5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,1 of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will 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 for the Lord a people prepared.”
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,1 of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will 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 for the Lord a people prepared.”
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Joel Brooks:
Invite you to open your Bibles to Luke chapter 1. Chapter 1. It was good to see so many of you at the theological coffee house on Friday night. That actually really exceeded my expectations. Kind of a had a packed house, with people who asked great questions.
Joel Brooks:
Hopefully, you got some halfway decent answers. There's a email list out there for those of you who want the notes from that on Friday night. We didn't record it, but I I have got a transcript, and I can send you a lot of the notes. We're gonna read the first 25, actually verse 5 through 25 in Luke chapter 1. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah, And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
Joel Brooks:
And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God, when his division was on duty according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense, and there appeared to him an angel of the lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
Joel Brooks:
But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. 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 before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will 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 for the Lord a people prepared.
Joel Brooks:
And Zechariah said to the angel, how shall I know this? For I'm an old man, and my wife is advanced in years. And the angel answered him, I'm Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.
Joel Brooks:
And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived.
Joel Brooks:
And for 5 months, she kept herself hidden, saying, thus the lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among people. Pray with me. Lord God, I ask that you would speak tonight, that you would speak clearly. Lord, that your word would go forth and have the effect that you desire. I pray that for those who need healing, they would be healed.
Joel Brooks:
For those, Lord, who need repentance, that they would repent. For those who need brokenness, break their hearts. But Lord, have your way with us tonight. Lord, I ask that my words would fall to the ground and blow away, not be remembered anymore, but Lord, let your words remain, and may they change us. That's our hope, and that is our expectation.
Joel Brooks:
And we pray that in the name of Jesus. Amen. Now we've just read a pretty long text, and later in the message, we're gonna read another 13 verses or so, and yet this is still less than half of the first chapter of Luke. Luke has got really long chapters. I think this one's about 80 verses or verses or so, and that means that, you know, last week, we went through 4 verses.
Joel Brooks:
That means it would take us 20 weeks just to go through chapter 1, which, you know, we can't do that, and we teach through the whole counsel of god. And so we're gonna have to speed up the pace a little bit, a little bit more than I'm even comfortable with. Otherwise, we're never gonna get through Luke in 3 years or so, and I wanna get to the other 65 books of the bible. It kills me because there's a lot of really good stuff here that we're gonna skip over. I put in the foyer out there a number of commentaries, that that I brought from home.
Joel Brooks:
If you guys wanna look at them, I suggested a couple. If any of you want to actually buy a commentary and then go with it, you know, for the next 2 or 3 years to actually walk through Luke with us, as a supplement, I think it would be a great idea. Also, if you're part of a home group, you're gonna be getting some additional questions, not just to deal with the text, but or what we preached on, but things in addition to that, another way of helping you go deeper. So, join a home group if you haven't. I will guilt you.
Joel Brooks:
I'll do whatever it takes to get you to be in one. Alright, last week, we looked at how Luke wrote this book to a man named Theophilus. He's a Roman official, who had somehow he had come to the understanding of the basic principles of Christianity, but he wanted to be a little more certain in his faith, and so he likely commissioned and paid for Luke to go and do do some investigative reporting. And Luke did that, and he put together a very accurate and orderly account of the gospel, of the life of Jesus and his followers. And he left no stone unturned, he did investigations, he he followed up, he interviewed people.
Joel Brooks:
It's a very detailed account. God does not intend for us to have blind faith. He wants us to have faith that is built on the facts, and Luke is giving us the facts. And and one of the reasons we really decided we wanted to study Luke and take so much time as a church is because as more of the teachings of Jesus than any of the other gospels, and also Luke, man, you just wanna be like him. I mean, this is the man who when Paul was in prison and he says, everybody else has deserted me, only Luke is with me, at the end of his life.
