All right, well this morning we are embarking on a new series of sermons.
We're going to be working our way through the Gospel of Luke.
So if you have your Bible with you, open it up to the first chapter of Luke.
This is the third book in the New Testament in your Bible, if you are looking for it there.
And Luke is the longest of the Gospel accounts which tell the story of Jesus.
Right out of the gate as we launch on into this new series, we just want to take a few minutes to look at some important background kinds of things.
First of all, who was Luke?
According to the Apostle Paul in his letter, Luke was a physician.
He was one of the men who traveled with Paul and worked with Paul in spreading the good news about Jesus.
What's unique about Luke's Gospel?
We have four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
And all of them tell the story of Jesus.
What's unique about Luke's Gospel?
Well, out of the four Gospels, usually it's John that we think of as the one that stands out the most, as being the most different.
He writes with a very different style.
He touches on a lot of things that the others don't.
The other three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they have very much similar content in them.
And so they're often referred to as the Synoptic Gospels because of that.
And scholars today, they analyze and study each of the Synoptic Gospels.
And they compare them with each other.
And they make guesses about which one of them wrote their Gospel first.
And, you know, whether one or more of these Gospels use the other as source material.
Because why the similarities between them?
Many are confident that there's some kind of a common source, whether it was an apostle or the earlier writings of an apostle that they all drew from, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Others see Mark as being the source, the first one to write his Gospel.
And then the others kind of use that as a starting place for writing theirs.
We're going to leave all of that analysis to the scholars.
But something useful that they've come up with through their analysis, while much of Luke has similar content to Matthew and Mark,
about 42% of Luke's content is only found in Luke.
So we have exclusive details about the birth of Jesus and his infancy.
We have accounts of four miracles that were not included in the other Gospels.
There are 15 parables that Jesus told that we only hear about from Luke.
There are exclusive details about the resurrection appearances of Jesus that are only in Luke.
And then another really unique thing about Luke's Gospel is that it's the only Gospel with a sequel.
Luke continues the story after Jesus' resurrection.
And he tells the story of how the church began to grow and the Gospel about Jesus began to spread in the book of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles.
So Luke has so much to say about Jesus, we would really be missing out on a lot if it weren't for him taking the time to sit down and write this account and its sequel.
Well, what else do we know about Luke?
Back to the scholars for a second, there's a whole discussion between them about whether Luke was a Jew or not a Jew, whether he was a Gentile.
And they've got their observations that they bring up.
Luke seems to have a very good understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures.
And he seems very eager to highlight how Jesus handled himself on the issue of Sabbath and the things Jesus taught about Sabbath.
But there's a passage in Acts where Luke refers to how the Jews named a place, something which in their language means, and then he goes on to talk about it.
And then there's another place in Paul's letter to the Colossian church where Paul lists the Jews who have been working with him by name.
And Luke's name is not there, even though he is listed as a co-worker of Paul's in other places.
So we don't know for sure, but Luke was likely a Gentile.
He was likely a non-Jew.
And maybe he converted to Judaism before Christ, or perhaps he was just a God-fearing Gentile who was well acquainted with the Jewish faith.
Church history and tradition have it that Luke was from the city of Antioch in Syria, that he was unmarried, childless, and lived a fairly long life.
We might wonder, when did Luke write this gospel that we're about to read?
Well, since Luke's gospel account is referred to in the book of Acts, the sequel, and the book of Acts goes right up to about 62 AD.
Paul is in Rome, imprisoned, the first time.
And it doesn't tell about Paul's death, which was later on in the 60s.
So we know that Acts had to have been written after the events that it describes, and then probably sometime before Paul died.
Which means that Luke had to have completed his gospel sometime before Acts was written, in that time frame.
So some suggest that it was in the early 60s that Luke wrote this gospel, and then Acts shortly after.
Others, maybe an even earlier date.
Either way, it wasn't too long after the events of Jesus' life.
We're talking within about 30 years of it.
And then, for the background stuff, finally, why did Luke write this gospel?
