His Name is…

Luke 1: 13-19 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

Verses 63-64 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.

Christmas began 15 months before Jesus was born. Why a John the Baptist? Adam, Abraham, Moses, and through the prophets, the people were told there would be a Messiah. With this familiarity they knew He would soon come. However at the end of Malachi we have 400+ years of silence, no word from God. Each of the generations from Adam on died believing, but none saw the Messiah.

In time the Jews began to be ritualistic and religious. They knew God loved them and would send the Messiah, but they became intertwined in tradition and the whole world was spiritually asleep when the Messiah arrived.

Zacharias was the High Priest, and older man with a wife named Elisabeth; they lived in Jerusalem. She was a descendant of Aaron, which constituted the priesthood from the tribe of Levi. The Christmas story began with their story, an old man and woman. They had prayed for a child but none came, and at this time in their lives it was medically impossible for them to do have one. An angel appeared to Zacharias in the temple at the altar of incense, the first appearance of an angel in over 400 years. Why did God wait? This conception was indeed as much of a miracle as the one to come in a few months to Elisabeth's cousin Mary. This conception would be between a man and woman past the age of having children. The angel told Zacharias to name the child John. Notice that the parents were not to have the privilege of naming their son. John was an ordinary name at that time just as the name Jesus was. But both names had special meaning.

Verse 16 says many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. He would prepare the people for the Messiah. Zacharias asked the angel for a sign that his words were true. At that time it was a custom to ask for a sign, but he angel was quite perturbed at his response, stating the first sign quite forcibly in affirming to Zacharias that I AM GABRIEL, not just any angel but Gabriel. The people had become so habitual in their worship that they failed to see God. Gabriel and Michael were heavenly names from the Old Testament era, not common ones. No one named their children by these names. Here in the Holy Place Zacharias doubted Gabriel so the second sign was that Zacharias would not be able to speak until the child was born.

For next week read the rest of Luke 1 and Marys conception is chapter 2. Read Daniel 8:16 and 9:21 as far as you wish to read that chapter. Read Isaiah 40:3-4 and Malachi 4. Here are a few questions to ponder for next week. Where does Daniel fit into the Christmas story? How come Zacharias got the message from the angel and not his wife? Why did Mary get the visit from the angel and not Joseph? Why did Gabriel deliver the message? Why was John born first? Why was a forerunner needed? Why was John taken out of the way so quickly? Study this and see what you can find out on your own.