Joel Brooks:
I want a faith like that. I wanna have certainty. We get to see in Luke how he came to such certainty in his faith. He starts his gospel a little different from Matthew and Mark, which was already floating around at this time, because he doesn't start at the birth of Jesus. He goes back a step, and he starts with John.
Joel Brooks:
And he sets up his first two chapters very intentionally. He he tells how Gabriel spoke to John's parents or spoke to Zechariah and told Zechariah, you're gonna have a son named John and then he tells how Gabriel went to Mary and told Mary, you're gonna have a child named Jesus And then he goes back and he tells how John was born, and then he goes and he tells us Jesus was born. And that's the order of the first two chapters. And what he's doing is he's inviting you to compare these stories. See how they're similar, see how they're contrasted.
Joel Brooks:
And so that's what we wanted what we want to do tonight. These stories, they have a lot in common. Gabriel, one of the archangels, he's the one who announces the birth to both Zechariah and to Mary, that they're gonna have a baby. It's not just gonna be any normal birth, it's gonna be a miraculous birth. Because Elizabeth is old, Mary is very very young.
Joel Brooks:
You see, in both of these stories, God is orchestrating everything for His purpose. He's making these huge promises. Huge promises. And you gotta see them as promises, they're not predictions. God doesn't, you know, somehow kinda weigh things and like, you know, I think maybe the virgin might be with child.
Joel Brooks:
No. He promises and he makes it happen. He's in absolute control of all of these things, and he's working it out for his glory. He does not predict. And Luke wants Theophilus to know that we worship a god in total control of everything.
Joel Brooks:
We're gonna see in a few weeks how God can even cause a census to go all across the nation just so we can move, you know, parents to be from 1 point a to point b. He could cause a national census just to move 2 people, and it's so hard to figure out what god is doing. When you think of things like that, but Luke wants you to rest assured that God is in control, total control. Now, those are the similarities. Now, the contrast are a little more obvious here.
Joel Brooks:
The main contrast is that Zechariah doubted, and Mary believed. Zechariah doubted, and Mary believed and and you kind of get the point that Luke really wants us to see this when you go to verse 45 which we didn't read but I think it's kind of funny. Mary's, or, Elizabeth says this to Mary. It says, and blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. And you kinda get this point that Zechariah is right next to him, or right next to her, and she's like, yeah, blessed is her who believed, elbow.
Joel Brooks:
You know, of course, Zechariah can't say a word, literally. And so, you get this comparison there that Luke is inviting us into. Alright, let's take a closer look at what Luke tells us actually about Zechariah. We know he's a priest and he's an older man. He's married to Elizabeth.
Joel Brooks:
They didn't have children. We've seen from previous studies that this was a social embarrassment. Actually, Elizabeth calls it a reproach. It's a reproach that god's gonna remove away. During this time, people would have seen it as a curse from god, which is why Luke is very quick to point out she's barren, but they walked blameless, they were righteous.
Joel Brooks:
Don't blame her barrenness on on some sin in their life, that's not why. Now Zechariah, he he's a priest, and and that means that he would perform his priestly duties twice a year. He would go to the temple twice a year. There was 18,000 priests. There's only 1 temple, and so you've got a lot of workers for a very limited amount of space, and so they broke it up.
Joel Brooks:
So he would go for just 2 weeks of the year. That's it. And and so he would go and then read in verse 9, it says, he would go according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. So he's chosen by a lot. 1st, it's it's one of his weeks where he goes, and then they have this this drawing to see who gets to burn incense.
Joel Brooks:
Because remember, 18,000 priests, and that's just one duty. You could only do this once in your life if you were a priest. Once you were chosen, you can never do it again. So what you are seeing here is this is the pinnacle of Zechariah's ministry experience. He's older.
Joel Brooks:
He has been waiting for this his whole life. He he he gets to the temple. He's waiting in my is it gonna be my year to do it? No. My year?
