Luke 1:56

Luke 1:56

The Bible says in Luke 1:56-58, "And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house. Now Elizabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her." Elizabeth and her neighbors knew that the son that was born to her came as a gift from God. They did what all of us should do: they thanked God for the good things that happened to them. All good things come from God. It’s quite possible that we have had good things happen to us and we have neglected to be thankful to God who gave them to us.

Verse 58 says that the Lord had showed mercy to Elizabeth. One of the most important things to remember about God is that He is a God of mercy. God is slow to anger, but very quick to show mercy. It’s a good thing, because if it were not for the mercy of God, we would have no chance to escape His judgment. "All have sinned, and come short of the kingdom of God." No one can say that the good things that have happened to them are because they deserved them. We deserve punishment from God, but when we have His mercy, He does not punish like we deserve. Instead, He does good things for us that we do not deserve. You can rely on God being merciful to you just like He was to Elizabeth because mercy is an important part of who He is and what He does in His relationship with each member of the human race.

The Bible says in Luke 1:59-65, "And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. 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 spoke and praised God. And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea."

The birth of John the Baptist was a miraculous birth. It would not have happened unless God had performed a miracle. In a way one could say that every birth is a miracle. Certainly, everyone that is born into the world is given life by God, and everyone that is born into the world is born for a purpose. The purpose that John the Baptist was born into the world was to be the fore-runner of Christ. John would preach a message of repentance from sin and turning to God. There would be something different about John that would add a fire and a spirit to his messages that could not be ignored. John would point to Jesus and say, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

There is something significant and symbolic about how John was named. It was common among the Jewish people that a boy would be named after another male in the family. In Luke 1:13 the angel told Elizabeth, "Thou shalt call his name John." Family members and neighbors did not want him to be called John. They thought the child should be named according to custom and tradition. But Zacharias, the father, would not go along with the wishes of the majority. Instead, he went with the will of God. For every human there will be choices. You also must choose to go along with the crowd and the world around you, or to go along with God.

John’s influence on people started even with his birth. Verse 65 says that "fear came on all that dwelt round about them." If the hand of God is upon you, everything that you do can be used by Him in some way. Whether you smile or whether you frown, whether you laugh or whether you cry. That’s the power of God, and that’s the importance of walking with God and doing His will. What influence do you have and does your life have on the people around you? That’s one of the most important things about your life. One of the reasons that you were put on the earth was to influence others for good. Do you? If you learn to walk with God, you will. John was a good influence even from his birth.

Luke 1:66 says, "And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him." Some people turn to God later in life: after they have grown or after they have gone through the teenage years and learned the hard way the bitterness of sin and rebellion. The greatness of the mercy of God can forgive any sin. But there are a fortunate few who turn to God and start serving God from their earliest youth. That’s the best way. That’s the way it happened with John the Baptist. As a matter of fact, from the day he was born the people knew that there was something different about this child. What made the difference? The last part of Luke 1:66 tells us the difference between someone like John the Baptist and everyone else in the world who never achieve the service to God that he achieved. It says, "And the hand of the Lord was with him." There will be a great difference between someone who has God in their life, and someone who does not. "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature." If we want to be better testimonies or influences on those around us, this is what we need: more of God and less of the world in our lives. It was said of John the Baptist that "the hand of the Lord was with him." We also will see the name of the Lord glorified if and only if the hand of the Lord is also with us.

Luke 1:67-75 the Bible says, "And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he has visited and redeemed his people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life."

In a miraculous way Zacharias and Elizabeth were given a son whose name was John. Evidently the parents were given a unique understanding of the important mission that their son would be called to do. They understood that life has a purpose because life is given by God. The life of John had a purpose. Everyone is called to do something. John was called to be the forerunner of Christ. Do you know what you have been called to do, and are you doing it?

It’s a privilege and an honor to be given a calling from God. Everyone who understands this will carefully and faithfully seek to fulfill their calling. Zacharias understood it, and he understood the great honor that God had bestowed upon him and his wife in that their son was called to be the forerunner of the Christ. Their son was called to be filled with the spirit of Elijah, and therefore their calling was to help raise their son so that he would be fit to fulfill such a calling. A wise and loving parent with help from God can do a lot to help their child go the right way.

In Luke chapter one starting in verse 67, Zacharias praised God for what God had done in their lives and for how these blessings were going to extend beyond them to the rest of the world. Zacharias praised God for redemption, salvation, and deliverence. In verse 68 Zacharias said, "he has visited and redeemed his people." In verse 69 he said, "he has raised up for us a horn of salvation." In verse 71 he said, "that we should be saved from our enemies." In verse 74 he said, "that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies." Redemption, salvation, and deliverance: these are three wonderful words. If you have experienced these things then you also are among the blessed of God.

