518. The Gospel According to Luke - Chapter 1 - John's Birth Announced to Zacharias - March 27, 2024

[00:00:00] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast

[00:00:12] we will be exploring the book of Proverbs. Let's open in prayer. Father God, I thank

[00:00:25] you for anyone listening to this podcast today. I pray that you give everyone ears to hear and a

[00:00:31] heart to receive everything you have in store for them in Jesus name, Amen. This is Proverbs 27

[00:00:39] beginning in verse 1. Do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth. Let

[00:00:49] another man praise you and not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips, a stone is heavy

[00:00:58] and sand is wavy but a fool's wrath is heavier than both of them. Wrath is cruel and anger

[00:01:07] a torrent but who is able to stand before jealousy? Open rebuke is better than love carefully

[00:01:16] concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. A satisfied

[00:01:26] soul loads the honeycomb but to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet like a bird that wonders

[00:01:36] from its nest is a man who wonders from his place. Ointment and perfume delight the heart

[00:01:45] and the sweetness of a man's friend gives delight by hearty counsel. Do not forsake your own friend

[00:01:54] or your father's friend nor go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity.

[00:02:00] Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away. My son be wise and make my heart glad

[00:02:10] that I may answer him who reproaches me. A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, the simple

[00:02:21] pass on and are punished. Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger and hold it in pledge

[00:02:30] when he is surety for a seductress. He who blesses his friend with a loud voice rising early in

[00:02:39] the morning, it will be counted a curse to him. A continual dripping on a very rainy day and a

[00:02:48] contentious woman are alike. Whoever restrains her restrains the wind and grasps oil with his right hand

[00:03:00] as iron sharpens iron so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend who ever keeps the fig tree will

[00:03:10] eat its fruit so he who waits on his master will be honored. As in water, face reflects face

[00:03:21] so a man's heart reveals the man. Hell and destruction are never full so the eyes of man are never

[00:03:31] satisfied. The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, and a man is valued by what

[00:03:40] others say of him though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain

[00:03:50] yet his foolishness will not depart from him. Be diligent to know the state of your flocks

[00:03:58] and attend to your herds for riches are not forever nor does a crown endure to all generations

[00:04:09] when the hay is removed all the tender grass shows itself. And the herbs of the mountains are gathered

[00:04:17] in the lambs will provide your clothing and the goats the price of a field. You shall have enough

[00:04:25] goats milk for your food for the food of your household and the nourishment of your maid servants.

[00:04:34] Friends today I'd like to take a closer look at verse 23 and proverb 27 verse 23 tells us this

[00:04:44] be diligent to know the state of your flocks and attend to your herds. Friends we will come back

[00:04:54] and take a closer look at that verse prior to closing today but what I'd like to do is pick up

[00:05:01] where I left off on Mondays podcast and on Mondays podcast I entitled it the introduction to Luke's

[00:05:10] gospel and I introduced you to the man Luke who later went on to write the gospel of Luke. What

[00:05:19] I'm going to do is briefly review a few of the things that I went over on Monday because I know

[00:05:25] a number of you may not have heard Mondays podcast but Luke never met Jesus. Although he lived at

[00:05:34] the same time period but Luke was a doctor and as a doctor Luke was very meticulous and this is one

[00:05:44] thing I will continue to go over and over as we continue this study over the next six to seven months.

[00:05:52] Now it's going to take me a long time to go over Luke because Luke is the longest of the four

[00:06:00] gospels it's also the most thorough of the gospels and in between chapters 9 and 19 so that's almost

[00:06:12] 40% of Luke's gospel we go over a lot of material that you will not hear in any of the other

[00:06:22] gospels so for those of you who really want to dig in and find out all there is to know about

[00:06:31] Jesus' ministry while he was on the earth I invite you to tune in on a recurring basis and I'm sure

[00:06:40] you will learn a lot through this study. What I'd like to do is go back over chapter 1 the first four

[00:06:49] verses and give a little bit of commentary this is entitled dedication to theophilus.

[00:06:59] Beginning in verse 1 in as much as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative

[00:07:09] of those things which have been fulfilled among us just as those who from the beginning were

[00:07:18] eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us it seemed good to me also having had

[00:07:30] perfect understanding of all things from the very first to write to you an orderly account most

[00:07:39] excellent theophilus that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

[00:07:50] Now friends Luke is the only gospel that was really written to a certain individual named

[00:07:58] theophilus and it is presumed that theophilus was a Gentile and as a Gentile Luke had taken

[00:08:08] a liking to this young man and he wanted to make sure that he understood the way of the early

[00:08:17] Christians he wanted him to know that everything that he would be learning through this particular

[00:08:25] study was accurate and it was a detailed account of everything that Jesus had done in his ministry.