Joel Brooks:
No. Finally, it's his year. This is what he's been waiting for his whole life, is to go in and and to offer the incense and offer the prayers for the redemption of Israel before the Lord. So he goes in to the temple, he lights the incense, and he prays for the redemption of Israel. And and whenever this would happen, a large group of people that Luke points out, it says they would gather outside and they would be praying with the priest, joining him in this prayer.
Joel Brooks:
Now, look at verse 11. Says, and they appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. Now, Luke, obviously he wouldn't be a very good contemporary writer, because he he says this pretty, well, it's pretty dull actually. I mean, this is an angel of the Lord just appears and it says, Zechariah is troubled.
Joel Brooks:
He's troubled. And then it says that, you know, he was he was troubled when he saw him and fear fell on him and and it just really doesn't come through that well. But when you, when you put those two words, troubled and fear together, it's it's it gives the connotation like he almost had a heart attack. I mean, he is shaking in his boots when he sees this angel right next to him. Much as we would be if we were just going through our task or just saying prayers and all of a sudden an angel appeared, don't think of an angel as like some little baby cherub, you know, that they wouldn't have to say, don't be scared.
Joel Brooks:
Oh, well you would be scared, but they're they're terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. And so, he is trembling in his boots right here. I mean, he's already nervous. He's already really excited because this is his once in a lifetime opportunity.
Joel Brooks:
He wants to make sure he does it all right, and then an angel. And as always in scripture, when a good angel appears, they say, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. And he says, you're gonna have a child. Your prayers have been heard.
Joel Brooks:
You're gonna have a son. You're gonna name him John, which means God is gracious. Now, you gotta ask the question, what prayer is Gabriel talking about? When you first read through this, you're tempted to think that, hey, this is Zechariah's prayer for a child. But that's not what the angel's talking about.
Joel Brooks:
I mean, Zechariah doesn't expect a child, he doesn't think it's gonna happen. Maybe he prayed that a long time ago, but he knows he and Elizabeth are too old for that. The the prayer that the angels talk about is the prayer that he just offered. The prayer for the redemption of Israel. The prayer for the redemption of Israel.
Joel Brooks:
And so this has got to be really terribly confusing for Zechariah because he's praying for the redemption of Israel, and then an angel comes and says, God has heard your prayer, you're going to have a child. I'm gonna have a child? And then he tells exactly who this child will be by quoting the end of Malachi. Malachi 4:5 says, Behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.
Joel Brooks:
Those are the last words of the Old Testament. The very last words. After those words were uttered, you had 500 years of silence. 500 years of people waiting for the prophet to show up. 500 years of darkness.
Joel Brooks:
I mean, can you really believe in prayer after 500 years of nothing? Nothing there? I mean, Caroline, my my 6 year old, she asked all the time, dad, how can I hear God's voice? What does His voice sound like? And, you know, and, and through the Holy Spirit we have that small still voice that speaks to us through His word or speaks in our hearts.
Joel Brooks:
You you know, it's a great question she asked. Now now for the people in the old covenant, they mainly heard the Lord's voice through His prophets. And there hadn't been a prophet in 500 years. And now, an angel of the Lord appears before Zechariah and says, you're gonna have a son, and he is gonna be that prophet. He's gonna break 500 years of silence.
Joel Brooks:
He picks right back up where the old covenant ends. Now, this is incredible news. Incredible news. I mean, I I kinda have the scene of like all these angels around the throne of god saying, can can I can I give this news? You know, they're all heralds.
Joel Brooks:
They're all messengers like, let me be the one to do this. You know, I wanna be the one to do this, to go and appear before a righteous and blameless man who's been faithfully serving you. To tell him that God is gonna answer, finally after 500 years, their prayers. He's gonna break through the darkness, and He's really going to do this. And He's not only gonna do this, He's gonna do it through you and your wife, and He's gonna take away your shame of not having any children.
