NOT GETTING AHEAD OF OURSELVES

You might have expected after yesterday, to read of Jesus’ birth. Luke doesn’t want us to get ahead of ourselves. You will no doubt notice the same exotic form of the story, but perhaps we should ask a pertinent question: “Why does Luke include John the Baptist’s birth in his Gospel?” The question might seem relevant if we are thinking that the Gospels tell us about Jesus. So what do you think the answer is to this question? Next is the actual text, and after it I share my answer to this question.

⁵⁷ Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. ⁵⁸ And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹ And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, ⁶⁰ but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” ⁶² And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. ⁶³ And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. ⁶⁴ And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. ⁶⁵ And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, ⁶⁶ and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁶⁷ And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
    for he has visited and redeemed his people
⁶⁹ and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    in the house of his servant David,
⁷⁰ as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
⁷¹ that we should be saved from our enemies
    and from the hand of all who hate us;
⁷² to show the mercy promised to our fathers
    and to remember his holy covenant,
⁷³ the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
⁷⁴     that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
⁷⁵     in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
⁷⁷ to give knowledge of salvation to his people
    in the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God,
    whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

⁸⁰ And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

My answer to the question, “Why did Luke include John the Baptist’s birth?” is as follows. Yes the Gospels tell us about Jesus, but what they tell us is that Jesus has been God’s Plan of Salvation from the beginning. Jesus is not some Plan B for a failed Plan A in the Garden of Eden…since before the foundation of the world was laid the Cross was in view.

Many study bibles will have cross-references that show you how words and/or phrases in a verse, cross-reference to another part of Scripture. If you have such a Bible, or if you study Zechariah’s praise, you will note over 50 cross-references. They range from Genesis, the History Books of the Old Testament such as 1 Samuel, to its Wisdom Literature such as the Psalms, to the Prophets such as Micah…into the New Testament. Zechariah’s praise, with is multiple connections to the witness of the Scripture is itself a witness to this plan before the ages. Zechariah's praise rushes at us, drawing on a vast array of Scritpure. I picture it bursting out of him as he realizes that what was promised is actually true.

Part of that plan is there will be a Prophet who will come before the Savior. Luke does not want you to miss this point. Remember Luke has researched Jesus. If you research the coming of the Messiah you would learn that this Anointed One would be announced. So Luke, in researching and studying if Jesus is indeed the One would naturally test whether Jesus’ life followed what the Scriptures predicted…His life did…there was indeed one who announced the Messiah's arrival...and so we like Zechariah should also give praise and thanks.