Good Morning Friends,
Yesterday we looked at having a moral code and what happens dependent on the code we have and its closer reflection of the teachings of Jesus. Now we consider a message in the life of John the Baptist, his teachings on repentance preparing the way. Many still honor today as the presumed day of John’s birth which I think is appropriate for the only example of a birthday celebration in the Bible was that of King Herod who had John’s head chopped off to complete a promise made at the celebration. And I know of no one who celebrates Herod’s birthday anymore. In holy history the birth of John is kind of important. Interestingly, Zechariah his father had been silent for almost nine months before John’s birth. Zechariah writes the name of John on a tablet at Elizabeth’s request breaking with the tradition that John would be named after his father. It is then that Zachariah regains his speech, and his first words are a song of praise. Humility often brings the right words. Everyone recognized that John was going to be an exceptional child. Zechariah, I think understood that his son will be the forerunner to the Messiah. And so, John was raised with a purpose and intent. People believed. Interestingly, his birth, as was Jesus’, was a supernatural event of sorts. How we view it though depends on what we are expecting from God and how we might be part of the plan. To set the stage we contemplate David killing Goliath as a miracle to some and to others just the way of God… the way of a shepherd. The Bible is filled with these kinds of surprising events and the life of John the Baptist is one of them. How we view his life depends on what we are expecting. And what we know, or we think we know matters in a big way. So, Will We Be Blessed With The Miraculous Birth Of Christ’s Continuing Work In Our Children’s Children?
Scripture: Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you, Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.
Jeremiah 1:4-10 (NRSV)
When he had removed him, he made David their king. In his testimony about him he said, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’ Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised; before his coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his work, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of the sandals on his feet.” “My brothers, you descendants of Abraham’s family, and others who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.
Acts 13:22-26 (NRSV)
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.
Luke 1:57-66 (NRSV)
Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours made careful search and inquiry, inquiring about the person or time that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things that have now been announced to you through those who brought you good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look!
1 Peter 1:8-12 (NRSV)
In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years. Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:5-17 (NRSV)
Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.” And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Isaiah 49:1-6 (NRSV)
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.
Luke 1:57-66, 80 (NRSV)
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
Malachi 3:1-4 (NRSV)
Message: One of the most interesting prophesies concerning John the Baptist is Malachi 3:1. In it we see that God is going to send a messenger, who will act justly, love mercy and walk humbly, preparing the way of the Lord. The text talks about two messengers. The first is John the Baptist but the second is Jesus, the messenger of the covenant. So, the focus here may not be just on Jesus’ first coming alone but his second as well. Each of the Gospels quote Malachi and they all say the same thing about John the Baptist. God had a plan, and it was going to be played out when the time was right. The birth of John the Baptist sets the stage for this monumental set of events and in today’s text we see that it is getting some buzz. The neighbors of Elizabeth and Zachariah were all filled with awe as the story begins to unfurl, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about what such a birth would mean. They saw it as a miracle of hope. Before they thought that Elizabeth and Zachariah were a cursed childless couple who were unable to conceive and were being punished. But now they had become part of the hope that had been prophesied. Everyone who heard about it were wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” As John developed some thought him the Messiah or Elijah. His father Zechariah even prophesied that John would be part of the redemption of the house of David. John knew that he had a very special task to perform for God. He was to prepare the way for the Messiah. He knew that the Messiah was somewhere close at hand. Later Jesus would pay John the greatest compliment that He ever gave to any man.
And So, today we rejoice in the nativity of every child, realizing that the Bible is filled with a lot of stories about joyous and amazing births. The birth of Isaac was cause for rejoicing. Of course, Jesus gets the big celebration at Christmas in our traditions and by those reckonings that would put the anniversary of the birth of John the Baptist around this time of year. With that meditation in mind of a child who recognized Jesus even in the womb we turn together to the Word of God and consider if the story and the promise go on and we get to be part of it. The unfolding for us of the story of Jesus Christ, and in the Bible’s unique and wonderful and inspired way, can give us profound insight into redemptive history in the story of the conception and birth both of John the Baptist and of the Lord Jesus Himself but also our birth into the story as well. In the amazing story is the revelation of God hopefully revealed in us too. It is God’s own word on God and more than anything else it is The Story…History itself. Behind Zacharias and behind Elizabeth and behind Mary and behind John and even behind the coming of Jesus is the great and mighty revelation made possible through Jesus. His nature, His character, His works, His purpose, His will, is being revealed. In fact, at all points in the Bible, God is teaching the truth about the word made flesh…. the one dominating figure in biblical revelation. The Bible simply is a book about God. It starts with God, and it ends with God, and everything in between is about God. Every passage reveals something about God. Pursuing the knowledge of God in every portion of Scripture is a rich and rewarding enterprise. New miracles and new mercies occur each and every day. Everything in the story of John the Baptist evidenced the mighty intervention of God. And you see the intervention of God through His Word, through His angel and through the miracle of conception later in life. God’s hand is in all of this. In the silence and the speaking… in the supernatural events of two miracle conceptions, and two miracle births that echo the birth of Isaac. Friends, the coming of John and the coming of Jesus explodes on the world and the aftershock is acting even now in human history.
Pray we love the children with the miraculous faith of Christ working in us. Pray we appreciate the forerunner of the Messiah as an expression of how God acts in history and can act in ours. Pray that with God’s help each new child born will turn out to be something God intended. Pray we realize what a miracle all this is. Pray we see the movement of God, the purpose of God, the plan of God for redemption unfolding in each of our lives. Pray we rejoice in all aspects of God’s nature and promise, and gracious purpose, and wondrous power. Pray we realize how special life is. Pray God reveals to us a destiny, dignity, discipline, and dominion that impacts others to believe. Pray we love. Pray we join God in the work of preparing people’s hearts to walk with God. Pray that like King David we give joy to others, respect, and honor God, solve problems, fight for justice, minister to others, lead the way for others. Pray we realize that John the Baptist was even greater than David because of not only what he did but what he did not do. Pray we realize that those in the Sunshine cast a shadow. Pray we expect a miracle of a light that shines from within us. Pray we like John follow in the way of King Jesus.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 