[00:08:36] Now friends I am reading out of the Nelson study Bible what I'd like to do is go over the

[00:08:43] commentary for verses three and four in my Bible and it says it seemed good to me also.

[00:08:54] What that means is Luke did not express dissatisfaction with previous narratives of Jesus' ministry

[00:09:05] but he identified with those who went before him having had perfect understanding. Now this is important

[00:09:18] this phrase represents two of the four characteristics that describe Luke's work in this verse.

[00:09:28] Luke investigated his topic and he did it with care. He did not claim to know everything about Jesus

[00:09:40] but what he described was studied and treated accurately. Now I'm going to pause there for a moment

[00:09:49] and what I'd like for everyone to think about is when you have been to a doctor's office.

[00:09:58] Now a doctor will always have a physician's assistant who works underneath him. Now this

[00:10:06] assistant is who originally brings you back and they check your vitals. They check your blood pressure.

[00:10:14] How is your oxygen level? What is your heartbeat? How are things looking? They'll look inside your

[00:10:20] ears. They'll check to make sure that your lungs are clear and they take meticulous notes. They ask

[00:10:28] all of this information and sometimes when I go with my wife to the doctor I'm sitting there thinking

[00:10:36] why do they have to ask all of this information because the doctor is going to also ask the same

[00:10:45] things but that is what I am trying to point out in this message right here. Luke was a doctor

[00:10:57] and he was very meticulous. So when the doctor comes in he looks at all the notes that have been

[00:11:06] taken. He looks at them, he looks at the patient and he goes over to clarify anything that he is

[00:11:17] concerned with. And Luke took the same care in his documentation of the ministry of Jesus.

[00:11:28] Of all things the third characteristic of Luke's work was its thoroughness from the very first.

[00:11:40] The fourth characteristic of Luke was his interest in even the earliest events tied to Jesus' life

[00:11:51] and orderly account. Luke gave his narrative a basic structure. Not every part is in chronological

[00:12:04] sequence but the broad sequence in Christ's ministry in Galilee, his travel to Jerusalem and his

[00:12:15] struggles in Jerusalem. The order of events shows how Jesus gradually revealed himself and

[00:12:26] how the opposition to him grew. And friends I believe this is the only gospel that makes that very

[00:12:36] clear. Over the course of the gospel of Luke you will see that the opposition against him began to

[00:12:46] increase slowly but surely and it began to really become intense. Listen to the commentary in verse

[00:12:59] 4. His word certainty this is very important and this is really why I would suggest that people

[00:13:12] not familiar with reading scripture that they begin with the gospel of Luke. The purpose of this

[00:13:22] term was to give assurance to theophilus a young believer. It is likely that theophilus was a

[00:13:31] Gentile since so much of Luke and Acts is concerned with Jewish Gentile relationships. He not only needed

[00:13:43] to know the truth and accuracy of what the church taught but also needed to be reassured. He might

[00:13:53] well have been working what he as a Gentile was doing in a movement which was originally Jewish

[00:14:02] especially when so many Israelites were rejecting the message. Luke assured theophilus

[00:14:12] and his other readers that Jesus is the Messiah. He is worthy of everyone's worship because he is

[00:14:22] the son of the living God. Luke realized that and it was easy for him to know that because he didn't

[00:14:33] write this gospel until after Jesus's crucifixion and he wrote it about 30 years later.