And for the answer to this, let's now look at Luke's introduction to his book, the first four verses.
Luke writes,
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,
just as they were handed down to us by those who, from the first,
were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.
With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning,
I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
So why did Luke write this account of Jesus?
He writes it for a man named Theophilus,
so that you, Theophilus, may know the certainty of the things that you have been taught.
So that's Luke's goal.
It seems Theophilus, whoever he was, we don't know anymore today,
but it seems that he was already a believer in Jesus,
but perhaps had some doubts.
Or perhaps there were some false teachers or opponents that were speaking really loudly in his corner,
shaking things up for him.
Whatever the case, Luke compiles and writes this account so that Theophilus can have certainty.
What really did happen with Jesus?
What did he say?
What did he really say and teach?
What has really been fulfilled among us?
And there's a desire here on Luke's part for an orderly account.
I, too, decided to write an orderly account for you.
As you can imagine, with all that's happened in the three years of Jesus' public ministry,
and then even all that's happened after that,
as the news spreads all over the Mediterranean world,
there could be a lot of,
well, I heard that he said this,
or I heard that he did this,
and, well, so-and-so said that it went this way.
It could be easy to get all jumbled up.
Wouldn't it be good to have an orderly,
accurate account of just what did happen with Jesus?
That's Luke's goal here.
And we also get a little more info about Luke here as well,
because we might be wondering, you know,
where did Luke get all this from that he writes?
We notice here that Luke himself was not a firsthand eyewitness of Jesus.
He says,
So Luke does not claim to be a firsthand eyewitness.
He separates himself from those who were.
What they saw and heard,
they passed along to us,
is what he says.
Not only that,
but many have already undertaken to do this thing that Luke is doing here,
to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us.
So this kind of adds credibility for Theophilus.
Like,
this isn't just a bunch of stories cooked up by a few little guys.
Like,
no,
these things that happened were public.
Many have already tried to gather up the testimonies from various people
and put together an account like I'm doing here now,
because there's just so much,
so much that happened.
So many people's lives were impacted.
So many people witnessed it.
And so know that this is not a new or strange thing.
But then we see that Luke has not been one to just accept all this about Jesus
without checking into it deeply.
He says,
I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning.
And so Luke himself,
he wasn't content to just hear all this stuff about Jesus secondhand.
And rightly so.
Because the news coming out of Galilee and Jerusalem about Jesus was astonishing.
Miracles being done.
Luke is saying,
I went back to the sources to verify these things myself.
And,
you know,
scholars,
as they read about this,
they assume that Luke just collected up the writings of others.
And maybe it's because scholars are more focused on writing and writings.
But when I look at some of the content here in Luke's gospel,
like the details surrounding Jesus' birth,
I mean,
this is something that the majority in Israel knew little about at first.
I would suggest that quite likely Luke went straight to the sources and actually met with and talked to Elizabeth and Zachariah.
met with and talked to Mary,
the mother of Jesus.
Met with various people who had been healed and heard from them the actual testimony of how Jesus did it.
Met with those two guys that were on the road to Emmaus and encountered Jesus alive and then wrote these things down.
along with the stuff that the apostles themselves had already written and recorded.
I mean,
how else could we have the very words and details of some of these private prayers and conversations and angelic visits and personal encounters?
I think Luke's telling us right here,
no,
I went back to the sources and carefully investigated everything from the beginning.
And now I want to lay it all out for you,
Theophilus,
so that you can know with certainty just what did happen with Jesus.
What did he say?
What did he do?
Let's keep going.
It all started,
according to Luke,
in the time of King Herod in Judea with a priest named Zachariah.
In the time of Herod,
King of Judea,
there was a priest named Zachariah who belonged to the priestly division.
His wife,
Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.
Both of them were righteous in the sight of God,
observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly.
But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive
and they were both very old.
So it all started with a priest named Zachariah,
says Luke.
And Luke states Zachariah's priestly lineage.
Both he and his wife were of the priestly line,
descended from Aaron,
the brother of Moses.
