John the Baptist - Luke 1:1-20

Luke’s famous account of the birth of the Savior doesn’t start in chapter one, it starts in chapter 2 because he starts his background in chapter 1 with Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist. Interestingly, and I didn’t know this, Luke was not one of the original 12 apostles who ministered with the Savior, which just goes to show how much I actually know my scriptures and history. The IM says that Luke writes his account “to help Theophilus ‘know the certainty of those things’ he had previous learned about Jesus Christ.” This begs the question, in what way did the knowledge of the birth of John the Baptist strength the testimony of Theophilus? Why include the account of Zacharias and Elizabeth at all? It’s possible that one of the reasons that Luke included this information was because Theophilus was familiar with John the Baptist, either as a follower or just having general knowledge of him and Luke was trying to show the connection between John the Baptist (JTB from now on) and Christ as the Messiah. It’s been hypothesized that Theophilus was a lawyer for Paul defending the legitimacy of Christianity to Roman rulers and that this account is legal brief. An article discussing the identity of Theophilus makes an excellent point saying, “Whether this Theophilus was a wealthy relative of Caeser, an influential government official, a wealthy benefactor who supported Paul or Paul’s Roman lawyer does not really matter. We cannot know for sure who Theophilus was, but we can know what Luke’s intentions for writing were. His stated reason for writing to Theophilus was ‘that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.’ Luke wrote an historical account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and detailed the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. His intention was to give Theophilus certainty that the ‘things he had been taught’ were indeed true and trustworthy.” I feel like Luke was saying, “ok let’s start from the beginning,” kind of a buildup and the events that led to the how he heard about Jesus Christ. It’s also important to mention that the way in which Luke begins his letter is a “prologue” or “formal introduction” of sorts. The IM says, “The gospel of Luke begins with a prologue, which is a formal introduction. The use of this literary style was customary in classical Greek literature and served to establish the purpose and importance of the work as well as the credentials of the author.”

Was it important to mention JTB? The Savior seemed to think so, he mentioned and praised JTB multiple times during his ministry. The September 1972 Ensign article entitled “John the Baptist: A Burning and a Shining Light” saying, “John was considered an important enough person that his mission was made known to prophets and seers hundreds of years before his earthly advent, his birth was preannounced by an angel, and miraculous circumstances accompanied the event. He was emphatically and singularly eulogized by the Son of God himself.” Seems pretty important to me. Luke might have been pointing out the fulfilling of prophecy by including JTB in his account, or he might have just been including the fact that it was a miraculous birth to glorify God. The account begins with “a certain priest names Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.” And they had no children because she was “barren.” Some background on Zacharias here, what is an Abia? The IM saying, “Centuries before the birth of Jesus, King David had divided the priests of Israel into 24 families (called ‘courses’), each of which was called to serve in the temple twice a year for one week each time. Zacharias belonged to the priestly family of Abia.” Maybe it’s because our priests bless the sacrament each week and we usually don’t have very many of them, I didn’t realize how significant it was that Zacharias “was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.” Each “family” of priests were in charge of performing temple duties twice a year, which means that only 2 men each year would have the opportunity to serve in the temple, and once serving in this office, a man could not serve in it again in his lifetime. The IM explains, “The priests drew lots to determine who among them would receive the high honor of offering incense within the temple. Because of the large number of priests, the opportunity to burn incense was a rare privilege, one that would have been a high point in Zacharias’s life of service as a priest.”  As a once in a lifetime experience he probably had to spiritually prepare for quite a bit. This sets up the scene for what happens when he does get into the temple, the Holy Place, to perform his task. Also significant to know before going into the temple scene is that, as far as I can find out, there hadn’t been an angelic vision or anything spectacular in the temple for 500 years, since the time of Malachi. In all, this was a very extraordinary opportunity for Zachariah to serve in a capacity that, in recent history, hasn’t been involved in anything exciting, kind of ironic I think.

While Zachariah was working in the temple “according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord… There appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.” An angel has finally come back to the temple and it was to announce to Zachariah “thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.” The angel promises that John will be and do many things:

1. Thou shalt have joy and gladness
2. Many shall rejoice at his birth
3. He shall be great in the sight of the Lord
4. He shall drink neither wine not strong drink
5. He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb
6. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God
7. Go forth in the spirit and power of Elias
8. Make ready a people prepared for the Lord

Honestly, I never really understood why the mission of JTB was so important. Why did the people need to be prepared for the coming of the Savior? There is a very powerful Ensign article form January 1991 which says, “He was, in effect, the last prophet of the Old Testament, the first prophet of the New Testament, and a central participant in the dispensation of the fullness of times… John single-handedly challenged the network of apostasy that existed among the leaders of his people. His divine appointment was ‘to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord.’.. Multitudes recognized John’s power. He was so successful that there ‘went out to him Jerusalem and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordon, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. Many, including publicans and soldiers, sought his counsel. Within six months of so he had so roused the Jewish nation that ‘the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not.’ John was careful to inform them that he was not the Christ, but his precursor. John met all the requirements of a forerunner and a herald. He preached repentance, spoke against the evils and wrongdoing of the people (including the adulterous and incestuous marriage of Herod Antipas, called the Tetrarch in the New Testament, and Herodias), proclaimed the imminent coming of the Messiah, and identified Him personally and publically when He arrived. John fulfilled his ministry with dignity and thoroughness. And while not everyone obeyed him, those who heard him knew that he was a preacher of righteousness and a proclaimer of the Messiah. After his death people were heard to say, ‘John did no miracle, but all things that John spake of this man (Jesus) were true.’ John’s influence extended to individuals who would later become the Apostles and special witnesses of the Lord. One of John’s disciples, Andrew, followed John’s teachings to find Jesus; then he brought his brother Peter to meet Jesus. It appears that John the Beloved was also a disciple of John the Baptist and was the ‘other disciple’ mentioned in company with Andrew. Peter’s instructions to the Church concerning the selection of a new member of the Twelve in place of Judas suggest that many, if not all, of the Twelve had been tutored by John before becoming disciples of Jesus. After preparing the way for Jesus and proclaiming him as the Messiah, John then persuaded his converts to leave him and follow Jesus. John’s humility and loyal to Jesus were dramatically illustrated when some of his disciples brought the news that Jesus was more popular than John had been and that many of John’s converts were now following Jesus. John’s response was clear and to the point: ‘Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standest and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: his my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.’ John had now completed the fundamental tasks of his earthly appointment. His public ministry would diminish, while Jesus’ would rise and enlarge.” This was a very powerful witness to me of the mission and necessity of JTB.

The angel tells Zachariah about the incredibly life and mission of his son and Zachariah responds “whereby shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.” To me this doesn’t seem like that serious of a statement, but one of the websites that I read while gathering information contrasted Zachariah’s answer with Mary’s answer. Mary asked “how will this be?” Indicating that she didn’t know what she had to do in order to fulfill the promise. Zachariah asked “how can this be?” indicating that he didn’t understand how it was possible instead of just believing that with God all things are possible. To me both statements seem to say the same thing, “wait, what?” But apparently they are both meant to indicate different attitudes. Zachariah almost sounds like he’s asking for a sign. The angel wasn’t very pleased with his response, and curses him saying, “thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.”

More to follow next time.