Anchor My Faith

Title: A Son is Promised (Luke 1:13-15)

In the previous lesson we left Zechariah troubled and afraid because an angle appeared before him, “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”” (Luke 1:13 ESV). The angel breaks the silence and speaks to Zechariah by first commenting on his prayer. Some might think he was praying for a son, but by now he would have given up on that possibility. Considering the bondage the Jews were under from Rome, it is possible that Zechariah was praying for the kingdom of God to come. In view of the coming of Jesus to explain the kingdom and the fact that Zechariah’s prayer was heard, it is a good possibility that his prayer was about the coming kingdom. However, the angel goes back many years when Zechariah was praying for a son and says that he will have a son and that he must be named John.

Why is it so important that Zechariah and Elizabeth have a son? First, it is important that each family have a son for the purpose of inheritance. The most important thing a woman could do in those days was to give birth to one or more sons. Failure to do that in that culture, as it was in many other cultures, left the woman in a state of disgrace. Second, it was important she have a son because God had plans for him. Whenever God is about to do something, he will choose a person to do it. John is the person he is going to raise up at this time to do that work.

The angel continues: “And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord” (Luke 1:14 – 15a ESV). We must be careful not to fall short in our comment on these verses. We could focus on the birth and say that Zechariah and Elizabeth experienced joy and gladness to finally have a son, but we must look further and suspect something much bigger than this. To have an angel announce the birth of a son and name it, sets the stage for something special God has in mind for him. The many that rejoice at his birth may also suspect that the baby boy is someone chosen by God for a special purpose. The angel describes John to be great before the Lord and as a result he will bring joy and gladness because he will bring honor to the family and will be a blessing to many.

The angel continues by giving further instructions in addition to his name: “And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15b ESV). By not drinking wine or strong drink, he was to be set aside as a Nazarite, but even more important was the announcement that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit from the time of birth. It is not clear what being filled means at this point in history. Is his filling permanent as ours as believers is? Is it the same as the Spirit indwelling us? Whatever the meaning, it illustrates that John will be an important person in God’s plans. We will have to continue with the adventure to find out more about this.

Prayer

Father, my excitement grows as we progress on our journey from eternity past when we were introduced to the Word, who was to become flesh in the person of Jesus, and who would provide eternal life for believers. We looked at some of his ancestors and then you introduced John who was to be miracle child, birthed from parents well beyond childbearing years. Father, I pray that many will begin to experience excitement and anticipation as you unfold events before us.