And both of them,
he says,
were righteous in the sight of God,
observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly.
Now this doesn't mean that they were sinless,
living perfectly before God,
in perfect obedience.
But it means that the normal everyday lives of these two
were lived doing what was right in the sight of God.
These are people who sought to honor God in everything.
They were people of excellent reputation.
And everybody around them knew it.
Blame or accusation from others
just wouldn't have stuck to them
because everybody knew that they feared the Lord,
that they loved the Lord.
They really stood out among people
as those who actually obey God's commands,
persistently and consistently.
Much like the righteous faithful of the Old Testament,
men like King David.
But, says Luke,
Zachariah and his wife were childless
because Elizabeth had not been able to conceive
and they were both very old.
So the reason they had no children
was because Elizabeth had been barren.
And it wasn't a punishment from God.
Many in those days equated children
with the blessing and favor of God
and the lack of children
with being punished or cursed by God.
But Luke's already told us
they were both righteous people.
They had God's favor.
And as you can imagine,
they tried and tried and tried
to conceive over the years,
but nothing.
Now here they are,
elderly,
no children.
They were both very old.
For those of you who are younger
and may not know this,
there comes a time in a woman's life
when it is no longer physically
or biologically possible
to have a baby.
It's exceedingly rare
for a woman to conceive
and have a child after the age of 50
without some form of fertility treatment
or all kinds of stuff
that we do today
with modern medicine and technology.
But they didn't have any of that back then.
And judging by the language here,
Zachariah and Elizabeth
were not just old,
but very old.
And so they had come to that point in life
where it was now physically
and biologically impossible
for Elizabeth to have children.
Once when Zachariah's division was on duty
and he was serving as priest before God,
he was chosen by lot
according to the custom of the priesthood
to go into the temple of the Lord
and burn incense.
So Luke sets the scene for us.
Zachariah has been chosen
from among the priestly families
to come to Jerusalem
and to do his priestly duties
at the temple of the Lord.
There was a temple
to Yahweh, the Lord,
the God of Israel
in the city of Jerusalem.
And at the temple,
they had outer courts
and they had inner courts.
They had an altar
for sacrificing animals.
And then they had
like a room
that was called the Holy Place.
And only the priest
could enter into that room.
And they would burn incense
and other things.
They would burn
a fragrant, sweet-smelling incense
to God
in there.
So this is what Zachariah
was doing.
The worshipers, he says,
are assembled outside
and they're praying.
And Zachariah is alone
in the Holy Place
burning this incense.
Verse 11.
Then an angel of the Lord
appeared to him
standing at the right side
of the altar of incense.
When Zachariah saw him,
he was startled
and was gripped with fear.
But the angel said to him,
Do not be afraid,
Zachariah.
Your prayer
has been heard.
Your wife, Elizabeth,
will bear you
a son
and you are to call him
John.
He will be a joy
and delight to you
and many
will rejoice
because of his birth.
For he will be great
in the sight of the Lord.
He is never to take wine
or other fermented drink
and he will be filled
with the Holy Spirit
even before
he is born.
He will bring back
many of the people of Israel
to the Lord their God.
And he will go on
before the Lord
in the spirit
and power
of Elijah
to turn the hearts
of the parents
to their children
and the disobedient
to the wisdom
of the righteous
to make ready
a people
prepared
for the Lord.
Wow.
Amazing.
Can you imagine
what that would have been like
for Zachariah
on that day?
He's going in.
He's alone.
There's nobody else
in the room
and then all of a sudden
bam!
Right in front of him.
An angel.
And the angel
begins to speak to him.
Luke emphasizes
the fear
in Zachariah's heart
in that moment.
Quite literally
he was troubled.
He was unsettled.
Frightened.
Fear
fell upon him.
And what does the angel
say
to Zachariah?
Well quite a lot.
First of all
the angel tells him
that his prayers
have been heard
and that his wife
Elizabeth
will bear him a son
who he is to call
John.
With both
Zachariah
and Elizabeth
being righteous people
you can imagine
just how often
they might have
prayed
to God
for a child.
