Luke 1:57 Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.
58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marveled all.
64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.
65 And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea.
66 And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.
67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,
68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
74 That he would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us.
79 To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
80 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
MEMORY VERSE: That he [God] would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. Luke 1:74, 75
CENTRAL THOUGHT: God blessed Zacharias and Elisabeth with knowledge and foresight of the purpose and ministry their son, John, would fulfill as a forerunner of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world.
WORD DEFINITIONS
Luke 1:66, “laid them up in their hearts”: Seriously took them to heart and considered them well.
Verse 69, “horn of salvation”: Triumphant and overcoming power to be saved and delivered from the power of sin and death.
Verse 71, “saved from our enemies”: Delivered from the the rulership of Satan and ungodly ways of life. “from the hand of all that hate us”: From the overcoming influences of this present evil world.
Verse 78, “dayspring from on high”: The rising of the Sun of righteousness with healing in His wings. Malachi 4:2
Verse 80, “the day of his shewing”: The time of his appearing and ministry.
LESSON BACKGROUND
We had in our former lesson for March 1 the account of Zacharias being visited by the angel Gabriel with glad tidings of him and his wife Elisabeth to bring forth a son to be named John and of his ministry going before Christ to prepare people to believe in Him. It was brought out how Zacharias faltered in believing what Gabriel told him because of his and Elisabeth’s aged condition. Then we saw what came on Zacharias of being dumb and not able to speak. This condition prevailed throughout all the months of Elisabeth’s expecting of her baby. Then we see Elisabeth bringing forth her son and the dispute Elisabeth had with her neighbors about the name to be given to her child. Elisabeth declared that he should be called John. Then they turned to Zacharias for his word, and he wrote it out, “His name is John.” Then we see Zacharias’s mouth opened immediately and his tongue loosed and praises to God coming forth. That was a great sign for those round about; and fear came on the people, and they wondered what manner of child this was before them!
Then we have Zacharias being filled with the Holy Ghost and speaking wonderful words of prophecy and praise to God. This message he spoke forth is a wonderful testimony and declaration of the goodness and power of Almighty God in the salvation that He prophesied about in His holy prophets and would bring forth in the coming Saviour Jesus Christ. He stated that this was all the fulfillment of the mercy of God that He promised in times past to Abraham and the children of Israel. He so sweetly declared how that we can be delivered and set free from sin to serve God without fear of failure or defeat from Satan, “…in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life,” Oh, what a message our dear Zacharias brought forth that day! “The dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace”! Praise the Lord, it all came to pass and we today can still enjoy and experience this great salvation! —Bro. Leslie Busbee
QUESTIONS:
- Why did Zacharias and Elisabeth want to name their baby John?
- Why did their friends want to name him after his father?
- What did the angel say their baby would grow up to be?
- What did Zacharias say the prophets had spoken about?
- What kind of salvation did he say would be given to us?
COMMENTS AND APPLICATION
As we survey and meditate on this New Testament account of Zacharias and Elisabeth, there are some things we would like to comment on. First, I would take note of what was said at the first of them. Luke 1:6 states that “they [Zacharias and Elisabeth] were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” Now that is a great amount of good that can be said of a person. We need to consider this very well in our viewing of what Zecharias went through on account of his failure to accept the angel Gabriel’s informing him of the son that his wife Elisabeth was to bring forth. Now the angel’s sentence of him going to be dumb and not able to speak until the day those things would be performed was for a wise purpose for him and for us. We must be diligent in our faith and not allow circumstances and conditions to hinder us from believing what God has made known will be. We do not find that this sentence of not being able to speak had any bearing or effect on the faithfulness of Zacharias. He stood right with Elisabeth all through those nine months of pregnancy and awaiting the birth of their son, John.
When the question was put to him of what the name of his son would be, we see Zecharias firmly writing, “His name is John.” This showed his faithfulness and integrity after going through the long period of silence and not being able to speak. When his mouth was opened and he began once more to speak, what did he say? He praised God! And being filled with the Holy Ghost, Zecharias blessed the Lord and spoke some wonderful words of gladness for the blessings of God to them. He declared that God had spoken wonderful words of old of what He was to do, bringing in salvation for humanity, granting us that we being delivered from our enemies might serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our lives. He foretold what his son would do in going before the Lord to prepare his ways and give the knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. He concluded that all of this was “…to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Praises be to God that we can experience this great blessing today! —Bro. Leslie Busbee
REFLECTIONS
We find the oath sworn by God to Abraham that Zacharias referred to in his inspired message back in Genesis 22:16-18. “By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord. . .that in blessing I will bless thee. . . and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. . . .”
Surely these Scriptures are clear proof that the Abrahamic promise is a spiritual one. Zacharias is not applying this oath to literal conquest. That had been accomplished literally by Joshua and David and Solomon. But as Hebrews 4:8 points out, true rest from our enemies wasn’t accomplished by Joshua. The real enemies are the enemies of the soul. The real seed is Jesus Christ and all who believe in Him. He has bruised satan’s head as He promised to Adam and Eve.
The promise is clear and complete. No enemy has been left unconquered by Christ. There is no need to serve Christ cowering in fear of being daily overcome by weaknesses and temptations. Perfect love casts out this fear! This speaks of holiness and righteousness, not just for a moment, but enduring throughout our whole lives. Not just forgiveness, but regeneration and victory.
Possessing the gate of our enemies: this is the “uttermost” to which we are saved by Christ. —Sis. Angela Gellenbeck
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