Luke 1:67 ¶ And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, 68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; 70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: 71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. 76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; 77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, 78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. 80 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
Filled with the Holy Ghost, the mind of
God as Christ is the body of God, Zacharias prophesies. Remember how Saul
prophesied under that condition.
1Samuel 10:10 And when they
came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit
of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And it came to pass, when all that knew him
beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people
said one to another, What is
this that is come unto the son
of Kish? Is Saul also among the
prophets?
We know that prophesying is preaching,
either of what is to come or of what God has already declared.
Nehemiah 6:7a And thou hast
also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying…
Here, Zacharias is given John’s mission to the Jews.
But first he also prophecies about Christ’s upcoming and ultimate authority and
His kingdom on earth, of which there will be no end. Verse 74 shows that there
was an expectation that Christ the Messiah would restore Israel and deliver it
from Roman occupation. This expectation persisted even after Christ’s
resurrection.
Acts 1:6 ¶ When they
therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at
this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
This shows how the Fundamentalist doctrine that in the
Old Testament the Jews were looking forward to the Cross is wrong. Actually,
they did not understand Isaiah 53. Their confusion persisted until an eleventh
century rabbi nicknamed Rashi developed the idea that rather than being about a
singular man the chapters in Isaiah about the Messiah were actually about the
suffering Jewish people as a group thereby totally confusing the Jews with
regard to Christ.
Jesus’ Jewish followers literally had no clue what He
was talking about when He referred to His impending agony on the Cross or
understood anything about His Resurrection.
Matthew 16:21 ¶ From that
time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto
Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him,
saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee
behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Mark 9:9 And as they came
down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things
they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. 10 And they kept that saying with themselves,
questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean…31 For he
taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the
hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall
rise the third day. 32
But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.
Luke 18:31 ¶ Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto
them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the
prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles,
and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the
third day he shall rise again. 34 And
they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them,
neither knew they the things which were spoken.
John 20:9 For as yet they
knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
John the Baptist will
be the prophet who declares Christ. He will teach the Jewish people as a nation
to repent of their sins and be baptized as symbol of their repentance. John’s
baptism had no saving power but was an outward expression of a commitment to
righteousness in preparation for the Messiah to come.
The dayspring is a reference to dawn as
light takes over the darkness. This word is also used in Job.
Job 38:12 Hast thou
commanded the morning since thy days; and
caused the dayspring to know his
place;
The metaphor is also
used by Peter with day star as the
phrase likening Christ to the dawn.
2Peter 1:19 We have also a
more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a
light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day
star arise in your hearts:
In all of these
metaphors it is about Christ giving light to a dying world not saying that He
literally is Venus or the Sun.
Revelation 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to
testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and
the offspring of David, and the
bright and morning star.
What is about to happen
physically is that there will be a brief period of daylight for humanity and
then a long night followed by Christ’s return to assume control of the kingdoms
of the world and a new day that goes on forever.
John 9:4 I must work the
works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when
no man can work.
Paul, like we are
supposed to be, expected Christ’s return soon.
Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day
is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on
the armour of light.
During this nighttime
of mankind, waiting for the Messiah to return, we have the Sun, the Son of God,
in our hearts, expectantly awaiting.
Titus 2:11 ¶ For the grace
of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that,
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly, in this present world; 13 Looking
for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ;
There are many Old
Testament verses linked to this first chapter of Luke. A cross-reference will
show that these verses have an Old Testament prophetic context. For instance,
verse 71 and Psalm 106:10 and verse 79 with Isaiah 9:2. Always keep in mind the
prophecies of Christ’s coming kingdom. Note that Christ is God in the flesh,
the body of God. They are the same in essence.
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
John 14:9 Jesus saith unto
him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Romans 8:9 But ye are not
in the flesh, but in the Spirit,
if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
…and then the kingdom
to come.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a
child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his
shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7
Of the increase of his
government and peace there shall be
no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish
it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of
the LORD of hosts will perform this.
John is growing strong
in preparation in his spirit in the desert until he begins his ministry, coming
in the spirit and power of Elijah.
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