Day 13: Preparing for Jesus - Luke 1 vs 11-17
11 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. 14 You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. 16 And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. 17 He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.” Luke 1:11-17 New Living Translation.
We saw earlier in this chapter that God hears the prayers of His people even if they don’t receive an answer immediately. But when He does bring His answer it’s often in a way far greater than they expected. What do verses 15-16 tell us about the son God was going to give to Zechariah and Elizabeth?
Verse 15 doesn’t mean that alcohol is evil - in this case it was going to be one of the signs that John was devoted to the Lord’s work. The danger of alcohol is that it easily intoxicates a person and that can quickly lead to foolish and sinful behaviour. God’s people are called to avoid drunkenness. 1 Corinthians 5:11 says we should not hang out with anyone who claims to be a believer, yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people.
John was going to be a person like Paul described in Ephesians 5:18 when he said to Christians: “Don’t be drunk with wine because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.” In fact, the Holy Spirit was going to be in John’s life even while he was in the womb. (vs 15). This verse surely shows us too that life has already started at conception, not just when we are born.
What was John’s job going to be according to vs 16-17?
If you said a great prophet, I’d agree with you. Elijah (mentioned in vs 17) was one of Israel’s greatest prophets. He was the one the Lord had used to call Israel back to Himself when they were foolishly running after false gods. (You can read about the contest Elijah won in 1 Kings 18:16-39). So John was going to be the prophet who would tell people to get their lives in order to prepare for the arrival of Jesus!
Last question. If you could know that Jesus was going to visit your home, are there things you’d really need to straighten out before He arrived? Tell Him about these things now and turn from them. He is a gracious Lord and able to forgive our sins.