Luke 1:18-25

Transcript

00:00:00:16 – 00:00:21:23
Clint Loveall
All right, friends. Hey, welcome back. As we start a new week in the Gospel of Luke. Happy to have you with us on a monday. I hope you all continue to do well. We are. We find ourselves in verse 18 of chapter one. Just a little bit of recap of last week. Zachariah has been approached by an angel.

00:00:21:48 – 00:00:56:40
Clint Loveall
He’s been given a prophecy that he and Elizabeth will bear a child. And today we get a snapshot of Zacharias reaction, especially in this early part of Luke. And we’ve kind of said this before, Michael, but keep in mind that not only is Luke telling us stories. Luke is sharing with us some patterns. Luke is helping us understand how to hear him and how to read his material.

00:00:56:40 – 00:01:16:44
Clint Loveall
And so we have to look behind the scenes a little bit here. And I think that I think we see an example of that today. So Zachariah of this verse 18, Zacharias said to the angel, How will I know this is so for I’m an old man, my wife is getting on in years. The angel replied, I am Gabriel.

00:01:17:11 – 00:01:39:18
Clint Loveall
I stand in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to you and bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak until the day these things occur occur. Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zachariah and wondered what the delay was in the sanctuary.

00:01:39:32 – 00:02:04:13
Clint Loveall
When he did come out, he couldn’t speak to them and they realized he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. When his time of service was ended. He went to his home. So here we get a very interesting story. We saw Zachariah have this encounter with an angel. Today he voices a question.

00:02:04:37 – 00:02:31:04
Clint Loveall
How? How will I know this is so? In other words, how can this be? What are you talking about? How. How could this happen? I’m old. My wife is getting old. If you were with us through Genesis and this is ringing some bells. Good. It should. This is directly tied to some of the language of the Abraham and Sarah story and the idea of having a son in old age.

00:02:31:04 – 00:03:03:13
Clint Loveall
The idea of delivering a miraculous baby, in this case, a prophetic baby. All of that should tie together. And yet the reaction here is relatively harsh. The angel taking this as a sign of doubt, says, I stand in the presence of God. I’m Gabriel because you did not believe my words. You will be mute, unable to speak until the day these things occur.

00:03:03:14 – 00:03:35:38
Clint Loveall
And so this incident leaves Zachariah literally speechless. And to some extent, maybe, Michael, that reaches back to the paradigm of prophetic kind of stories and the idea of expressing any kind of concern or doubt here. Luke clearly tells us this story with the idea that because he’s uncertain, because he’s unsure, there’s a consequence for Zachariah that he had that he has to pay.

00:03:36:16 – 00:04:12:30
Michael Gewecke
Yeah, I think as a reader, this may appear to be a rather harsh response from the angel. And if you think that this question is a good hearted, good faith question, then maybe it might appear that way. But clearly, Luke wants us to see here that there is doubt in in force here, because when the angel says that you did not believe my words, we we from the angel present here with Zachariah, we the reader now know that that faith or that question was a question of doubt, that how is this going to be?

00:04:12:30 – 00:04:35:58
Michael Gewecke
And Clint, to your point, this does connect back to Genesis. We have a pattern in Scripture and that pattern is there’s doubt there is a human propensity to try to find our own way. Abraham, I think is a classic example of that. And then God still in the end will be the one who’s faithful and bring this account to right.

00:04:36:23 – 00:05:01:58
Michael Gewecke
But what I think is striking about this text is this idea that the angel says here, verse 19, I’ve been sent to speak to you and the outcome of that speaking is going to be that Zachariah is going to be speechless and that kind of thing doesn’t happen on accident here. We now know as the reader that when he goes home to Elizabeth, he can’t explain this.

00:05:02:10 – 00:05:28:26
Michael Gewecke
He can’t give voice to what God has said. One of the fruits of his unbelief is also going to be a way of demonstrating God’s total provision, God’s total action in this place, because Zachariah, the husband, can’t now go convince his wife that this was his idea. I mean, he’s literally speechless. And because of that, God is going to be the one who has the first and last word in this story.

00:05:28:48 – 00:06:05:20
Clint Loveall
Right. And, you know, don’t miss the metanarrative here, that this idea of doubting a proclamation version about a child being born happens in the first chapter of a gospel which is going to turn to the birth of Jesus Christ and the pronouncement of the Messiah. There’s a reason that Luke wants us to sort of be thinking about receiving good news and doubting and believing and the idea of the consequence of trusting the messenger.

00:06:05:25 – 00:06:33:10
Clint Loveall
I think you know, that that’s not an upfront kind of thing, but I do think it looms behind this text. And then, you know, very interestingly, verse 23, when he finished his time of service, he went home. And the Bible does this often. It it mixes together the profound and the unusual and unexpected, even miraculous with everyday, ordinary life.