[00:14:43] So he knew everything that had happened and that is why Luke will go into such detail about the

[00:14:52] crucifixion and the ascension. Furthermore, Luke is the only gospel that has a sequel to it and he

[00:15:04] not only wrote the gospel of Luke but he went on to write the Acts of the Apostles and the Acts of

[00:15:13] the Apostles are not going to be part of this study but the Acts basically talks about the work

[00:15:21] of Peter and how his ministry began. The first portion of Acts is about Peter and the second

[00:15:30] portion of Acts is about the exploits of Paul who I mentioned on Monday's podcast became a very

[00:15:40] very close friend and associate of Luke. Now let's go to verse 5 and I'm going to give a bit of

[00:15:49] commentary on John the Baptist. There was in the days of Herod the king of Judea a certain priest

[00:15:58] named Zacharias of the division of Abaicia his wife was of the daughter of Aaron and her name

[00:16:06] was Elizabeth and they were both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and ordinances

[00:16:15] of the Lord blameless. Now friends it doesn't mention in the Bible that people are righteous

[00:16:23] haphazardly so when Luke tells us this this reminds me of Noah in chapter 6 of Genesis when it says

[00:16:34] Noah was a righteous man so this man Zacharias was a priest but he did things the way that they were

[00:16:44] supposed to be done. But they had no child because Elizabeth was Aaron and they were both well

[00:16:55] advanced in years and on Monday's podcast I compared Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth in their old

[00:17:06] age to Abraham and Sarai back in the book of Genesis. They were well beyond child bearing years.

[00:17:18] They should not have been able to have a child and yet just like them back in Genesis an angel

[00:17:28] of the Lord appeared to them and let's review that beginning in verse 11. Then an angel of the Lord

[00:17:38] appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar of incense and when Zacharias saw him

[00:17:45] he was troubled and fear fell upon him. Now friends angels did not appear before people on a very

[00:17:56] regular basis in the Bible so a common occurrence is when the angel of the Lord appeared that the people

[00:18:07] would become fearful and Zacharias fell into that but let's go to verse 13 but the angel said to him

[00:18:18] do not be afraid Zacharias for your prayer is heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a

[00:18:27] son and you shall call his name John and you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice

[00:18:38] at his birth for he will be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong

[00:18:47] drink he will also be filled with a holy spirit even from his mother's womb. What I'd like to do

[00:18:57] is go to the commentary for verse 15 and verse 15 it says great in the sight of the Lord

[00:19:06] John had a great place in the plan of God but it was inferior to Jesus's own unique role

[00:19:17] John was a prophet and as such he was filled with a holy spirit before birth

[00:19:25] being filled with a spirit means being directed by him and obedient to him wine nor strong drink

[00:19:39] as with Samuel and Samson of thou was imposed on the child that indicated his special

[00:19:49] consecration to the Lord unlike Samson and Samuel this vow was imposed by God not by his mother

[00:20:01] it is not clear whether this was a Nazarene vow since nothing is said about refraining from cutting

[00:20:10] his hair now that is a specific ordinance imposed by the Nazarenes let's go to verse 17

[00:20:22] he will also go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers

[00:20:31] to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for

[00:20:40] the Lord now in verse 17 my commentary says John was the four runner of the Messiah

[00:20:50] John's ministry paralleled Elijah's for both prophets called Israel to repentance as with many

[00:20:59] elements in God's plan there is an initial fulfillment and a later fulfillment yet to come which

[00:21:09] are distinct but related both John and Jesus may suggest the return of an Elijah like figure in

[00:21:20] the end times a people prepared meaning the prepared people are those whom God has drawn to himself

[00:21:31] for his special purpose and friends that is us today God has called each of us for a special purpose

[00:21:42] we just need to find out what that is and friends before we close let's go back to our verse of the day

[00:21:52] and proverbs 27 verse 23 it says be diligent to know the state of your flocks and attend to your herds

[00:22:03] now friends this is a little bit obscure but what I take this to mean is take care of your own

[00:22:14] when I think of my flocks I think of the people and the kids in my care so this is your household

[00:22:25] so make sure that your household is running the way that it should that they are following the Lord

[00:22:33] that they are aware of the Lord and that they are being taught of the Lord and they are fulfilling

[00:22:41] the purpose that God has for their lives friends I will never end a podcast without giving anyone

[00:22:50] an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior if there was anyone listening today you've

[00:22:57] never taken that step I invite you to repeat a simple prayer after me today Jesus I believe

[00:23:04] that you are the Son of God I believe that you came to earth and died on a cross for me

[00:23:12] I believe by dying on that cross you have forgiven me of all of my sins Jesus I invite you to come

[00:23:22] into my heart I thank you for forgiving me of all of my sins and yet I still would like for you

[00:23:30] to lead me and guide me from this point forward in my life I make you my Lord and Savior

[00:23:38] now may the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make us stay shine upon you and be gracious to you

[00:23:46] the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace friends please join me again tomorrow

[00:23:54] as we further explore wisdom today