You're Having a Baby!
Preached by Jason Abbott
September 18, 2016
My wife and I have five children, and every single time Natalie informed me that she was pregnant I was really surprised by it. There is simply a natural element of surprise when parents learn they’re having a baby.What’s not surprising, however, is having your wife be the one to tell you. Men typically and rightly expect that they’ll find such things out from their wives. Moreover, women aren’t surprised to learn they’re pregnant from a pregnancy test. Now days, that’s normally the way ladies confirm that they’re truly having a baby. What neither men nor women expect, however, is to learn they’re having a baby through an angelic birth announcement. Nevertheless, that is precisely the surprise both an older couple—Zechariah and Elizabeth—and a young unmarried couple—Mary and Joseph—receive when they find out they’re each having a baby.Let’s read the text and pray for God’s leading as we study it. (See page 970.)
Luke 1:5-38
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
For our purposes, we want to consider two biblical themes found in this text: (1st) the command that we should seek God’s kingdom above all earthly pleasures and (2nd) the paradox that true greatness, in God’s kingdom, can only be found through sacrificial service.
1. Seek first the kingdom of God and . . . (vv. 5-25).
As we look at these themes, it’s obvious to the reader they’re incomplete. Each of them ends with an ellipsis, 3 dots. The dots indicate something’s not there. Yet, even just reading them out loud would indicate this. “Seek first the kingdom of God and . . .” what? Or, “Whoever would be great among you must . . .” what? Thus, even the casual reader knows instantly that something’s missing.What’s missing, in both cases, is the rest of a statement which Jesus made during his earthly ministry. This first statement is found in the gospel of Matthew. Jesus says:
. . . seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (6:33).
Jesus is teaching the crowds about the common concerns we have in life—Will I be able to provide for myself and for my family? Will I have enough to eat? Will I be able to buy clothing?—these types of worries. And, to such concerns, Jesus’s answer is one of priority. If we place God’s kingdom and his righteousness as first priority in our lives then God will provide what we need.Well, let’s get back to Zechariah and Elizabeth. What does this have to do with them? Just consider their situation. Are they righteous in the sight of God? Yes. Do they keep and obey his commandments? Yes, blamelessly. So far so good. But there is a problem. Look at what Luke says—they’re righteous and blameless:
But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old (v. 7).
Here is this story’s conflict. Here’s the problem for Elizabeth and Zachariah. Think of all the hoping and praying and waiting for a baby to come. Yet, nothing! And now they’re getting old. They’re well past the age for such hopes and dreams. What a disappointment! But it’s far more than mere disappointment.It wasn’t simply the hope of having kids that was dashed, though it was that. It was also a very practical problem since children in their culture and their time—as it has been in most cultures and most times—were ultimately a retirement plan. When you couldn’t provide for yourself anymore, they would. So, for this couple, both their hopes and their needs have seemingly been dashed.We may wonder: Where is the “all these things will be added to you” part?Well, one day Zechariah gets the priestly duty of his life time. He’s chosen to offer incense before the Lord in the Holy Place. We don’t want to miss what’s going on here. We don’t want to miss the significance of this offering of incense. “The priest offered [it] . . . on behalf of the people. [It] was a symbol of intercession proceeding up to God.”1 This is all about prayer to God for God’s people.Then all of a sudden, the normal routine—the normal prayer—is interrupted by an angelic messenger. Look at what he says to Zechariah:
Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord (vv. 13-17).
Note some interesting things about this angelic birth announcement with me. First, notice that Zechariah is scared. This is a typical response when sinful people are confronted with the presence of holiness. Staunch atheist Stephen Fry shared that, if he’s wrong and God exists, then he’ll want answers upon meeting God about pain and suffering in this life.2 Yet, he’s failed to grasp the true ramifications of an encounter with the holy God. No one will stand before God and accuse him. Rather, they will like Zechariah cower in fearful recognition of God’s perfection and their own sinfulness. Sinful arrogance will vanish in the presence of holiness.Second, notice that Zechariah’s prayer has been answered in two directions, and that this deals directly with our current theme of first seeking God’s kingdom. See, when Gabriel tells him his prayer has been heard, it’s unclear if he’s talking about Zechariah’s prayer for the nation—the prayer he’s offering at that moment—or the one which he and Elizabeth have doubtlessly been praying for many years—the prayer for a child.Yet, regardless of which it is both have been answered. For:
This boy will be a joy and delight to you, Zechariah and Elizabeth (v. 14).
And, he will make ready a people prepared for the Lord (v. 17).
Friends, Zechariah and Elizabeth continued to seek God’s kingdom first through all the pain of childlessness and all the questions about God’s purposes. And God sustained them through it all. God’s timing was not at all their timing; however, God’s timing was perfect timing.We must likewise learn to trust God in our own lives—seeking his glory while trusting in his timing and his provision, even when we don’t understand it.Well let’s move now to complete our second partially completed theme.
2. Whoever would be great among you must . . . (vv. 26-38).
How does this one end? Well it’s also a lesson from Jesus’s earthly ministry. This time he’s teaching his disciples about what it means to be great in God’s eyes. Jesus’s words about this can be found in both Mark’s and Matthew’s gospels. Here’s how Mark records it:
. . . whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all (10:43-44).
This was not an easy lesson for Jesus’s disciples to engender way back then, and it’s not any easier for us to live it out now. It is, however, a calling for all of us who would seek to follow after Jesus. It was a calling even for his mother.Have you ever considered what the prayer life of every devout Hebrew girl in Israel might have been like? I imagine many of them—perhaps most of them—at some point or another may have dreamed of being the mother of the Messiah. Yet, dreams that come true can be vastly different than we imagined.Here is a young woman (likely in her early teens) pledged to be married. Mary is a virgin living in a shame and honor culture. For her to be found pregnant outside of marriage was to bring lifelong dishonor upon herself and her family. Yet, this is precisely what God is calling her to risk.Despite Joseph’s decision to marry her, there were doubtlessly many times when her reputation was questioned. It even appears that the religious authorities of the day suspected (or even accused?) Jesus of being Mary’s illegitimate child. Might there be a subtle (or not so subtle!) charge when the leaders argue with Jesus on the temple grounds in John’s gospel?They have been wrangling over whether Jesus or they really stand in line with God. Then, suddenly, they shift the matter from spiritual to sexual fidelity. They say: We were not born of sexual immorality (8:41). Their implication being (it would seem)—as you, Jesus, were.Friends, Mary spoke better than she knew, of her entire life from then on, when she said:
I am the Lord’s servant . . . May your word to me be fulfilled (v. 38).
She would be reckoned great in the Lord’s sight and would be called blessed in her role as mother of Jesus. But, make no mistake about it. It would cost her. She would be a servant and a slave in this life. She’d be disdained and ridiculed. And, as Simeon will prophesy—Mary’s heart would be pierced also (Luke 2:35). This will be Mary’s story.As we close, we must consider this calling. God calls believers to greatness which means he calls us to a life of service. And service is not easy or comfortable. Being a servant means we put ourselves second in order to serve our Master. Servant-hood means we go wherever God calls us—it did for Abraham and Sarah; it did for Moses and Aaron; it did for Daniel, Esther and Ruth. In fact, I can’t think of a single person—in the entire biblical storyline—who tells the Lord where to go and to whom God says, You know what . . . you’re probably right.Friends, we must each ponder this calling in our own lives. Are we willing to follow our heavenly Father’s directives? We must be. For if we’ve been exalted through Christ’s love and service of us, how can we do otherwise? Let me pray.
1 Darrell L. Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50, 79.
2 You can see Fry’s answer here.
