the Thief sensed something unique about Christ and chose to embrace what he did know.

So, it was with John, the chosen frontrunner of Christ.

MeanVangelicals make a huge deal of receiving Jesus their way. But from the example of in-utero John and the thief on the cross, Jesus can be known with salvivic knowledge, without knowing the specifics.

To me both the thief and John in-utero demonstrated faith in the presence of Christ.

We might suggest that John, in-utero, as evidenced by the leaping, was immediate obedience to the presence of the unborn Lord.

In other word he suspected or innately knew that he was in the presence of the one whose shoes he was not worthy to even tie.

And in his own, limited expression, submitted.

We also will readow that after all of this that Mary remained with Elizabeth continually for three months.

Perhaps it was during this time that the Creator, the pre-incarnate Word who would be born six months after John, taught the in-utero child, and prepared him by the Spirit, to fulfill his ministry.

We know that the word of the Lord does not return void and in John’s life this was greatly shown.

Interestingly, we will learn that while being called cousins, John will claim to have not met the Messiah prior to his ministry to introduce him.

And yet seeing him for the first time he identified him as the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.

Perhaps this was all possible by John knowing Christ in and through these early days of association with him.

It seems that, in the light that God cannot be boxed in, John that Baptist broke all the rules when it came to being born from above and putting an end to his natural, fleshly sinful ways.

While a sentient being in-utero, meaning while in a body of flesh, John, upon meeting the Messiah, was filled with the Holy Spirit. He was then baptized in the womb – was born baptized – and came forth, a new creature in Christ, ready to live an austere life dedicated to preparing the way of the Lord.

In all of this we can see that God works in whatever ways possible to bring about his will and to give life to things dead (as in the womb of Elizabeth) and things feeble and without perfect understanding (like John the Baptist) or dying men in their last breath (like the thief on the cross).

Because of this event in John’s life Jesus said in Matthew 11:11

Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist:

So that was the last line of verse 15.

But we read:

15For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and will not drink wine nor strong drink; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

Of course, the fact that he would not drink wine nor strong drink is alluding to the fact that the Baptist was, from birth, under a Nazarite vow.

It alludes but is not certain – just highly probable.

Here’s why.

One of the qualifications to be a Nazarite is that he couldn’t drink wine. This comes from Numbers 6:3 which says:

“He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.

Because verse 15 here in Luke 1 says that John would not drink wine nor strong drink it appears that John the Baptist was conforming to the laws of the Nazarites.

So by association to this idea, another qualifications for being a Nazarite was that the hair could not be cut.

Numbers 6:5 says: “All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no rasor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.”

Now, in scripture there are three Nazarites mentioned in the Bible from BIRTH. There are those who take the vow for a period of time, but from birth there are three.

Samson
Samuel
John the Baptist

Interestingly, all three of these men were born of women who had experiences with God prior to conception.

Of Samson we read that God said to his mother:

Judges 13:5 (KJV) For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

And then regarding Samuel we read:

1 Samuel 1:11 (KJV) And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

It is interesting that God came to Samuel too, as a child however and not an infant, and spoke to him.

And then, of course, there’s John the Baptist. So, if John the Baptist was a Nazarite, and it appears that he was, he would have had long hair and a beard.

After all of this we can see some of the meaning behind the angel telling Zacharias that his future son would be great before the Lord. (verse 16)

16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

Of course this is a straight up prophecy pointing back to Malachi (the last book of the Old Testament) where he said some 400 years before the arrival of John the Baptist on the scene:

Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Obviously, this is apocalyptic language Malachi employs in here in the last chapter of the last book of the Tanakh.

And there is no mistake that the apostolic record opens up with John the Baptist warning the Nation, some 400 years later, that they needed to repent and turn, for the day was at hand, and with the ax laid at the root of the tree, and that what Malachi said about burning and fire and stubble not leaving root nor branch was the wiping out of Jerusalem that would occur in 70 AD.

Malachi continues at verse 2 having God say:

2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; (meaning Jesus) and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. (cared for and protected)
3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

And then at verse 5 the Lord says

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Well these very words are repeated here by Luke by the angel to Zachariah in describing his future son, John.

How did John turn many of the children of Israel to their God? By calling them to repentance in preparation for the day Malachi warned about. And by repenting they would be ready to receive the Messiah sent to save them. As the angels says verse 17 says back in Luke:

17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Manuscript evidence does not support the use of Lord here but instead only says, “him.” For clarity, Lord has been inserted (replacing him as the him) and is obviously referring to the “Lord their YHWH” in the previous verse.

We note that the prediction says that John the Baptist would come “before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”

“Dreadful” refers to the obliteration of everything related to that former age – the temple, genealogy, the material nation of Israel and their priesthood, which occurred at the 70AD destruction of Jerusalem.

The people John was coming to prepare before that great and dreadful day was the Bride of Christ, or those in that day and age who believed and received Yeshua as Lord and Savior by faith.

These were the church that “the gates of hell would not prevail against.”

We read that John would come, “In the spirit and power of Elijah.” Some sects have debated on what this means as some believe that Elijah himself was to return, etc. But our answer to this is clearly given by Jesus himself in Matthew 11 where he says:

13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John (the Baptist). 14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.

Doesn’t get more plain than that, folks.

When the angel told Zachariah that his future great son would “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,” by the time of his birth the Jews were divided into a number of different sects.

These were violently opposed to each other and they pursued their anger with great animosity.

This religious violence found its way into families and divide parents and children from each other.

John came that he might allay these animosities and produce better feeling.

How?

By directing them all to one Master, the Messiah, he could divert their attention from the causes of their difference and bring them to union with each other under a greater cause and purpose – the arrival of the Christ.

And the angel finishes with the fact that this son would turn:

“. . . the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

The disobedient here refers to the wicked and rebellious. In his preaching of repentance he would help turn them to what the angel calls, “the wisdom of the just,” meaning the wisdom of those who were just before God.

And finally he adds:

“To make ready a people for the Lord.”

To prepare them for his coming.

Remember, these were the members of the House of Israel. They were prepared by history and tradition to purify themselves before the arrival of his appearing before them.

In Exodus 19:14-15 we read:

14 And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.
15 And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.

And so, when God in the man Jesus of Nazareth was about to appear as the Redeemer, he required that men should prepare themselves for his coming.

So in view of the future judgment–the second coming of the Son of man–he requires that men should repent, believe, and be pure.

In preparation for his return, the Apostle Peter wrote some interesting words that speak to the second coming of Christ to get the Bride John came to warn, and he said in 2nd Peter 3 beginning at verse 11:

11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

All of this began, to them/then, when Zacharias was told by the angel that his aged wife was going to give birth to a son who was to be named, John.

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