We Are The Forerunners For Jesus

We are the Forerunners for Jesus

Luke 1:57-67

Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

Luke 1:57 Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

Luke 1:59 And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father. 60 But his mother answered and said, “No indeed; but he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.” 62 And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. 63 And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished. 64 And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. 65 Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.

The birth of John the Baptist is an interesting narrative of Luke’s gospel. Preaching circles usually overlook it or connect it to Zacharias' prophecy, which follows. Why did the author of Luke’s gospel include this birth narrative? First, he wanted to show that John the Baptist was a few months older than Jesus. He also wanted to show that he believed that John the Baptist was Jesus’s was first cousin. Another purpose for including the birth narrative and the circumcision is that Luke wanted to prove that Christianity had its roots in Judaism.

The development of Christianity over the centuries is an interesting thing to study. It actually started with a Jewish rabbi who went around the territory of the Galilee preaching something new and to most of the common people quite exciting. He preached we should all love each other and live in peace. This was pretty radical for Jesus' time on earth.

Let me remind you of the time that Jesus lived. The Roman government had taken over the territory of Judah. Why would the Romans be interested in an area like Judea? This is where we need to investigate history, so indulge me for a few minutes while I give you a little history lesson. Alexander the great and the Greeks had invaded the territory of the Middle East around 250 BCE. Alexander the great defeated the Persian Empire and in doing so he took over all of its territory. The Persian Empire extended from what we know to be Iran today to Egypt.

When Alexander the great died, his will divided his kingdom into four parts. The area of Syria and Judea came under the control of the Seleucids. A revolt started in Judea against the Seleucids around 168 BCE. The Jewish people wanted to be freed from the tyranny of the Seleucids and a man name Matthew Maccabee, who was a priest, could put together a small army to attack the Seleucids. History tells us that his five sons are the ones who led the war against the Greeks. Judas Maccabee became known as the victor of the war against the Greeks.

What happened was the Seleucid governor in Jerusalem placed an idol on the top of the Ark of the Covenant, the holy place in the temple. When he did, the full-fledged revolt started. The Maccabees forced the Seleucids to leave the territory of Judea. Therefore, the nation of Judea was reborn. Most of us believe Judea was a sovereign nation and, it was. However, it was constantly at war with the Seleucids who wanted to take back the territory.

One-hundred years later, the incursions were still occurring and the leadership of Judea went into negotiations with the new power that was rising in Western Europe. That power was the Roman empire. So, Judea asked the Romans if they would come into the war and dispose of the Seleucids. The Romans came into the territory, and they remove the Seleucids. However, since the Roman army was sitting in Judea they annexed that territory into their empire and thus Jerusalem became a part of the Roman Empire.

History tells us that the Assyrians did invade the Northern Kingdom of Israel exactly the way the Bible states it. We have to remember theologians wrote the Northern Kingdom’s history. The Egyptians were attacking the northern kingdom from the South and the leadership knew that they would not survive. Therefore, they invited the Assyrians to join with them in the attack against the Egyptians. Once the Egyptians were repelled, the Assyrians decided they like the territory of the Northern Kingdom and stayed. Sounds very much like what Judah did in calling in the Romans. This is a problem when one does not know one’s history. The saying "history repeats itself" was clear when the Romans arrived and assisted Judea in 68 BCE, ultimately choosing to stay.