The word that is translated "redeemed" comes from a Greek word that means to be set free. Human beings are in bondage to something that will destroy them unless they are set free. They are in bondage to sin. The only solution to the sin problem is in the truth from Jesus Christ. Jesus came into the world to pay the price for sin. Through Jesus you can be redeemed from your sins. He said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Zacharias praised God because he knew that God had set the wheels in motion to bring the Redeemer into the world, and his son was going to be the forerunner to the redeemer.

Zacharias also praised God for salvation and deliverance. Salvation and deliverance take place at the same time as redemption. They are simply other words that help describe what takes place at the point of being born again. Someone who is in a dangerous circumstance that threatens their survival needs to be saved from that circumstance and needs to be delivered from that threat. The greatest danger that every human faces is the danger of paying the penalty for their sins. But through God and Christ a person can find salvation for their soul. Jesus said, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

In praising God for the redemption and salvation and deliverance that He provides, Zacharias tied these together with the Word of God. In verse 70 Zacharias said that God "spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets." In verse 72 he said that God would "perform the mercy promised to our fathers." The coming of Christ was based upon a promise made by God to sinful man. Salvation is based upon a promise made by God that He will forgive all that come to Him through Jesus Christ. When you believe on Jesus to the saving of your soul, you enter into the benefits of the promise. God keeps His promises. It all starts with God’s promises. In order to believe you must hear the promise expressed with the right words and in the right way. Without Jesus you would not be able to be saved, and without the Word of God you would not be able to be saved because it expresses the truth about Jesus. "How shall they believe except they hear?"

The result of coming to know the redemption and the salvation and the deliverance of God is mentioned by Zacharias at the end of Luke 1:74 and verse 75. If you come to know the salvation of God that is in Christ, there will be results, there will be effects, and there will be evidences. At the end of verse 74 the Bible says that we "might serve Him without fear." No one can serve God until they come to know Him personally through the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the great benefits of knowing Him and serving Him is that faith can drive away all fears. Most humans fear something. There are phobias and fears for almost everything under the sun. By nature, people fear. Some people fear death, and others fear poverty or disease. Many people fear crime or becoming a victim of crime. But fears can be replaced by faith in God. It’s possible to live this life with faith instead of fear if you believe in God.

We become saved by God through Christ, and then we grow in faith and we learn to live by faith. But we should add to our faith virtue. Verse 75 says that we should serve Him "in holiness and righteousness." God does not forgive us so that we can keep on doing the same things that we did before. One of the reasons that He forgives us is so that we can learn to do better. "Be you holy, for I am holy." For how long should we make it our goal to do the right thing? Should we give up once we fail, or should we give up if we fail in a serious way? No, because it’s all based upon His mercy anyway. Our relationship with Him is never based upon our own goodness. Even if we had no failures and even if we accomplished great things according to the standards of men, our relationship with Him would still be based upon His mercy and not our merits. Some people find a reason to give up or to stop, maybe because of their own failures or the failure of someone else. But the last part of verse 75 says, "all the days of our life."

If you are going to go into Christianity, you must go in for the long haul. No one is equipped to follow Christ, if they start with the attitude that they will see how things go and then maybe change back to what they were before if things do not work out. You must give yourself to Christ with the intention of following Him for the rest of your life. One of the great values of the Word of God is that it gives you a recipe for life. You start by coming to know God’s salvation through Jesus, you continue by building up your faith and adding virtue and right living to faith, and you do it with the determination that you are going to do it for the rest of your life. You must go in with both feet or you do not go in at all.

In Luke 1:76-77 Zacharias continued speaking about his son, John the Baptist, and the Bible says, "and thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins." The most important thing in the world for any human being is to know "the remission of their sins." The greatest work in the world being done by God right now is the work of reaching men and women with salvation before it is too late for them. Only Jesus can save a soul. He paid the price for sin on the cruel Roman cross. He rose from the dead. A lost soul puts their faith in Jesus to find salvation. "There is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved."

But once we become believers, we can play a part in the salvation of others just like John the Baptist did. John the Baptist prepared the way of the Lord. This is a spiritual principle that is repeated over and over in the history of the human race. God visits people in a spiritual way to make Himself known to them. But often before God visits a lost soul, God sends one of his believers to visit that person first. That’s preparing the way of the Lord. No one can get saved unless God visits them, but God often prepares them for the visit by sending a human being who believes. The believer expresses his belief and bears witness of his faith, and these words are like seeds planted in the hearts of unbelievers. And then belief in God grows from one person’s faith to another’s once it is watered by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The message of salvation is always centered around the message of the forgiveness of sins. Every person has a sin problem until they have it taken care of by the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe you need to think about the work and message of John the Baptist. It was a message about the problem of sin and the need for repentance. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." Have you gone to Jesus in prayer and asked Him to take away your sins?

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