A Time for Optimism

When an angel of the Lord appeared to the priest Zacharias in the temple, he was troubled and fearful—not that he had done anything wrong, since he and his wife Elizabeth were righteous, obedient, and blameless (Luke 1:6, 12). No, he was troubled in the sense of being shocked. It was not normal for an angel to make an appearance to anyone—let alone in the house of the Lord. When he saw the angel suddenly appear on the right side of the altar of incense, it had to unnerve him (1:11).

The message itself was also incredible—that he and his wife, as old as they were, were going to have a son. As if these things were not enough, the son that Elizabeth would give birth to would be the one prophesied of in Malachi 3:1 (cf. Mal. 4:5-6). This message was difficult to digest. Zacharias asks, "How shall I know this for I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years?" (Luke 1:18). Probably, this description means that she was in the same position that Sarah was when she gave birth to Isaac—beyond the age of bearing children.

The angel answered by first identifying himself as Gabriel, "who stands in the presence of God," and who was sent by God to tell Zacharias the good news (1:19). In other words, what he says can be fully trusted. But just so the old priest can be sure of his veracity, he would be mute until the day these things occurred (1:20). So, he spoke not until it came time to name the son Elizabeth bore. Neighbors and relatives thought the male child would be called Zacharias, but Elizabeth said his name would be John. When the father was questioned, he verified the fact. He wrote: "His name is John" (1:59-63).

Immediately Zacharias began to speak and praise God. Inspired by the Holy Spirit he spoke what is recorded in Luke 1:68-79. It is interesting how inspiration joins together with what is in a person's heart in order to unite into a great message. These verses contain only two sentences, and no one in his right mind would want to diagram either one of them. The first sentence is eight verses long, and the second is four. Below are some observations about them.

1:68: "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people." Blessing the God of heaven is typical and found many times throughout the Psalms (103 and 104, for example). The past tense, however, is used here regarding redemption. John will only be the harbinger of Jesus; he will prepare the way for the Lord. It is that same Lord Jesus, however, who will redeem His people (as well as the Gentiles). He will accomplish that marvelous work by dying on the cross for the sins of mankind, being buried, and then resurrected on the third day (1 Cor. 15:1-4). That redemption had not occurred yet at this point in time, but so far as God is concerned, it is a fait accompli.

1:69: "And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David." A horn, besides being a musical instrument, symbolizes strength, as an animal's horns. Through the use of its horns, an animal could deliver himself from an enemy. No less than David himself used this image to indicate God delivering him. He wrote in Psalm 18:2: "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Now God is raising up a horn of salvation (Jesus) from the very house of David, as previously prophesied.

1:70: "As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began." Is this just a hyperbole? No, we know from Jude 14 that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied. But we can go back farther than that—to Abel—Adam's son—who was murdered by his brother. In Luke 11:49-51, Jesus includes Abel among the prophets who were slain. In fact, Abel heads the list of those martyred. Since Zacharias' expression is not a hyperbole, it implies that Adam himself was a prophet.

Whether by deduction or inspiration, Adam gave the woman the name Eve "because she was the mother of all living" (Gen. 3:20). Also, they had numerous children, but the first patriarch (with Eve's help?) chose the name of Seth, saying, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed" (Gen. 4:25, 5:3). Eve named her first son (Gen. 4:1). If she chose the name Seth, it was with Adam's consent.

1:71: "That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us." This prophecy may not have been at the beginning of the world, but rather prophets had. The content of verse 71 came at a much later time than the beginning. In the promise that God made personally to Abraham, He told him: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you…" (Gen. 12:3). The righteous always have enemies, and usually they are trying to overcome the godly. At the time Zacharias uttered these words, most Jews would probably immediately think of Rome and their desire to be free from their rule. Why is that most people do not consider sin their biggest enemy and threat to freedom?

1:72-73: "To perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham." God had promised to punish His people when they forsook Him and served idols, which also included immoral actions as well. Stephen commented on their unfaithfulness in the wilderness (Acts 7:42-43). But God also promised to remember the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—when they humbled themselves, accepted their guilt, and confessed their iniquity (Lev. 26:40-42). The priest now prays for ultimate fulfillment.

