The story so far:
     Zechariah has been told by an angel that he and his wife, despite their age, will have a child. The priest doesn’t believe it, and , as a result of his doubt, will remain mute until the baby is born.
     He goes home and his wife, Elizabeth, conceives as planned. Luke 1:24 says that she hid herself for five months.
     What a faith builder it must have been for Zechariah to live with his elderly pregnant wife who hadn’t been out of the house for nearly half a year.
     Eventually, she did go out. Her family, friends and neighbors could see that she was expecting. Imagine the sense of awe that must have caused.
     Elizabeth was having a miracle baby.
     But that wasn’t the best part.
     Gabriel indicated to Zechariah that his child would partially fulfill a 400 year old prophecy by acting as Elijah, ushering in the coming Messiah. He probably communicated it to Elizabeth in writing.
     If they told others of the massage, imagine the added buzz that it would cause.
     Could it be true?
     Was the wait over?
     Would the Messiah finally arrive?
     Could he be here already?
     The people would have to wait a bit longer. After all, the baby had not yet been born, let alone be able to point out the Messiah.
     But now there was a spark of hope.
     It was the dream of every Jewish woman to be the one to give birth to the man who would be Israel’s deliverer.
     Who would that young lady be?
     Only God knew.
     Gabriel was a busy angel.
     Another miracle baby was on the way.
     Enjoy.  

Here is the passage that we will be studying this week. If you can, read Luke 1:1-25 first. Please pray before you begin.

Luke 1:26-40 (NIV)

26 In the sixth month, 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 be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name 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 the house of Jacob 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 upon 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 barren is in her sixth month.

37 For nothing is impossible with God."

38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,

40 where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.

Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Luke 1:26-40 (King James Version)

26  And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

-Who was sent?  
-When was he sent? 
-Where was he sent?  
-Who sent him?

27  To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

-To whom was he sent?  
-How does the author describe her?          
-Define virgin.
-Define espoused.  
-To whom was she espoused?   
-What house was he from?

28  And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

-What does the angel say to her? 
-Define favored. 
-Define blessed. 
-What does “the Lord is with you” mean?

29  And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

-How did she react?   
-Define troubled?   
-Define “cast in her mind”?

30  And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

-How does the angel respond?  
-Why does he tell her not to fear?  
-Define found?

31  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

-What will happen to her?  
-What will she bring forth?  
-What will she call Him?

32  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

-What shall He be? 
-What will He be called? 
-What will He be given? 
-Who will give it to Him?

33  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

-What will He do? 
-Over whom shall He reign?      
-Define reign.        
-How is His kingdom described?

34  Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

-How did Mary respond?   
-What did she ask?        
-How does she define herself?

35  And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

-Who will come upon her?     
-What will overshadow her?    
-What will be born?         
-What will he be called?

36  And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

-What else does he tell her?  
-What happened to Elizabeth?         
-Why does he tell this to Mary?

37  For with God nothing shall be impossible.

-How does the angel describe God?  
-What can God do?        
-What is impossible for God?

38  And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

-How does Mary respond?  
-What attitude does she have?       
-What is a handmaid?

39  And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;
40  And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.

-What did Mary do? 
-Where did she go? 
-In what manner did she go? 
-What did she do when she got there?

-What do we learn about God?    
-Christ?    
-The Spirit?    
-The author?    
-His readers?    
-His purpose?
-How does Mary’s response to God’s message from Gabriel differ from Zechariah’s?
-How does one find favor with God?    
-What is impossible with God?   
-What promises has God made to you?
-If you don’t know, how can you find out? 
-Do you believe in God’s power?  
-That He will keep His promises?      
-Or do you doubt it?  
-Are you willing to serve God, no matter what He asks of you?   
-Or will you resist Him?

The Angel

Zechariah may not have been blessed with children, but God allowed him the occupational honor of burning incense and the holy place.
He had to have been nervous.
He must have been deep in prayer.
Other people were praying for him outside.

An angel of the Lord appeared to him.
There are many occurances of angels in the Old and New Testaments.
"Angel" means messenger.
Not all angels were supernatural beings. 
The angel of the Lord was. 

Many people believe the appearances of the angel of the Lord were actually early appearances of Jesus Christ.
They believe this because the angel speaks as God in the first person.
Although some of these appearances may have been God in human form, not all of them can be.
After all the angel of the Lord appears to their shepherds on the night of Christ's birth.

