A NEW MONTH – THE NEW TESTAMENT!

Day 274 – Reading – Luke 1 and John 1

Read and believe in Jesus!

LUKE

This “orderly account” of Jesus, and the continuing story in Acts of the early church, was written by Dr. Luke, who was a believing Gentile, to an educated Greek colleague, Theophilus.

Luke carefully interviewed many “eye-witnesses and ministers of the word” before writing his account of Jesus.  He seems to follow Mark’s order of events, who, in turn, gathered events and stories from the disciple Peter while they served together.  And of course, this Gospel is “inspired by the Holy Spirit of God.”

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Luke 1

Dr Luke begins where Malachi left off, announcing the one who would “prepare the way” for the coming Messiah.  That promise of God continues here – 400 years later – with a righteous old priest named Zechariah and his equally aged and godly wife, Elizabeth, who were about to be fantastically surprised.

As the annual priestly order came around, Zechariah got his turn to serve at the Temple. Then, by lot, he was chosen to actually enter the Holy Place to light new incense at the Altar of Incense, which stood just before the veil separating him from the Most Holy Place and the Ark of the Covenant.

Was he nervous about this once-in-a-lifetime privilege?  You can be sure!  So when the archangel, Gabriel, appeared, he probably nearly had a heart attack.

“Don’t be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayers have been heard. You and Elizabeth will have a son, and you will call him John.  You’ll have a lot of joy at his birth, for he will be great before the LORD.”  Then Gabriel went on to basically quote Malachi’s prophecy.

Did Zechariah fall to his knees and praise God?  Nope.  A bit of unbelief oozed out. 

“How will this happen? I’m old and so is my wife.”  (In his mind, he was saying, ‘It ain’t gonna happen, angel.’)

Gabriel straightens himself to great angel height and proclaims to the doubting priest, “I AM GABRIEL. I STAND IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD!  (Whoa!)  I was sent to you with this good news.”

And as a reprimand for his unbelief, Gabriel tells Zechariah he will be mute until the day John is born.

Meanwhile, outside, the people are wondering about the priest.  It shouldn’t take THAT long to change the incense.  Then. when Zechariah comes out, they realize he has seen a vision. (A vision from God!! Could it really be happening after so long???)  But, well darn, the priest can’t say a word about his experience!

Somehow, he informs his wife, and she soon conceives.  She keeps silent about it (like Zechariah) for five entire months (and then she is definitely “showing.”)

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Flash to Nazareth.

Gabriel is once again sent to earth by God with good news.  This time, he does not appear in the Holy Place of the Temple in Jerusalem, but to a young woman in a small town with a bad reputation. To Mary, the girl God has chosen to bear His Son, to bring the second member of the Holy Trinity into the world as a human.  Wow!  What a privilege!  What a responsibility!

“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” said Gabriel to Mary. “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.”  

Gabriel tells her how Jesus will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. How He will receive the throne of David and reign forever over Israel.  And how His kingdom will last forever.

Did Mary know all the scriptures he quoted?  Did she even know she was in the royal line of King David?  The young girl had seen and did know how lambs and goats were conceived, so she asked  “How will this happen, since I am a virgin?”

Then that mind-blowing news!  “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy. He will be the SON OF GOD.

And as Mary was trying to comprehend this in her young mind, Gabriel gave her news that she COULD understand.  Her cousin Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy with a son. 

Wow, Mary thought. Elizabeth is as old as my grandmother. If God can make THAT happen to her, then He can make THIS happen to me.  

 Gabriel smiled at her and agreed. “Nothing is impossible with God.”

“Okay, I’m in!” said Mary.  (Actually…”Behold, I’m the servant of the Lord. Let it be as you said.”)

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Flash to another hillside town in Judah near Jerusalem.

(Mary had travelled miles south to spend the first three months of her own pregnancy with her aged cousin.  Both could support the other in this very new and extraordinary happening.)

“Greetings, Elizabeth!” Mary called as she entered the old priest’s home.  

“Oh!” Elizabeth said as she felt baby John leap for joy in her womb. 

“Oh, Mary!  Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Blessed am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me!”  Then, the two women – young and old – embraced each other.

And Mary burst out in a song of praise to the Lord. She praised His might, holiness, strength, and mercy.

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Mary remained with Elizabeth until it was time for her cousin to give birth. Then she returned to Nazareth, now that her tiny infant “Son of God” was firmly nestled in her womb.  (She would make that long trip again in a mere six months, heavily pregnant, to another hillside town, Bethlehem.)

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JOHN IS BORN!! Hallelujah! Praise God!

“You’ll call him Zechariah, right?” they asked Elizabeth.

“No, he shall be called John.”

Turning to Zechariah, they poo-pooed his wife’s announcement, “The baby is Zechariah Junior, right?”

The old and very proud priest called for a writing tablet and wrote (in huge Hebrew), His name is JOHN.” 

And immediately his voice returned, and he raised his praises to God in a magnificent prophecy about his son, about the Messiah, salvation, mercy, forgiveness of sin, and a Light to all who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

And John grew and became strong in spirit.  He lived in the wilderness until the day of his public announcement to Israel.  (No, John did not become a priest, as he could have, but a Herald of Israel’s Messiah King!)

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JOHN

This last Gospel is written by the disciple John (“whom Jesus loved”).  He wrote his Gospel in his old age, while he was serving in Ephesus (and after the destruction of Jerusalem).

He was aware of the other three Gospels and wanted his to be more about the “spiritual” and “theological” aspects of Jesus’ life and ministry. He presents Jesus as the Son of God and proves that claim with eight “signs” or proofs.  His very purpose in writing his Gospel is so we would BELIEVE in Him as the Son of God and have ETERNAL LIFE 

John was inspired by the Holy Spirit as he gave his unique eyewitness accounts.

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John 1.

John begins his story of Jesus in chapter one, WAY before the announcement of His coming birth to Mary and then the Shepherds, even before Genesis 3:15, which was the first announcement of a coming Savior after Adam and Eve’s fall. 

John begins in “Eternity Past” and reveals Jesus as God, the creator of everything that exists. “He was WITH God and He WAS God.”

He also mentions John’s appearance as a witness to Jesus’ earthly human ministry. 

(BY THE WAY, every time John is mentioned in this Gospel, it is speaking of John the Baptist.)

John further calls Jesus “The Light,” as opposed to the Darkness of Satan, sin, and death.

Jesus came to his own – the Jewish nation – but they did NOT receive him. (Jews always first, even in Paul’s ministry.)  But after that, to ALL WHO BELIEVED IN HIS NAME, He gave the right (even Gentiles) to be His own “Children of God” who were born of the Spirit.

Then another mention of John the Baptist, who said of Jesus, “He who comes after me ranks before me because He WAS before me.”

Then he gives John’s testimony. Men sent from the elders of Jerusalem asked him who he was, Christ? Elijah? the Prophet? No, no, and no, answered the Baptist. He was just the one sent, “crying in the wilderness.”  He was making the path straight for the Lord.

They asked the Baptist why he was baptizing. John said he was preparing hearts to meet the Messiah, washing with water.  But when HE, the “worthy One,” came, He would baptize with fire.  And then John saw him and proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

Then he told how God told him he would KNOW the Anointed One. John would see the Spirit descend from heaven on Him.  And he saw that with Jesus.  “I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

John even started directing his own disciples to follow Jesus, the Lamb of God.  One of those was Andrew.  After meeting Jesus, he went and told his brother Peter about him, and Peter came to see him too.

The next day Philip followed Him. Philip then found Nathaniel and told him they’d found the Messiah.  Soon, Nathaniel followed Jesus wholeheartedly as well.  “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!