Joel Brooks:
Man, can I be the one who does that? And somehow, I don't know how they do it, but God appoints Gabriel, and Gabriel gets to come. He's the lucky angel, and he gets a different reaction than I think he is expecting. To give such good news to a righteous man. Zechariah responds with, how can I know this is true?
Joel Brooks:
I'm an old man. My wife has advanced in years. He's just old, his wife's advanced. And Zechariah's eye is emphatic. He's like, how can I know this?
Joel Brooks:
And this is outright disbelief. And I'm sure that that Gabriel does not expect this. He didn't see this coming at all. The last time we read about Gabriel, it's it's in the book of Daniel and it says that he was going to give an answer to Daniel and he had this weird prince of Persia kind of demon that he had to fight for weeks or for a long time before he got there. You can understand that resistance, but here he meets a righteous man and he gets resistance.
Joel Brooks:
Look at verse 19. And the angel answered him, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of god, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time. And now, you can tell that Gabriel actually gets a little ticked.
Joel Brooks:
I mean, he really does. He gets he gets a little ticked here, in his response. He says, how can you know this true? Because I, and it's an emphatic I, because I am a stinking archangel. And I I just 5 seconds ago, you're about to pass out with fear.
Joel Brooks:
That's how you know. That's your sign. I mean, what more of a sign do you need? I mean, you guys, you know, he's probably thinking people see signs everywhere. People hear the word India 3 or 4 times in one day, and they're convinced God's calling me to India because I heard the word India.
Joel Brooks:
People see, like, you know, Jesus burned in toast, and they think it's a sign. Hey, there there's signs everywhere. Here, an archangel, the Lord, is standing before a righteous man telling him something. He says, I need a sign. So so Gabriel says, I stand before God.
Joel Brooks:
I'll give you a sign. Be quiet. Be quiet until it's fulfilled. Verse 21, says, People, they're waiting outside anxiously for Zechariah, they're wondering, what's the delay? There's no reason, there isn't just a short prayer he was supposed to offer, and you just light, you know, the incense, offer short prayer, and come back.
Joel Brooks:
And delay is bad news, because priests can be killed when they're before the presence of the Lord. And so they're they're wondering what's what's going on. Zechariah finally comes out, can't speak, he's using motions. I kinda like to think this is the, the birth of the Christian miming ministry right here. You know, he's he's trying to to tell them and and look what he has to sign.
Joel Brooks:
I mean, how do you sign the archangel Gabriel? Gabriel just appeared to me. I was scared, you know, out of my mind. He told me I'm going to have a son in my old age, and the son's gonna be the pro How do you sign that? I mean, he's just he's giving all of these motions.
Joel Brooks:
I don't know. Been easier if no. He's in a box. Zechariah doubts. I mean, seriously.
Joel Brooks:
How does a man like Zechariah doubt? I mean, he's righteous, He's blameless. He's a priest, and angels before him. He knows God does stuff like this. I mean, he knows it.
Joel Brooks:
As a priest, he would have taught stories about barren Sarah having Isaac, barren Manoah having Samson, Baron Hannah having Samuel. He knows this is how God has worked. Yet he doubts. He would have taught those things as a priest. He shouldn't have doubted, but he did.
Joel Brooks:
And I think one of the reasons he did is because sometimes god's promises are just over the top. I mean they're just over the top good, and we think, okay, those are things that happen to other people. Those are things that happen in the Bible, but they're not things that happen to us. They don't happen to me. I mean, when you ask for something in prayer, do you really think God will answer you?
Joel Brooks:
Do you really think that will happen, or does it shock you if it does? We're not surprised when he answers the prayers of others. We're not surprised when we read it in the bible. When it happens to us, it's a different matter. We don't really expect God to work.
Joel Brooks:
And you know, when we gather together, we we come to church and we pray, and we pray great things, and we pray, God, come in power. God, break bondages in this place. God, bring repentance. God, God, make me a better husband. God, make me a better father.