00:06:33:48 – 00:07:12:50
Clint Loveall
And we’ll see that as we go through the gospel. But here we have a moment like that. The people knew that he saw a vision and he stayed at work. He he had this news. He couldn’t tell anybody what it meant. And when his time of service was ended, he went home. And I think, you know, that’s just such a I have a I have a soft spot for that kind of storytelling, because it seems true to life that the profound moments and the ordinary moments aren’t always separate, that they run together and that they form one another.

00:07:12:50 – 00:07:39:21
Clint Loveall
And this, this amazing visionary moment for Zachariah that he doesn’t handle and maybe wishes he’d handled different. It doesn’t change the fact that he has a job to do and he cares about that job and he has a wife at home and he has to go home and try to figure this out with her. And so it’s it’s really interesting to think about the transition of moments like this and what they would have meant for the people involved.

00:07:39:30 – 00:07:57:27
Michael Gewecke
And not to belabor it, but I think that there is some humor in attacks like this. We don’t often see humor in the Bible, but I mean, for a moment, a guy goes to work, he’s doing his job. He’s visited by an angel in the holy place. The people outside the sanctuary are waiting. Hey, what’s going on? Why isn’t he out yet?

00:07:57:27 – 00:08:21:38
Michael Gewecke
He comes back out. He can’t speak. They know that he’s had a vision, an encounter with God. That would be enough. Then this idea. Well, then he goes home, right? And it’s, I think, a little bit of a biblical source of humor. That idea that your imagination now gets to take that and imagine what that first non conversation with Elizabeth would be like.

00:08:21:39 – 00:08:37:15
Michael Gewecke
This idea that one of the fruits of unbelief is speech, closeness is is being lost for being able to even describe the good news that God has given you. And I do think there’s some humor in that.

00:08:37:15 – 00:09:24:03
Clint Loveall
Yeah, I don’t disagree with that at all. Michael Yeah. I also think, you know, we don’t want to be too hard on Zachariah, but I do think from a devotional or an interpretive standpoint here, it raises a question for each of us. When God proclaims something into or over our life, how do we receive it? I mean, Zachariah has just been given this news that not only will their own wishes be fulfilled and they will have a son, but that son is going to be the Herald of the Messiah, that God is about to do this thing that nearly every Israelite has longed for and prayed for and desperately hoped for.

00:09:24:43 – 00:09:56:56
Clint Loveall
And he says, Well, how could that how could that happen? That can’t work. I’m old, my wife. So that that his first response is not amazement, though I’m sure that’s in it. And it’s not entirely fair to call it confusion, but he he doesn’t receive it with the kind of open, armed, awestruck faith that the Scripture kind of expects or at least demands.

00:09:56:56 – 00:10:15:12
Clint Loveall
He. He has that moment where he says, well, I how could that be? And I, I think there’s a question in that, you know, if you were preaching this text or if you trying to read it in mind, out of it, things that challenge yourself, how do I receive what God is going to do and what do I expect of God?

00:10:15:12 – 00:10:29:09
Clint Loveall
Do I expect things that are going to shock me and astound me and confuse me? Or do I just expect more of the ordinary? And I think, you know, Zachariah again, I don’t want to beat up on him, but I think he helps us get to some of those questions.

00:10:29:18 – 00:10:58:12
Michael Gewecke
What’s your point, Clint? Let’s make a list here. Correct. Zachary is a priest. He serves in God’s house, right? He is explicitly in God’s house. Okay. There are people outside praying that there’s spiritual practice happening. And then when God actually sends a messenger who’s actually standing there and says, this is the word, with all of that stuff said and done, he still doesn’t believe.

00:10:58:12 – 00:11:22:01
Michael Gewecke
And I do think a question that comes to all of us is what would it take for us to believe? And and it be easy to throw him under the bus of easy to say, look at him. Look at his lack of faith. But if we’re going to be honest and a little humble, we’re going to be able to admit that we too, would struggle even in if all the circumstances were right and God came and sent that messenger, we would have lots of doubts.

00:11:22:01 – 00:11:44:06
Michael Gewecke
Did I really see that? How could that be possible? What you’re saying is crazy. That is an intrinsic part of what it means to be human. And so there is something deeply, spiritually, meaningfully true. But this idea of the one who comes and says, This is God’s word for you, Zacharias Zachariah struggle is to receive that. And then in response he’s unable to share it.

00:11:44:06 – 00:12:07:08
Michael Gewecke
And you know, that is an amazing sort of irony, especially when you put that in context with the Old Testament, the Book of Genesis. And then it’s also an interesting set up for the fact that his son is going to be the chief speaker of the word of repentance that the people will receive that will become the bridge to Jesus Christ himself and and all of this.

00:12:07:08 – 00:12:27:18
Michael Gewecke
And we’ve not even talked really clear about the fact that this story in many ways shows us how Zachariah and Elizabeth received the good news of God’s providence and faithfulness. And that also sets us up for what’s going to happen later when Mary and Joseph get their words. So there’s so much happening in these early chapters of Luke here.