1:74-75: "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 lives." What a great realization. Zacharias knows that, when God delivers, the people have a responsibility—if they desire to remain free. Sin brought them into bondage and servitude. The Israelites could read the book of Judges and understand it as well as we can. They also knew what happened during the times of the kings. If they did not know this lesson by now, they would never learn it. The way to reverse the cycle described in Judges 2:11-19 was to serve the true and living God in holiness and righteousness. Is that too much to ask? Those are God's terms.

1:76: "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." Zacharias now addresses his son, whom he has just named John. God selected him for greatness. He will serve as a prophet of God; Jesus will even affirm that no one has ever been greater than John (Luke 7:28). Furthermore, he would go before Jesus to prepare the way for Him. Why would people believe John, since he did no miracle (John 10:41)?

People later would believe in Jesus and the apostles because of the abundance of miracles they performed, but why did they believe John, who could not provide such evidence. Part of the reason had to be the force of his personality, the confidence that he showed. He preached that people should repent because the kingdom of heaven was at hand. Another reason for their acceptance involved John's work being foretold, plus they were expecting the Christ to come. All of these factors combined to make a compelling case. John was privileged to be the forerunner of the Christ.

1:77: "To give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins." What a message John preached! He preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4). Who, actually serious about salvation, would not want forgiveness of sins? For more than 400 years they had waited for a message from God of this type; many were willing to embrace salvation. It should be 100% of all mankind, but the truth is that there are few who find salvation. Only eight people out of the entire world were saved on board the ark while all others drowned. Only four escaped from Sodom, but three of them were unrighteous, and the fourth was compromised. The majority of people always prefer the broad way. How blessed was John, however, to be able to preach a message of salvation and prepare the way for Jesus.

1:78: "Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us." God came to earth in the form of Jesus, the source of our salvation. People are often corrupt in their hearts, wrong in their attitudes, and unholy in their actions. How many want to be right with God but cannot seem to escape the lure of sin? We continually, despite all that God has provided, have issues with morality and doctrine. Jesus showed us what we can become.

1:79: "To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Some, like Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10), knew they were in darkness; others, like the sinful woman, knew that they were living in the very shadow of death (Luke 7:36-50). The prodigal son's older brother did not even realize his own deficiencies until he became jealous of the recovery of his repentant brother (Luke 15:11-32). The rich man failed to see how close he was to the abyss while he was alive. It took death to get him to become compassionate (Luke 16:19-31).

The light that John provided helped people find the way of peace. When people asked John what to do (Luke 3:8-14), he did not sugarcoat his responses; he told them specific things to do in order to show fruits worthy of repentance. How unlike those on television and radio today who are long on grace and love and short on needed changes in people's lives. Some of them make a career of telling people they are all right and that they can be better. One wonders how well received John would be today. Many have tried to remove baptism from salvation, and they are in the process of erasing repentance. But John, who insisted on both, became a great servant of the Lord, just as it was prophesied.

Jesus upheld the message of John; from the time of His baptism He began to preach: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 4:17). He later emphasized repentance, just as John had, telling His listeners, "unless you repent you shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). He also baptized His disciples (John 4:1-2). After His resurrection, Jesus taught His disciples that those who believed and were baptized would be saved (Mark 16:15-16). Neither Jesus nor John ever preached the fluffy sermons that men do today, devoid both of repentance and baptism.

John the baptizer lived during a time of optimism for the nation of Israel, and Zacharias was able to announce this news right after his son's birth. A time long-awaited in Israel's history was in the process of being fulfilled. How overjoyed John's parents must have been. Century after century had slowly dragged by, but now all the prophecies were on the verge of fulfillment.

We have nothing today to compare with this overwhelming time in history during which we were not alive. We missed the excitement of the Reformation and the even greater thrill of the Restoration. How glorious to see sincere religious people devoting themselves to the re-establishment of the Christianity found in the pages of the New Testament. However, all the newness of the concept has worn off, and people (by and large) do not care about doctrine any longer. People once attended debates to learn the truth; now they say, "Whatever."

But a reason for optimism still remains. Some genuine disciples still exist, and no one knows when a spirit of enthusiasm for truth may break out and capture everyone's attention once again. Beyond that, the return of Jesus for His followers looms ahead—with plenty of rooms in the Father's house for the faithful.