Joel Brooks:
God, do these things. Do we really expect them to do these things? Do we really expect that? I think we expect it maybe to happen to others, but personally, we tend to doubt His promises. God's promises, they also seem a little absurd after you are going through a time of suffering or a time of silence.
Joel Brooks:
You know, Zechariah, he wanted a child for a long time, but God didn't give him one. Israel had been waiting for the Messiah for a long time, but it hadn't happened. And God just doesn't seem to be in a hurry. And so when we're suffering, we just we don't expect to see God. It's just so hard to believe in him, and sometimes his promises are incredible.
Joel Brooks:
And we feel like, you know, God, he promises something, we have to remind him of things. God, I need to remind you of the circumstance that I'm in. You know, God, let me remind you, I'm old, my wife's advanced, you know, it's not gonna happen. I mean, all of us, we like to remind God of things when we hear promises. Yeah.
Joel Brooks:
Here's a few promises. 1st John 1:9, it says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It's a great promise. And usually, when I hear a promise like that, I remind God of just how bad I really am and how much I really messed up. It's like, God, did you know just how bad I was gonna be when you made that promise?
Joel Brooks:
Were were you aware of that? I think I need to remind you, and I have a hard time clinging to that. 1st Corinthians 1013 says, no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability but with the temptation, he will provide the way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it. That's a promise.
Joel Brooks:
Yet we like to remind God of the exact situation we are in. I hear that, god. I understand, but as everybody here thinks of the exception and we explain it to god, let me remind you, you really don't know the situation. There's not a way out this time. You know, if if I don't lie, I'm not gonna keep my job.
Joel Brooks:
It's it's simple. There there is no other way out. Do you know how hard it is god to stay sexually pure in in my situation right now? Do you understand? Do I need to remind you?
Joel Brooks:
You know, for me, as I was writing this message, I I called Lauren, and she was asking how things are going. I was like, and she knows, oh, okay. Well, no no rush. Don't come home, you know, stay there as long as you want. And God had to remind me.
Joel Brooks:
And to remind me of one of his promises that when his word goes out, it will not return void, and it will always accomplish his purpose. It's a promise. And I'm thinking, God, but you don't understand the situation. You understand, I'm just so tired. Gosh, 2 nights in a row, almost no sleep.
Joel Brooks:
I'm just so none of this is really coming. None of and God says, you don't need to remind me. I know. Trust me. My word will not return void.
Joel Brooks:
Do you believe these things? Promises like Matthew 7, where he says, ask and it will be given to you. Do you believe that? Are you shocked if it happens? When one reads promises like this, I feel like we're always trying to remind God of our special circumstance.
Joel Brooks:
This can't be true because of my sin, because of my personality, because of my situation, God. Now let's look at Mary's response. Now let's look at Mary's response. If I'm Gabriel, I'm worried at this point. He just went to Zechariah.
Joel Brooks:
Didn't go well. So now he's going to girl who's about 14 years old. How is she gonna respond to the news that, hey, you're about to bear the son of god, and you're a virgin? Let's look at verse 26 through 38. In the 6th month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.
Joel Brooks:
And he came to her and said, greetings, oh favored one. The lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And 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 bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.
Joel Brooks:
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord will give to Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. Mary said to the angel, how will this be, since I'm a virgin? And the angel answered her, the holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you.
Joel Brooks:
Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the son of god. And behold, your relative, Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son, and this is the 6th month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.
Joel Brooks:
And the angel departed from her. Now, I love Mary's response to Gabriel after he says, greetings, oh favored one. The Lord is with you. Says that she's troubled. She's trying to figure out what does this angel mean.
Joel Brooks:
Luke is saying this to show her humility. She's she's basically thinking, you get this picture of a little she's got to be about 14. It's like, are you talking to me? Favored one, are you talking am I missing something here? You're talking to me.
