Rachel Workman: Reading
for Luke 1:5-17 (The promise of the birth of John the Baptist).
5 When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. 6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. 7 They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old. I want to be known as being righteous in the eyes of God.
8 One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week. 9 As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 10 While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying.
11 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. 14 You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. 16 And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. 17 He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.” Can you imagine being told this about your coming child? It would be joy enough to know after years of being barren you would conceive and have a child but to have these things spoken about your child would be overwhelming. Can you imagine the conversation between parents? What parent’s brag could hold against what was spoken about John? Well my child will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth. My child will have the power of Elijah! My child will bring the sinners around to godly council. Imagine pondering these things as you carried that child.
5 When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. 6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. 7 They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old. I want to be known as being righteous in the eyes of God.
8 One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week. 9 As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 10 While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying.
11 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. 14 You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. 16 And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. 17 He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.” Can you imagine being told this about your coming child? It would be joy enough to know after years of being barren you would conceive and have a child but to have these things spoken about your child would be overwhelming. Can you imagine the conversation between parents? What parent’s brag could hold against what was spoken about John? Well my child will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth. My child will have the power of Elijah! My child will bring the sinners around to godly council. Imagine pondering these things as you carried that child.
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John
Burnett: 5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea,
there was a priest named [a]Zacharias,
of the division of [b]Abijah;
and he had a wife [c]from
the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 They were
both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments
and requirements of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because
Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in [d]years.
To live life and be considered righteous in the sight of God is something I
cannot fathom because I come so short of that. I am so thankful that I
have Jesus Christ’s righteousness imputed to my account.
8 Now it happened that while he was performing his
priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, 9 according
to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple
of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the
people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 And
an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of
incense. 12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel,
and fear [e]gripped
him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid,
Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear
you a son, and you will [f]give
him the name John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many
will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight
of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with
the Holy Spirit [g]while
yet in his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the sons
of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 It is he who will go as
a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the
children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” To be the first person to
be filled with the Holy Spirit and to be called “great in the sight of the
Lord” would bring great joy and gladness. To speak as John the Baptist
spoke would require the Holy Spirit to give him the words because no one else
knew what he did. He even knew Christ when he lept in his mother’s womb,
when Mary came to visit Elizabeth.
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Krista Cook: 5 When Herod was king of
Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the
priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly
line of Aaron. 6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in
God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations.
- praying that
this can be said of me and my husband. That is what we are striving for.
7 They had no children because Elizabeth was
unable to conceive, and they were both very old.
8 One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his
order was on duty that week. 9 As was the custom of the
priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn
incense. 10 While the incense was being burned, a great crowd
stood outside, praying.
11 While
Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing
to the right of the incense altar. 12 Zechariah was shaken and
overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13 But the angel said,
“Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth,
will give you a son, and you are to name him John. 14 You will
have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for
he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other
alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his
birth.[b] 16 And he will turn many
Israelites to the Lord their God. 17 He will be a man with the
spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the
Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,[c] and he will cause those who are
rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”
- can you imagine being
told this about a child you were to have? What a great responsibility was
being placed upon him. But we should also feel this same responsibility
with our children today. Raise them in His sight and to do His work.
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Mike Grimm: 8 One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order
was on duty that week. 9 As was the custom of the priests, he
was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 10 While
the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying. All the prayers
we offer up to God are acceptable and successful only by Christ's intercession
in the temple of God above. We cannot expect an interest therein if we do not
pray, and pray with our spirits, and are not earnest in prayer. Nor can we
expect that the best of our prayers should gain acceptance, and bring an answer
of peace, but through the mediation of Christ, whoever lives, making
intercession.
11 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel
of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Zechariah
was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13 But
the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! Every
scripture in the Bible where an angle appears, the first words out of their
mouths is “Don’t, or do not, be afraid.” I’ve often wondered if Angels are
scary of if those meeting the angel had weaker faith then we picture them as
having. Or maybe it’s the case of them thinking they were alone and looking up
and seeing somebody unexpectedly standing there. God has heard your prayer. Your
wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. 14 You
will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for
he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other
alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his
birth. Even before birth. How awesome is that. 16 And he
will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. 17 He will be
a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the
coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,
and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.” His
ministry would be to turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their
God. He would prepare the way of the Messiah by turning hearts to God before
the Messiah came.
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