Again
and again
and again.
How many times
had they called out
to God
to give them a child
over the years?
And maybe by now
they'd stopped asking
given their ages.
But the angel
tells them
that the prayer
that they had been praying
over all those years
was heard
by God
and the time
has now come
for his answer.
you and Elizabeth
are going to have
a son.
And we notice
the language here
it's very clear
this is not going to come
through some kind of
surrogate mother
or adoption
or something else.
Elizabeth
will bear you
a son.
And this son
says the angel
will be a joy
and delight to you
and many
will rejoice
in his birth.
I mean
we can imagine
how this baby
would bring joy
to Zachariah and Elizabeth
because that's what
children do, right?
Most of the time.
But this is greater
than that.
It says
he will be a joy
and delight to you
and many
will rejoice
because of his birth
for
because
he will be great
in the sight
of the Lord.
So this child
will be special.
A man
who will be
great
among
men
not by our
usual way
of measuring it
but by
God's
way of measuring it
in the sight
of the Lord.
And the angel
gives some instruction.
He's never to take
wine
or fermented
drink.
God prescribes
one way
in which he is
to be set apart
in the way
that he lives.
He's to live
differently from others
by abstaining
from alcohol.
But more
significantly
than that
God says
that this child
who is to be
called John
will be filled
with the Holy Spirit
of God
even before
he is born.
Think about that.
God's saying
I'm going to put
my own spirit
upon this child
while he's still
in the womb.
These words
were written
almost 2,000
years ago
but don't they
emphasize
the humanity
and personhood
of a pre-born
child?
A person
still developing
and growing
in the earliest
stages of human
life, yes
yet God's
spirit
can fill him
there.
And what is
this child
destined to do?
Verse 16
He will bring
back many
of the people
of Israel
to the Lord
their God.
This son
of yours
Zachariah
is going
to be
instrumental
in turning
the hearts
of the people
of Israel
back to Yahweh
back to the
Lord
their God.
Verse 17
This child
is going
to serve
the Lord
in the spirit
and power
of Elijah.
Elijah was
a prophet
from many
centuries
earlier.
probably the
greatest
and most
well-known
of the
prophets
other than
Moses.
There's
going to
be a
similarity
to Elijah
and his
prophetic
ministry
and what
God did
through him
and your
son
Zachariah.
But as
we'll find
out it's
not mainly
that John's
going to do
great miracles
like Elijah
did.
It has
more to do
with the
spirit and
the tone
and the
message.
of John's
ministry
in the
same way
that Elijah
called the
people of
Israel back
to God
in the
days where
things were
going off
the rail
and there
was a
wicked king
in power
so too
John will
be a prophet
of the Lord
who calls
the nation
back to
God.
He's going
to turn the
hearts of
parents to
their children
says the
angel.
We glance
backwards
the very
last thing
spoken by
the Old
Testament
prophet
Malachi
400 years
before this.
There's been
no prophet
since,
no word
of the
Lord
since.
The very
last words
of Malachi
in Malachi
chapter 4
God says
see I
will send
the prophet
Elijah to
you before
the great
and dreadful
day of the
Lord comes.
He will
turn the
hearts of
the parents
to their
children.
That's the
same thing
that the
angel says
John is
going to
do.
He's going
to turn
the hearts
of the
parents to
their
children
and the
disobedient
to the
wisdom of
the righteous.
When people
turn back to
God it
changes
everything.
It changes
your heart.
Self-centeredness
and selfishness
are replaced
with love
which spills
out into
all your
relationships
starting with
your family
starting with
your children
and then
from there
on.
Zachariah
your son is
going to
turn the
hearts of
the disobedient
to the
wisdom of
the righteous.
In other
words people
who are
flat out
living in
disobedience
to God
today Zachariah
your son
is going
to have
a role
in them
understanding
and seeing
the wisdom
of the
righteous
and turning
their hearts
to God.
Zachariah
your son
is going
to prepare
a people
for the
Lord.