Joel Brooks:
And then Gabriel gives her the most absurd promise that has ever been given to anyone ever. I mean, I just imagine your your prayer time, you're 14, an angel appears and says, you are gonna bear the son of god. Now I know you're not wealthy. I know you don't come from royalty. I know you're not from some priestly family.
Joel Brooks:
I know all those things, but you are gonna have the king of kings and the lord of lords as your son. He's gonna establish a kingdom, and it is never ever going to end. You're gonna bear the Messiah, and I'm sure if somebody told you this, a 1,000 questions will pop through your head, And for Mary, the most pressing one is, how? How? I'm I'm a virgin.
Joel Brooks:
Now you you gotta understand this is different than Zechariah's response. Zechariah wanted more evidence to know what the angel was saying was true. Mary doesn't want evidence. She doesn't want a sign. She wants an explanation.
Joel Brooks:
Zechariah asked, how shall I know this? Mary asked, how is this going to happen? How is this going to happen? Give me some details. She's not doubting that it will happen, she's just wondering, how?
Joel Brooks:
And Gabriel answers her. He doesn't rebuke her, he answers her. And, you know, it it's not wrong to ask God how He's gonna do something. We pray for Him to ask Him how He's gonna do something. By By asking him how he's gonna do something, you're actually demonstrating that you believe he is going to do it.
Joel Brooks:
You are gonna fulfill your promises. Now tell me, how? How is this gonna happen? Now he might not give you all the details, he might just tell you the first step. He's not gonna rebuke you.
Joel Brooks:
It's not wrong to ask him how he's gonna work. And after Gabriel tells her what's gonna happen, Mary, you're gonna be a 14 year old pregnant virgin who's gonna have to go to her fiance, somehow explain things. I mean, just try to imagine that conversation. Joseph, pregnant, promise you it was God. I mean, you gotta know the tension's coming there, the the shame that's gonna come with all of that.
Joel Brooks:
You know, this unwed pregnant person, that stigma kept with Jesus his whole life. Look at the accusations that went to Jesus when he's talking about his father, his father in heaven. People go, hey, Jesus, tell exactly who is tell us, who is your father? Who is your father, Jesus? They're stinging him.
Joel Brooks:
He carried that with him his whole life. Mary certainly felt it here. She knows what's gonna happen. A matter of fact, right after she gets the news, what does she do? She leaves her hometown and she goes to Elizabeth, the one person who's gonna understand.
Joel Brooks:
She knows what's coming, and yet, look at her response. Behold, I'm the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word. Total humility, total surrender, a very appropriate response to an incredible promise of God. Now, I know that most of us in here probably fall on the Zechariah camp.
Joel Brooks:
Don't be discouraged. It's a temporary lapse for Zechariah. He was a righteous and he was a blameless man. He may he made a really just boneheaded decision and doubt. You know, but we're we're gonna look at next week, they both end up dancing and singing.
Joel Brooks:
That, you know, that they go different roads. You have Zechariah, has given a promise of God, He doubts, He's rebuked, He's disciplined, but it's gonna end with Him singing. You have Mary who believed, was encouraged, and it ends with her singing. But God, you know, no matter which route you take, God is going to bring you in to a greater rejoicing of himself. Don't be discouraged if you're Zechariah.
Joel Brooks:
And God has promised us many, many good things. Let's not think he was mistaken. Let's not ask for proof. Let's not think he doesn't understand our situation. Let's just simply humble ourselves before the Lord and acknowledge that he loves us deeply and knows what he's doing.
Joel Brooks:
Pray with me. Lord, we thank you for the 2 people that you have put before us in scripture. Neither one of them are heroes. There are no heroes in the Bible. There's only Jesus, our Savior.
Joel Brooks:
All of us need a Savior. Zechariah, Mary, everyone here in this room. Lord, I thank you that you are a God who saves. I thank you are a God who has promised us good things. Lord, whenever we doubt those, may through your spirit, you give us the strength to believe and may it end with us dancing and singing your praise.