Title: The Prophecy of Zacharias
Contents
Text Luke 1:67-80
The Gospel of Luke provides more information about the birth and childhood of the baby Jesus than the other Gospels. There are many praises and prophecies, especially before and after the birth. Today's text is also the words of the priest Zacharias who prophesied and praised that John the Baptist would be born as a prophet who prepared the way for Jesus.
Zechariah the priest was the father of John the Baptist, and he was a priest belonging to the Abijah class (Luke 1:5), and his wife Elizabeth was also descended from Aaron's priesthood. They were righteous before God, walking without blemish according to all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. They had no children until they were old. However, when the priest Zacharias was performing his priestly duties, God sent the archangel Gabriel and said: ①“Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son ②Call your name John ③He will be great in the sight of the Lord”. How shocking and delightful is this? But when Zacharias heard the news, he became mute until the birth of a son.
At the time of the Exodus, there were 12 tribes of Israel, and among them, the tribe of Levi was consecrated as a priestly tribe. Sacrifice to God was the responsibility of the tribe of Levi. The tribe of Levi had 24 priestly classes made up of the descendants of Aaron. Each class will perform temple service twice a year for a week. The Abijah class to which Zacharias belongs (1 Chronicles 24:10) is the 8th class. The content of today's text is the praise and prophecy that John, who was born to the priest Zacharias, who belongs to this noble priesthood, will prepare the way for the Messiah.
The text can be divided into two categories. ① Verses 68-75 prophesy that the baby Jesus is the Messiah that Israel awaits, and verses 76-80 prophesy about John who will prepare the way for the Lord to become the Messiah.
“His father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, Blessed be In “God!”, you can see that people filled with the Holy Spirit give praise to God and prophesy to people as they are filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesying and singing are on the same level. Just as the Apostle Paul prayed endlessly (Ephesians 6:18) and Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to pray for 40 days (Matthew 4:1) , donate, do evangelism, do service, pray early in the morning, have Sunday Holy Prayer, and tithe.
Among the prophecies of the Spirit-filled Zacharias, the prophecies of verses 69-70 can be seen,
1. Jesus is the savior.
The “horn of salvation” in verse 69 is based on Psalm 132:17, “there will be a horn from David”. ‘Horn’ is the Greek word ‘keras’, meaning strength and power. Therefore, the ‘horn of salvation’ means the power of salvation, the power of salvation, and in the end it means “Jesus is the only savior.” Even if the world's money, power, and learning are good, there is no power of salvation. But Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”
2. Jesus came from the family of David.
Verse 69 says, “He raised him up in the house of his servant David.” The meaning here is that King David is also a servant of God, and the house is Hel) ‘oikos’, which means family and descendants. As stated in Matthew 1:1, “The world of Jesus Christ, the descendant of Abraham and David”, there was a long-awaited idea that a political and revolutionary Messiah would come in Judea at that time, who would be liberated from the Roman oppression, and the Messiah There was a belief that he would come from the family of King David. However, Jesus was the Messiah who came for the salvation of all mankind, who came to set them free from the power of sin and death and to give them the joy of salvation.
3. Jesus came according to the prophecies of the prophets.
As we can see in verse 70, “As the Lord spoke by the mouth of the holy prophets” in verse 70, God prophesied the coming of the Messiah through the prophets (Hebrews 1:1), and according to that prophecy, Jesus came. (Acts 7:52). ‘Prophet’ is Hel) ‘Prophetes’, meaning “one who speaks in advance”. That is why they are called prophets. The prophecies of the prophets of the Old Testament are diverse and different in their content, but at the center they always show the coming of the Messiah and the fact that he is the main character of the work of salvation.
Dear members of Shepherd Church,
We are approaching the birth of the baby Jesus, who came according to prophecy. I pray that you will become saints who praise and celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus by being filled with the Holy Spirit this Christmas as well.