Wow.
What might
Zachariah be
feeling in
this moment?
Can you
imagine what
thoughts might
be going
through his
mind?
It's an
incredible
moment.
An angel
of God
appears to
an elderly
man with
almost
unbelievable
good news
not just
of answer
to his
old prayer
but of
widespread
spiritual
reform
and renewal
for the
nation.
How does
Zachariah
respond?
Zachariah
asked the
angel
how can I
be sure
of this?
I'm an
old man
and my
wife is
well along
in years.
the angel
said to
him
I
am
Gabriel
I
stand
in the
presence
of
God
and I
have
been
sent
to
speak
to
you
and to
tell
you
this
good
news
and now
you will
be silent
and not
able to
speak
until the
day this
happens
because you
did not
believe
my words
which will
come true
at their
appointed
time.
How does
Zachariah
respond to
all this?
With
wonder
pride
excitement
joy
well no
the angel
tells us
because you
did not
believe
my words
you did
not believe
my words
says the
angel
that was
Zachariah's
response
he did
not believe
the angel's
words
he was
skeptical
he was
full of
doubt
in this
moment
when he
says how
can I
be sure
of this
I'm an
old man
and my
wife is
well along
in years
there's
this kind
of profound
and deep
seated
unbelief
in his
heart
like you're
telling me
that me
and my
wife are
going to
be parents
in our
old age
look at
us
that's
ridiculous
that's
impossible
that's
absurd
and the
angel
responds
by saying
make no
mistake
I am
Gabriel
what do
I do
as an
angel
I stand
in the
very presence
of God
almighty
and he
has sent
me to
you to
tell you
this good
news
and it
will happen
exactly as
I have
said
even though
you have
not believed
it
and there's
this sort
of disciplinary
consequence
that's put
on
Zachariah
because you
did not
believe my
words
you will
be silent
and unable
to speak
until the
day this
happens
meanwhile
the people
were waiting
for Zachariah
that is
those
worshipping
outside
and praying
outside the
temple
they were
wondering
why he
stayed so
long in
the temple
when he
came out
he could
not speak
to them
they realized
he had
seen a
vision in
the temple
for he
kept making
signs to
them
but remained
unable to
speak
so can you
imagine this
like he's
coming out
and what on
earth has
happened to
Zachariah
he looks
like he's
playing charades
he's acting
something out
they probably
speculated
and guessed
and eventually
at just
this moment
what did
you have a
vision from
God
yeah
when his
time of
service was
completed
Zachariah
returned home
after this
his wife
Elizabeth
became
pregnant
and for
five months
remained
in seclusion
the Lord
has done
this for
me
she said
in these
days
he has
shown his
favor
and taken
away my
disgrace
among the
people
not having
children in
those days
it was
considered a
disgrace
being a
woman who
can't bear
a child
was like
being a
man with
no legs
back then
unable to
work
unable to
provide
for the
family
and people
were cruel
they
probably
speculated
and gossiped
about the
reason that
she couldn't
have kids
but no
more
and Elizabeth
gives all the
credit for her
pregnancy to
God
she knows
that this is
his doing
a miraculous
conception
and this
according to
Luke is
where the
story of
Jesus began
this was
the first
sign in
a series
of many
an awesome
angelic
encounter
and a
miraculous
conception
for an
elderly
God-fearing
couple
which came
as a total
surprise to
them and
to all
the new
around them
God
finally
broke
that 400
year silence
with the
word of
his angel
there is
coming
another
prophet
a great
one
he's going
to prepare
the hearts
of the
people
people are
going to
turn back
to the
Lord
many of
them as
a result
and he
will be
your son
Zachariah
but what
should our
response to
all this
be today
I think
Zachariah
shows us
what our
response to
all this
should be
or rather
what our
response should
not be
that's
my son
do you
believe the
