New York UBF - NY University Bible Fellowship

2008 Christmas Lesson 1

SOMETHING TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

Luke 1:1-25
Key Verse: 1:13

“But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.’”

Most jewels are found buried in the earth. But pearls are different. They come from inside living creatures, oysters that live in the ocean. The formation of a beautiful pearl begins when a foreign substance slips into the oyster between the mantle and the shell, irritating the mantle. It’s kind of like the oyster getting a splinter. Have you ever had a splinter in your finger tip? It’s very painful. The oyster’s natural reaction is to cover up that irritant to protect itself. The mantle covers the irritant with layers of the same substance, called nacre that is used to create the shell. This eventually forms a beautiful pearl. While living in this world, seemingly needless suffering often invades our lives. We wonder why God lets His loving children suffer in such seemingly unnecessary ways. But we should remember how a beautiful pearl is formed in a wounded oyster. No wounds, no pearls! In fact, God is doing in each of his beloved children’s lives something mysterious, which is too good to be true. Recently, many of us have been deeply distressed by negative emotions and fatigue due to the nation’s failing economy. Life in general seems to be getting harder and more stressful. In today’s passage, we see that the time in which Zechariah lived was even worse. However, the angel Gabriel brings him such good news that it sounds too good to be true. Let’s think about what the birth of John the Baptist mean to Zechariah, Elizabeth and to us today.

First, Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard (5-17)

Luke’s gospel was written around A.D. 60, almost 30 years after the ascension of Christ. At that time, many people had tried to write accounts about the story of Jesus Christ, based on the testimonies of eye-witnesses, which had been handed down from mouth to mouth. Luke was one of them. He was a Greek, a medical doctor and historian. Having carefully investigated all the available information in great detail, starting from the beginning of the story, Luke decided to write his version of the story of Jesus Christ, so that his readers could be certain of what they had been taught. Many scholars believe that Luke was a highly educated person, who wrote from a Greek background and a historical perspective. Luke’s account is the fullest and most orderly story of Jesus’ life on earth. In fact, the passages in Luke 1:1-2:52, which describe the story of the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, are unique and cannot be found in other gospel narratives. Luke’s account begins with the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah.

Look at verse 5a. “In the time of Herod king of Judea…” John and Jesus were born around 6 months apart. By the time of their birth, Judea was under the rule of the Roman Empire. In fact, the nation Israel, God’s chosen people had been constantly harassed and subjugated by foreign occupation for a long period of time. And their king was Herod who happened to be a half Jewish. He was a very skilful politician. Yet in reality he was a puppet of Rome and a power-hungry man. According to Matthew’s account, when he heard that the king of the Jews, the Messiah, was born in Bethlehem, he ordered his army to kill all the innocent baby boys in the vicinity of Bethlehem. (Mt 2) Under such circumstances, everyone’s faith was tested, without exception. Some folks might have hardened their hearts toward God, blaming him for their endless sufferings. It had become hard enough for anyone just to survive day to day.

But Zechariah and Elizabeth lived by faith. How? Look at verses 5-7. “In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well alone in years.” Zechariah and Elizabeth’s faith is characterized by two words “upright” and “blameless.” They were upright and blameless. How can you be upright and blameless? It’s easy for us to be uptight and shameless. It does not mean that they were always right or they were sinless. It rather means that they always struggled to live before God, meditating on His words and struggling to turn away from sinful thoughts and changing their behaviour based on God’s words.

However, these two people were suffering. Even though they were faithful in the sight of God, God didn’t bless them with children. As a priestly family, having no children could be seen as having no blessing from God. Their childless situation often made them feel down and disappointed. (1:25) Of course, they remained childless not because of their sins but because God had a special purpose for them. In fact, God had prepared something special in advance for and through this godly and suffering couple.

Look at verses 8-13. There were twenty-four divisions of priests in Israel at that time. They say that there were 20,000 registered priests in Jerusalem, far more than were needed. Each division took a turn each year to serve the temple duty for a week. Only one priest at a time had the honour of burning the incense at the altar of the sanctuary. It was an important task, since this was the symbolic representation of the rising up of the prayers and petitions of the people to God. There were so many priests that this special honour might come to a priest just once in a lifetime or perhaps not at all. On this occasion Zechariah was chosen by lot as the one who would go into the temple and burn incense to the Lord.

It was a big day for Zechariah. When he entered the sanctuary, the room must have been dark, lighted only by a few candles. The doors were tightly shut, so he could hardly hear anything. As he was holding the incense box in his hands and approached the altar, he was startled to see someone standing right beside the altar. It was an angel. Perhaps Zechariah was so shocked that he almost dropped the box. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.” (13) It was such wonderful and fantastic news that his wife, who had been barren for so many long years would finally bear a son in her old age. Perhaps, by that time, Zechariah and Elizabeth had given up their dream to have a child since they had become so old.

In verses 14-17, the angel described what kind of son Zechariah and Elizabeth would receive from God. Read verses 14-17. “He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedience to the wisdom of the righteous – to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” The angel promised Zechariah that not only he but also many people in Israel would have great joy and happiness at the birth of his son because of what kind of person he was going to be.

