THE GOSPELS: LESSON 3: THE ANNUNCIATION AND BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIZER.

TEXT: LUKE 1: 5 - 25 AND 57 - 80

          As foretold in scripture, there would be one who would prepare the way for the Messiah.

          The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Isaiah 40: 3   (See also Malachi 3: 1 and Matthew 3: 3)

Only the gospel of Luke (in chapter 1) gives an account of the annunciation and birth of John

LUKE 1: 5 - 25 THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF JOHN'S BIRTH BY GABRIEL.

Figure 1 Herod the Great as depicted on an old coin of the time.

Verse 5: The scene of John's birth is very specific.

TIME: “In the days of Herod, king of Judea. . .” Herod the Great, ruled Judea from 41 to 4 BC, a period of 37 years. Herod was appointed by Mark Anthony in 41 BC, and was declared to be "king" of Judea by the Roman Senate in 40 BC. He also ruled the province of Galilee, so he was the king of the Jews. He was an Idumean: of the mixed race people which lived in the Negev The southern Judean desert country). He was called "Great" because of the length of his rule and his many building projects. He was most noted for rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem.

John was born six months before Jesus, probably in 5 BC.

PARENTS: Father – Zechariah, a priest. Mother – Elizabeth (Elisheba), a woman descended from Aaron (Levite). Even though the priests were free to take wives of any tribe, in this case both husband and wife were Levites.

Note: the order of Abijah was one of the 24 divisions of the priesthood established by King David (see I Chron. 24: 1 - 10). As it says in I Chron 24: 3 , ". . . David organized them according to the appointed duties in their service." It is generally held that the 24 priestly orders served on rotating schedules, each order serving a couple weeks a year at the temple in Jerusalem. This episode recorded here in chapter one was when Zechariah happened to be "on duty," offering the incense at the altar inside the temple.

Verse 6: Both parents were exceptional people. They were righteous and blameless. In other words, they desired to serve God and did so faithfully. Only a few other people in the Bible are called blameless by God: Noah, King Asa, and Job – a very elite group.

Verse 7: They had no children because Elizabeth was barren and they were both old. How old? Not sure, but in their culture they were considered aged, which meant over 60 years old. Too old to bear children, but not so old as to be feeble, for they both were still fairly active.

Verses 8 - 10: Zechariah was performing his duties at the "hour of incense," which was twice each day – each morning and each evening. Since the "whole multitude of the people" were outside praying, this was most likely at the beginning of the Sabbath Day, just after sunset (in our reckoning, Friday evening – remember, the Jewish day began at sunset). Joseph Lightfoot, the 19th century Anglican bishop and Bible scholar claimed that the Order of Abijah served in May or June, which would make John's birth in March, 5 BC and Jesus' birth in September, 5 BC. Alfred Edersheim (who wrote The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth) contends that the Order of Abijah served in September/October, making John’s birth in June or July and Jesus’ birth right around the first of the year, 4BC. Their calculations are widely disputed, but are very intriguing. I agree with Eidersheim.

VERSES 11 - 25: THE MESSAGE OF THE ANGEL TO ZECHARIAH.

Verses 11, 12: Zechariah was inside the Holy Place of the temple offering the incense, when an angel appeared to him. Zechariah was afraid of what he saw. This angel was Gabriel – more of him a little later.

Verse 13: Unlike the shows on TV, the normal response to an angelic visitation, even to a very righteous man, is fear. The angel calms Zechariah's fear, however, and tells him his prayer will be granted. For what did Zechariah pray? For a child. A male heir was VERY important in Jewish society. Apparently Zechariah's prayer had been many years earlier, for at this time he does not believe that he and Elizabeth can have a child. The name of the son was to be John (Hebrew: Jochanan).

Verses 14 - 17: What John would be:

1. Many would rejoice at his birth.

2. He will be a great prophet. 

3. He will drink no wine or strong drink (a Nazarite? See Numbers 6: 2 - 8).

4. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit – even in the womb.

5. He will cause many to repent.

6. He will have the power of Elijah to prepare the people for the Lord.

Verses 18 - 20: Zechariah has doubts. How will I know that this is true? Why did Zechariah doubt? Because he and Elizabeth were too old to have children -- the same reason Abraham and Sarai laughed. See Gen. 17: 17 & 18: 12. The angel gives Zechariah a sign: he will be unable to speak until the day the child is born.

Gabriel: means "strength of God." He stood "in the presence of God." The Jews say there are four primary angels who stand around the throne of God: Uriel, Raphael, Michael and Gabriel. They say Gabriel stands directly in front of God’s throne. The scriptures, however, name only two angels: Michael and Gabriel. Gabriel also appeared to the prophet Daniel and Mary, the mother of Jesus (and Joseph?). Muhammad claimed that Gabriel delivered the Koran, but that is impossible unless Gabriel later fell from God's grace. (See Gal. 1: 8.)

Verses 21 - 23: The people praying outside the temple neither saw nor heard the angelic visitation, and they wondered why Zechariah was so slow coming out. Zechariah could not speak, but he made signs and the people were made to understand that he had seen a vision inside the temple. Zechariah's duties were finished, so he went home. Where was home? According to verse 39, Zechariah lived in a city of the hill country of Judah. Hebron is the most likely city, for it is described as such in Joshua 20: 7 and 21: 11.

Verses 24, 25: Elizabeth conceived and for five months "hid herself." This may mean she "closeted herself" or stayed inside, in bed. At her age, a certain restriction of movement would be necessary in order to protect her pregnancy. Women with difficult pregnancies are often restricted to bed.

VERSES 57 - 80: JOHN IS BORN AND NAMED.

Verses 57, 58: Elizabeth gave birth to a son and her relatives rejoiced with her.

Verse 59 - 64: A Jewish male child was not given a name until his circumcision, which was done on the eighth day after birth. They expected him to be named Zechariah after his father, but Elizabeth (and Gabriel) insisted his name was John. The kinfolk argued because no one in the family had such a name. Zechariah (who was still mute) wrote on a slate, "His name is John," and immediately he began to speak – in praise to God!

Verses 65, 66: The people marveled and wondered what the child would grow up to be, for they could see that he was "touched by God." Some of them surely thought he would be the promised Messiah.

Verses 67 - 79: Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and in his ecstacy praised God and prophesied, telling what sort of man his son would be, and how John would fulfill prophecy. It is clear, especially from verse 76, that Zechariah knew John would NOT be Messiah, but would be the forerunner of the Messiah as had been predicted by Isaiah and Malachi.

Verse 80: John grew and became strong in spirit (the Holy Spirit). He lived in the wilderness. According to tradition he lived in one of the Essene communities in the wilderness country of Judea west of the Dead Sea, possibly near Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. A large Essene community existed there for over 300 years. If so, it is not impossible that among the Dead Sea scrolls found at Qumran there may be some penned by the very hand of John the Baptizer.

Interesting trivia: The Dead Sea, a very small sea, has enough salt in it to provide over 2 tons of salt for every man, woman, and child on the face of the earth (almost 13 billion tons).

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