words that
Gabriel spoke
to Zachariah
over 2,000
years ago
or
are you
like
Zachariah
a doubt
filled
skeptic
who looks
at this
story
and says
that's
impossible
there's a
sort of
irony here
isn't
there
God
acts in
a
supernatural
spectacular
way
to announce
good news
a message
of great
hope
all the
longings
that
you've
had
they're
about
to
be
fulfilled
and the
man he
chooses to
announce it
to
responds in
actual
disbelief
he doesn't
believe the
words of
God
he was a
righteous
God-fearing
man
yes
but the
first thing
we see
out of
him
when God
speaks to
him
is a
flat-out
disbelief
of God's
words
I think
this is
one of
those
unique
evidences
that this
is really
a true
account
I mean
this would
be
embarrassing
for
Zachariah
humiliating
and everybody
else knows
about it
because
well he
couldn't
talk
for nine
months
why would
God take
away your
ability to
speak
Zachariah
well because
when I first
heard the
news
I didn't
believe it
that was
Zachariah's
response to
God's
good news
back then
what's
your
response
to
God's
good
news
and the
rest
of it
today
do you
believe
God
do you
believe
that
John
was
miraculously
conceived
by the
power of
God
and that
he came
full of
God's
Holy Spirit
to prepare
us
for the
coming
of the
Lord
himself
the
Lord
Jesus
our
Savior
the
Messiah
and if
you don't
believe this
why not
let
Zachariah be a
lesson to us
all
don't think
that for a
moment if
God were to
send an
angel to
you to
appear to
you and
speak to
you that
then you
would believe
an
angelic
encounter
wasn't
enough
for
Zachariah
to
believe
God
said he
was going
to do
something
that seemed
utterly
impossible
to
Zachariah
and it
was there
that his
faith
wavered
real
faith in
God is
not so
much about
having that
special
experience
than about
simply trusting
and believing
in your
heart that
God can
do
what he
says
and I
love how
this story
continues
believe it
or not
Zachariah
you're
going to
see me
do
what I
have
said
I
will
do
I'll
bring
about
this
joy
and
delight
for
you
and
this
rejoicing
for
many
and
for
the
next
nine
months
you
won't
be
able
to
share
in
this
joy
in
the
same
way
because
you
did
not
believe
you
won't
be
able
to
speak
but
once
it
takes
place
I'll
give
you
your
speech
again
and
you
will
glorify
my
name
you
will
have
you
will
declare
my
goodness
and
so
I
think
there's
a
little
message
in
here
for
us
don't
be
like
Zachariah
God
can
really
do
the
impossible
he
really
did
do
the
impossible
in
this
situation
in
this
story
the
whole
account
of
Luke
is
the
story
of
impossible
after
impossible
happening
because
God
does
it
because
of
his
goodness
to
us
so
I
want
to
encourage
you
surrender
your
heart
to
that
simple
faith
the
Lord
can
do
what
he
says
he
will
do
as
both
Zachariah
and
his
wife
discovered
God
is
not
a
God
who
takes
pleasure
in
withholding
good
he
is
not
a
God
who
ignores
our
prayers
he
hears
all
of
them
and
he's
full
of
grace
and
favor
just
waiting
to
be
unleashed
despite
our
failings
towards
him
this
is
sign
number
one
in
the
gospel
of
Luke
where
God
finally
breaks
the
silence
do
you
believe
his
words
let's
pray
father
in
heaven
we
believe
that's
why we're
here this
morning
because we
believe
what an
awesome
thing
you
did
we love
this story
pray that
you would
fill us
with
joy
too
just
like
they
had
just
remembering
again
that
you
came
just
as
you
said
you
started
things
up
when it
seemed
like
everything
had
died
down
and I
pray
that
we
would
just
be
filled
with
that
joy
and
that
it
would
overflow
and
in
our
eagerness
to
share
this
good
news
with
people
around
us
especially
as we
head
towards
Christmas
Lord
that time
when we
remember
your
birth
may
this
news
be on
our
lips
the
signs
that
you
gave
the
angel
you
sent
and
we
know
that
not
everybody
will
respond
with
faith
and
belief
but
we
do
and
we
pray
that
some
will
for
your
name
amen