The Beginning Of The Gospel

Introduction

Luke, a Greek doctor from Antioch in Syria, was neither an apostle nor a disciple of Jesus. However, Luke met Paul and his group in Troas during his second missionary journey, heard the gospel, and came to believe in Jesus Christ. By believing in Jesus Christ, he was freed from the power of sin and lived a new life. And when he met the Apostle Paul, he heard and saw Paul's dramatic change and dedication to the gospel, and may have realized the true purpose of his life. So from then on, he served as the Apostle Paul's personal physician and continued to accompany Paul and testify of the gospel as a lay minister. However, the problem was that it was not easy to explain to the Greeks that one must believe in Jesus as the Messiah and accept Him as the Lord and Savior to be saved.

So, in the form of a dedication to His Excellency Theophilus, he wanted to clearly inform the Gentiles, the Greeks, who Jesus was and why they had to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved. So, based on the information relayed by eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ and servants of the Word, he carefully investigated everything from the beginning and wrote it in order from the birth of Jesus Christ to his death on the cross, resurrection, and ascension.

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I. Priest Zechariah (vv. 5~13)

An ordinary person would just say that there was a man named Zacharias among the priests. However, Luke explains in great detail that ‘In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah.’ (v. 5). Luke did not just focus on what happened, but also described specific historical situations to ensure that the Gospel he wrote was true. According to research by biblical archaeologists, it was revealed that there was a priest named Zechariah among the priestly division of Abijah during the time of King Herod, and that the titles and geographic names used by Luke were also accurate, proving that the record in the Gospel of Luke is true.

King Herod's time was a very dark and difficult time. The Israelites returned from captivity and rebuilt the temple, but God's glory did not return. After giving his final words through the prophet Malachi, God did not send a prophet or say anything to Israel for nearly 400 years. Despite this, there were people who constantly worshiped and prayed to God in the temple. And the people who worshiped and prayed in the temple were the first to catch the change coming from God. And the first person to feel the change was a priest named Zechariah, who performed his duties as a priest in order. The name ‘Zacharia’ means ‘God remembers.’ Zacharias and his wife were very pious people and were blameless people who observed all the laws (v. 6). However, the couples were old and had no children (v. 7).

Zacharias entered the temple and offered incense as he was chosen by lot, following the priestly ritual (vv. 8-9). The smoke of incense was a symbol of prayers ascending to heaven. All the worshipers prayed outside while Zechariah was burning incense (v. 10). At that time, an angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias and stood on the right side of the altar of incense (v. 11). When Zechariah saw the angel of the Lord, he was startled and was gripped with fear (v. 12). Being startled and gripped with fear means that he has reached a state of emotional inability to communicate. Zechariah had no idea that an angel would appear. The Jews thought that if they saw an angel, they would die. This was because it was thought that when a sinner saw an angel of God, all of his sins would be revealed and he would be judged.

Then the angel said to Zechariah, “Do not be afraid. Your prayer has been heard.” (v. 13a). What did Zechariah pray for? Of course, it would have been true that Zechariah and his wife had prayed for a baby for a long time. However, considering that it was a moment for him to go before God and burn incense as a representative of all worshipers, he must have prayed for the restoration of Israel and the coming of the Messiah. And when the angel appeared he may have thought it was an answer to his prayers. But the angel said, “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.” (v. 13b). It was said that the answer to that prayer was through the son born to Elizabeth.

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II. Child to be born (vv. 14~17)

Next, look at verses 14-15. “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 from birth.” Zechariah and Elizabeth were old and had no children. However, Elizabeth, who was barren, will give birth to her son, so Zechariah will naturally be happy and rejoice. He also said that many people would also rejoice that John was born.