According to their family tradition, the baby was supposed to inherit the blessing from his father and live as a priest. But it was not God’s will for him to live as a priest. Instead, he would be a prophet and the forerunner of the Messiah. He would live a pure life. One very special thing about this child is that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. This is a whole new concept of the Holy Spirit. We know that through the Old Testament God anointed special people, prophets and kings, with His Spirit. The Spirit was given for specific missions at particular occasions. For example, Moses was filled with the Spirit to carry out the Exodus from Egypt. Gideon, Samuel, King Saul, and David were filled with the Spirit to lead the nation in battles. But John was the first one who would be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. This shows that the birth of this child is the beginning of the new era, which would be open through the coming of the Messiah. In fact, when John baptized people with water, he also proclaimed that Jesus, the Messiah, would baptize them with the Holy Spirit. (Jn 1:32-34)

The angel also told Zechariah that John was going to turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. This indicates that there were many people in Israel who didn’t know God even though by birth they belonged to God’s chosen race. In fact, these people who had turned away from God for various reasons would change their minds and place their trust in God again. This brings us to a new dimension of our evangelism. There are many people who are assumed to be God’s people who are actually far from God. Their hearts are preoccupied by many idols. They need to turn their hearts back to God. John didn’t travel to evangelize people who lived far away. His ministry was mainly for the revival of the people of Israel.

John’s ministry would be identical with that of the Prophet Elijah in Israel’s history. Look at verse 17. “And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous – to make ready a people for the Lord.” We wonder why the angel mentioned the phrase, “to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children.” The angel was saying that John’s ministry, which was to be filled with the Holy Spirit, would bring reconciliation to many families in Israel. John’s ministry would bring revival and renewal in the home. Obviously, many people were suffering because of broken relationships in their family. However, the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, which started through John, would bring revival and renewal in the home, the nation and to the whole world. Throughout his life and ministry, John would preach the baptism of repentance to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. There would be forgiveness, openness, acceptance and reunion in the family. This is something we really want to see happening everywhere in the world. True revival is not just about the number of people but about the genuine change in people’s lives, reconciliation and transformation, which can be done only by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we see and experience true change in our lives, there is joy, happiness and excitement which cannot be taken away from us. There are so many things that make us feel burdened and distressed about in the world today. But the good news is that the Spirit of God is working to bring new life, reconciliation and transformation to each of us in spite of what is going on in the world.

Second, the blessedness of silence (18-25)

Look at verse 18. “Zechariah asked the angel, ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” Hearing what the angel said, Zechariah probably became self-conscious about having a child in his old age. He was saying, “Mr. Gabriel. I don’t mean to offend you. But your message doesn’t make sense to me. Do you know how old my wife is?” When we see the morning star while the sky is dark, you can be certain that the sun will soon arise. John is the morning star that announces the dawn. John’s message, “Repent! The kingdom of God is near” can be paraphrased as “My brothers and sisters: Listen to me! Our present reality is tough, cold and stressful. But great days are coming and ahead of us!” Of course, Zechariah could not have known it because it was all too good to be true.

Look at verses 19-20. Obviously, Zechariah’s unbelieving words offended the angel. So the angel Gabriel answered, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you didn’t believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.” From that moment, Zechariah was struck dumb and wouldn’t be able to verbalize anything for a long period of time. Nine months of silence treatment seems too harsh. But it was a blessing in disguise because nine months of silence would definitely give him a plenty of time to think deeply of what God’s purpose and plan for his family and his son would be. Sometimes, silence is golden. We also learn that even though Zechariah had been serving the Lord faithfully as a priest, he needed God’s healing touch in his heart and soul through God’s divine touch. We must remember that we will never be the person we can be without the work of the Holy Spirit, which embraces pressure, tension and discipline in our lives. We often talk too much without sorting out the useless things inside of us. We need space and silence before the Lord. Recently, I found a poem very inspiriting, related to silence. The title is “Quiet.” “Quiet means that I don’t speak or yell or talk or cry or squeak. It does not mean that I am meek. It’s really quite a grand technique for gaining inner peace and joy and insights used to best destroy my doubts and fears and worries too, the ones that sometimes make me blue. So spend time each day alone. Reflect upon the seeds you’ve sown. Be thankful for your health and more for lessons learned and what’s in store. For quiet times, when I am still, are times for me to learn God’s will.” (25)

Zechariah returned home and soon his wife Elizabeth became pregnant. And for five months she remained in seclusion. Being pregnant in old age can be a happy crisis. She also needed time and space to be with God alone. She said, “The Lord has done this for me. In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” (25) Her childless situation had been a long-term disappointment. But not any longer. She said, “The Lord has done this for me. He has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

In conclusion, the silent treatment was an invitation of prayer and deep meditation for both Zechariah and Elizabeth. We learn that prayer is not so much about what to say and how long you spend in prayer. It’s about communication and openness before God. Zechariah and Elizabeth were from traditional priestly families for many generations. So they could have been rigid and not flexible. But we can see how God had prepared them to be more flexible and open in order to serve the dynamic work of the Holy Spirit in and through their family and beyond. To many of us, sufferings and challenges in our lives seem to be unnecessary. Some things that happen really hurt and we don’t understand why they happen. But remember the story of how a beautiful pearl is formed in a wounded oyster. We need to know that God is doing something very good in us through the work of the Holy Spirit. The best is ahead of us. Although we are challenged in many ways, it is time for us to be silent and filter out our doubt, fear and anxiety and remain calm, trusting the Lord who is sovereign over all things. Some of us are anxious, restless and fearful maybe because we don’t really spend time in silence, meditating and learning what God is doing in our midst. If you can spend time with the Lord, just between you and God, for just 5 or 10 minutes, life will be very different. Sometimes, the best thing we can do is to wait patiently for Him to complete His work in and through us. We must not forget that God is alive and the Spirit of God is moving and working for the best of His children.