It is more likely that the angel of the Lord, identified here as Gabriel, was a special messenger from God, who spoke on His behalf, much like an ambassador speaks for a president or a king.
Gabriel is always seen bearing a message to someone, and describes himself as standing in the presence of God.
He was sent to "evangelize" to Zechariah.

The Message

Zechariah's name means "remembered by Yahweh (or Jehovah or God)"
Elizabeth's name means "oath of God"
She was barren and had been for a long time past bearing children.
She is a picture of Israel. 

Isaiah 35 speaks of Israel as a wilderness blossoming
Ezekiel 37 speaks of dry bones being restored living beings. 
Isaiah 54:1 compares Israel to a barren woman.

Seemingly, God was speaking to an individual, and answering that individual's personal prayer.
But God was also speaking to the nation of Israel in answer to their prayers as well.

These are the first words God spoke to His people in 400 years:

"Do not be afraid"

Zechariah: Was understandably startled by the appearance of the supernatural being.
Israel:    Was afraid that they had been abandoned by God.

"Your prayer is heard"

Zechariah: He had prayed for children for many years, but in the here and now of Luke 1, it was not likely that Zechariah was praying for a child.
He was probably praying for Israel as a nation, and maybe even for the Messiah to come.
Israel: God was answering their prayer by answering a long past prayer of this priest and his wife.

"Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son"

Zechariah: Elizabeth and Zechariah would have their long awaited son.
Israel: The oath of God would be remembered by god and Israel would have its long awaited Messiah.

"And you shall call his name John"

Zechariah: His child is given a specific name.
Israel: The name John (Yochanan in Hebrew) means "God is gracious" or "God is a giver"

"And you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth."

Zechariah: The birth of a child is a cause for celebration.
Israel: So is watching God fulfill his promises

"For he will be great in the sight of the Lord"

Zechariah: John would look weird physically, but spiritually he was a giant.
Israel: Jesus would look human physically, but spiritually he was God.

"And shall drink neither wine nor strong drink"

Wine and alcohol are made through the fermentation process.
Fermentation is a state decay.
Our world was plunged into decay when man sinned (Genesis 3:17)
The first mention of wine in the Bible is after the flood when Noah plants a vineyard and gets drunk (Genesis 9:20-21)
People who were set apart for service to God, such as priests and Nazarites, were instucted to avoid alcohol (Leviticus 10:9; Numbers 6)
In Ephesians 5:18, Paul uses being filled with wine as the opposite of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
 
Zechariah: John would be a Nazarite (Numbers 6), set apart for the service of the Lord.
Israel: The Messiah would be set apart from the sin of this world.

"He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb."

Zechariah: God will fill the child in the woman once barren.
Israel: God will fill the land once barren.

"And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God."

Zechariah: John turn people's attention back to God.
Israel:  Jesus would take them the rest of the way.

"He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah"

Malachi 4:1-6 says that the prophet Elijah, who did not die but was taken by God (2 Kings 2:11) would return to announce the arrival of the Messiah.

Zechariah: John, in the role of Elijah, would announce the Messiah's first coming.
Israel: Elijah will still return to announce His second coming.

"‘To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Zechariah: Ideally, people should prepare themselves for the Messiah's arrival by getting right with others.
Israel: people should prepare by getting right with God.

Zachariah's Response

Zachariah did not belive Gabriel.
We will discuss his response next week.

Mute

Gabriel told Zechariah that he would be unable to speak until the child was born.
There seems to be a pattern that, when God does something mighty for His people, it is preceded by a period of preparation that appears to be silence or inactivity:

There was 25 years between God's promise of a son to Abraham, and Isaac's birth.
Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born.
Joseph was a slave and in prison for at least 2 years before saving Egypt from famine.
Israel endured slavery for the good part of 400 years, before raising up Moses.
Moses lived in self-exile for 40 years before delivering Israel from Egypt.
He was on the mountain with God for 40 days while recieving the Law.
The 40 years of wandering before entering the Promised Land.
The 400 years of silence between the prophets and our current text.
Jesus fasted for 40 days before beginning His ministry.
The 3 days between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.
The 10 days between Christ's ascencion and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on Pentacost.
The 2000 years and counting between Acts 28 and the return of Christ.

Elizabeth conceives

Everything happening as the angel said.
It is not said why Elizabeth hid herself for five months.
There were no paparazzi back then but there were friends neighbors.
It may be that because of her age, she wanted to be showing before telling everyone she was pregnant.