Bible Study - The Christmas Story Part 8 - Luke 1:57-80

Last week, we heard of the visit of Mary to Elizabeth and the encouragement they received from each other, as God’s Holy Spirit worked through each of them and God’s promises to them, especially in their Savior, Jesus.

Now we move to the story of the birth of Zechariah and Elizabeth’s son, John, in Luke 1:57-80. It was a time of rejoicing for these parents and their neighbors and relatives, as this child was safely born. The Lord had truly shown His “great mercy” to these elderly people in giving them a child. They followed, in thankfulness to God and doing what God in the Old Testament asked of them, in having their child circumcised on the eighth day after his birth (Luke 1:57-59).

See Genesis 17:9-14 and how important circumcision was. Baby boys were brought into covenant relationship with God as His chosen children through this process. There are parallels with baptism, which brings forgiveness and new life to little children and all others who are baptized, under the New Covenant, with water and the Word, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (See Colossians 2:11-13, also.)

It was the custom to give the child his name on this day, and most everyone expected that the child would be named after his father, Zechariah, or with another family-related name. Instead, both parents indicated that his name should be John, following what the angel Gabriel had said (Luke 1:13). Elizabeth spoke, and Zechariah wrote this on a tablet, since he could not speak. The name “John” was very appropriate because it means: “The Lord has been gracious.” God was gracious to this couple and to the whole world, in finally sending this child, John, who would prepare the way for the Savior Himself, born of Mary (Luke 1:59-63).

The people “wondered” at all this, until Zechariah suddenly could speak again and “blessed God,” speaking well of Him in praise. Then, awe and fear came upon the people, who talked and thought much about all this. “What then will this child be?” they were saying. Clearly, “The Lord’s hand was with this child” (Luke 1:62-66).

Zechariah was then filled with the Holy Spirit and inspired to give a great prophecy that we still sometimes sing in worship, the “Benedictus” (the Latin for his first word, “Blessed”), praising and speaking well of “the Lord God of Israel” (Luke 1:67-68).

Verses 68-75 then speak of what God will do through the child of Mary, Jesus, in fulfillment of many prophecies and picture images of the Old Testament. This comes first, for Jesus is most important, as the Lord and Savior of the world. Then, verses 76-79 speak of the child, John, who would prepare the way for the Lord Jesus, calling people to be ready to receive the “tender mercy” of God, through repentance and “forgiveness of their sins.”

Some call the “Benedictus” the last prophecy of the Old Testament, Old Covenant times, and the first of the New Testament, the New Covenant, centered in Christ Jesus.

God was “visiting” and “redeeming“ His people through “a horn of salvation” coming from a descendant of King David, fulfilling Old Testament prophecy (Luke 1:68-70).

• When God “visited" His people, it meant He was ready to go into action on behalf of His people, “remembering” His “covenant” promises to His people. He had not forgotten, but it was now the right time for Him to act, beginning with the promises made to Abraham (Luke 1:72-73).
  • See Genesis 21:1-2, where God “visited” Sarah and Abraham with the birth of their child, Isaac, in their old age, through whom would eventually come the Savior, Jesus, who would bless all nations (Genesis 12:3).
  • See also Joseph’s words about God visiting His people and rescuing them from slavery in Egypt, in Genesis 50:24; God “visiting” and providing food for Israel in Ruth 1:6, so that Naomi and Ruth could go back to Israel and play a part in the coming of King David; and on and on.
  • In Psalm 8:4, the word for “caring” is really a caring visitation, as in Jeremiah 15:15. That is quoted in Hebrews 2:6, where the Greek word is “visited," the same as in Luke 1:68. The greatest visitation, of course, is that of Jesus, as he came to be the Savior. See Luke 19:44, where Jesus spoke of fellow Jews rejecting Him and missing that “time of visitation.
• The “horn of salvation” is an Old Testament term for the strength to save people. The horn of a a strong wild animal represented that strength. See Psalm 18:2-3, where God is called “the horn of our salvation.” See also Psalm 132:17 and Ezekiel 29:21, for example. Jesus as Lord has that strength to save us.
• God’s greatest “redeeming” work in the Old Testament was in rescuing His people from slavery in Egypt and setting them free by His work for them. See Exodus 6:5-6, where God’s remembering and redeeming are combined. See also Exodus 15:15 and many other such passages. Jesus is the great Redeemer of the New Testament, shedding His blood to pay for our sins. See Ephesians 1:7 and 1 Peter 1:18-19 and Galatians 3:13, etc.

All of this redemption is predicted and described in Zechariah’s prophecy in this passage. God’s people were saved, too, so that they could then go and serve the Lord in the freedom He brought them. See Exodus 5:1-3 and 7:16 and passages like Psalm 106:7-12, where God saved His people, that they might “remember His steadfast love” and “believe His Words“ and “sing His praise.”

So also, Zechariah predicted, we New Testament people are “saved” and delivered” by our Lord Jesus, so that we might “serve Him without fear,” knowing that He has counted us as “holy” and “righteous” in His sight “all our days” by what He has done for us. “Perfect love casts out fear” - that perfect love of Jesus for us. (See 1 John 4:10-11, 16-18, along with what Zechariah prophecies in Luke 1:71-72 and 74-75.)

Zechariah then turned in his prophecy to his child, John, who would be “the prophet of the Most High” God and “go before the Lord to prepare His ways.” John would point people to “the knowledge of salvation” through Jesus, who would be, as John said, “the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) and who brings us “the forgiveness of our own sins,” through the “tender mercy of God” (Luke 1:77-78).

All this about John is predicted in passages we have already looked at, like Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3-6 and the prediction of the Elijah to come (Malachi 4:5-6) whom Jesus identified as John. Note also in Malachi 4:2-3 the prophecy of “the sun of righteousness rising with healing” and the wicked being defeated “on the day when the Lord acts.” This points again to Jesus.

Notice how similar this is to the words of Zechariah in Luke 1:78-79, promising “the sunrise who shall visit us from on high” and bring “light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” and bring us peace. A rising star led the wise men to Jesus, the Light of the world, not John, as we shall see in weeks ahead. Yet John had the great privilege of “bearing witness to the Light, that people might believe in Him” (Jesus).

See John 1:1-14. All this is exactly what Zechariah predicted, in this remarkable prophecy in Luke 1:67-79. (See also 2 Peter 1:19-21 and 1 Timothy 1:2, where we hear of the “Grace, mercy, and peace which come to us from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,” born as a tiny baby in Bethlehem.) Our future and hope are always in Jesus alone, not in John or any other human person.

Luke 1 ends with mention that the baby John also grew and became spiritually strong (he was not perfect, but was a great witness for His Lord) and spent time in the wilderness, fulfilling his Nazarite vows (Luke 1:15-17) and preparing for his work of calling people to repent and receive baptism and forgiveness and to be ready for the Kingdom of God, coming in Jesus (Luke 1:80).

Next week, we will finally get into the familiar Christmas story itself. But even there, there is much to remember and learn.