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Focus Text: Luke 1.67-76

“Now his [John’s] father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: ‘Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began, That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us, To perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways.’” (Luke 1.67-76).

This unique announcement of ministry was the beginning of the end and the beginning of the beginning. It signaled the beginning of the end of the Jewish economy which had begun at Sinai and the beginning of the beginning of the New dispensation originating with the crowning of Messiah. Almost every phrase uttered by Zacharias, John’s father, was taken from the Old Testament as he, under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit, excerpted from the Scriptures grand summaries of truth and hope regarding Messiah. Thousands of years of waiting were almost over and man literally stood on the brink of the most marvelous of all eras since the fall. For that reason, the Holy Spirit influenced Zacharias to refer to his son as “…the prophet of the highest.” This unique and critical role was one which John was to fill so well!

It was this role which began to find its fulfillment on the banks of the Jordan river as John preached and baptized. He did not enter the cities as other prophets had done so frequently but he served in deserted places as the crowds flocked to him to hear his simple and straightforward messages. Whatever else might be said of John, one would have to admit that he was “his own man.” He message was influenced by no sect, group, or party; rather, he spoke to all without fear or favor. When people came to hear John they heard him say, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3.2). They saw a man who did not conform to the social, political, or religious styles of the day. Matthew records, “And John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Matthew 3.4-6). Whatever John was, he was his own man!

And could it have been any other way? What kind of Messiah would have been announced by someone owned and/or influenced by the political or religious parties of His day? The Messiah was, by definition, Messiah! He could not have a harbinger make paths straight who was himself crooked – and that was the role of John. He came to call Israel to repentance and to prepare a people for the coming Messiah. Israel did not need a puppet; there had been enough of those. Israel did not need a hireling; plenty of those had come and gone in the previous centuries. Israel needed just what God sent, i.e., John the Immerser, Harbinger of Messiah!

Questions:

1. Reading the larger context of Luke 1, what was unusual about Zacharias’ speaking?

2. What two Old Testament greats did Zacharias mention by name?

3. Why was John called the “prophet of the Highest?” Who was “the Highest?”

4. What was John’s simple message and where did he preach it? How did many respond?

"Word from Scotland" from Sandy Shaw

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