00:12:27:18 – 00:12:28:39
Michael Gewecke
I mean, first chapter so far.

00:12:28:46 – 00:12:41:06
Clint Loveall
Yeah, just as a is a good general rule. Michael When Gabriel the Angel shows up to tell you something, to take it at face value. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don’t ask a lot of questions. Yeah.

00:12:41:07 – 00:12:43:12
Michael Gewecke
Oh, yes. Is always the appropriate answer.

00:12:43:12 – 00:13:14:51
Clint Loveall
Yeah. And I also want to say, as we kind of finish this section, Luke is also in some ways Luke is giving us some information so that we can more, more fully appreciate a different kind of reception in some of the other characters. And we’ll see a glimpse of it here and then we’ll see, I think a good dose of it either tomorrow or Wednesday.

00:13:14:51 – 00:13:46:49
Clint Loveall
But let’s finish this passage from verse 24 here. After those days, his wife Elizabeth, conceived and for five months remained in seclusion. She said, This is what the Lord has done for me. When he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people. So it’s less obvious and maybe less intentional in this instance, because Elizabeth gets to give thanks after the fact.

00:13:47:13 – 00:14:18:39
Clint Loveall
But notice the difference in Zacharias skepticism and her gratitude. This is what the Lord has done for me. And that’s not to say that Zacharias isn’t grateful. He certainly is. But ultimately, when we get to the next part of the story, which involves Mary and Mary’s being told what is happening, I do think Luke is kind of helping us appreciate when we see a response that is wholehearted and genuine and open right away.

00:14:19:35 – 00:14:41:45
Clint Loveall
So here, here we see it in Elizabeth. What I don’t know, we see a glimpse of it in Elizabeth. And for five months she remains in seclusion until probably it’s obvious that she’s pregnant. And then, you know, there’s a celebration here. The Lord has looked favorably on me. And and again, we’ve kind of seen this this harkens back to the Old Testament.

00:14:41:45 – 00:15:11:43
Michael Gewecke
I think I think you have to understand some of these themes we’ve already teased that we’re going to see in the Book of Luke. Luke cares deeply about the Lost, the outcast, the least favored. And here you have a woman who’s culturally in this time, place and culture. She’s in that world less than her husband. And you also have to recognize the fact that she has been looked down on as a woman for her inability to bear a child.

00:15:11:43 – 00:15:36:59
Michael Gewecke
And so in this moment, as she celebrates, Luke is doing this very intentional thing to hone in on her and to tell her part of the story. We get to hear that here. She responds with thankfulness, she responds with gratitude. And she actually names that disgrace that it has been taken away, the disgrace that she’s endured among her people.

00:15:36:59 – 00:16:01:26
Michael Gewecke
And and when Luke concludes details like that, it’s not true in any way. Shame. Zachary, I’d like to point out he’s going to be able to speak again after the baby’s born. He wasn’t struck dead. I mean, you know, you can imagine much worse circumstances than what happened. And realistically, Luke is not, I think, critiquing either. Really. He’s just showing us the full breadth of humanity in the response.

00:16:01:26 – 00:16:24:43
Michael Gewecke
The one struggled to hear it. The other responded with Thanksgiving. And amongst all of that, ultimately, I think the interesting word for me comes from Gabriel here in verse 20, which will be fulfilled in their time. This is going to happen, Zachary, regardless of what you think, right? Regardless of your level of faith, this will happen. And I think that fundamentally that is what Luke is showing us.

00:16:24:43 – 00:16:37:13
Michael Gewecke
God is at work and this is how these humans part of that story, are impacted and respond to that work. And that gives us an open invitation to ask how we might respond as God works in our own lives.

00:16:37:19 – 00:17:10:40
Clint Loveall
And it ends on a on a tough note, the disgrace that I’ve endured among my people. And, you know, it would be pure speculation as to whether that is real or imagined, whether that is both literal and felt. Certainly it gives us some indication that Elizabeth has struggled, whether whether that really be at the words or the suggestions or the ideas of others, or whether that’s more internal or or perhaps it’s both.

00:17:11:09 – 00:17:40:30
Clint Loveall
But it is a change of status and change of status matters to Luke. It matters in all the gospels, but changing a person’s life, flipping the low to the high, these are important kind of themes for Luke, and I think we see it as we open this narrative and as we move toward the pronouncement of the coming of the Messiah.

00:17:41:13 – 00:17:50:47
Michael Gewecke
Well, we had Gabriel today. He’ll be with us again tomorrow. So thanks for spending some time with us today. And we will continue our study here beginning verse 26 of Luke when we continue again tomorrow.

00:17:50:54 – 00:17:59:33
Clint Loveall
Thanks, everybody.