Tuesday, January 15, 2019 – Luke 1:59-65
The Advent of John the Baptist, Pt. 2
Principles from His Circumcision and Naming
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
The
Gospel of Luke
II. The Identification of the Son of Man
with Men, Luke 1:5-4:13.
C. The Advent of John the Baptist, vs. 57-80.
1. The Birth of John and rejoicing, vs. 57-58.
2. The Circumcision and Naming of John, vs. 59-66.
3. Zachariah’s Proclamation and Prophecy, vs. 67-80.
2. The Circumcision and Naming of
John, vs. 59-66.
Here we have
the story of John’s circumcision and naming. Circumcision was a mandate from
God first to Abraham to represent the covenant God made with him to provide a
great nation from him. Gen 17:9-14; and
secondly, to be in accordance with the Mosaic Law that came hundreds of years
later to ratify that relationship, Lev
12:3; Acts 7:8.
Acts 7:8, “And He gave him the
covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and
circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and
Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.”
It was a
physical representation of being entered into the new racial species God had
created in Abraham, the Jewish race called Israel. It was a commemoration of
that great grace blessing from God. That physical representation of a new
racial species was a type of the New Spiritual Species, (new creation, new
creature, 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15), God
creates in the Church Age believer upon salvation. It is a picture of
regeneration; Abraham’s sexual regeneration typifies our spiritual regeneration
found in Jesus Christ. Therefore, circumcision was also a picture of salvation.
Yet, as a ritual, circumcision has no meaning to the Jew who rejects Christ as
Savior, for ritual without reality is meaningless. Unfortunately, many
believing Jews after Christ’s ascension, falsely insisted upon Gentile believers
being circumcised, Acts 15:1-34,
which Paul soundly refuted, Rom 2:25-29;
Gal 5:1-6; 6:12-15; Col 2:11.
Gal 5:2, “Behold I, Paul, say to you
that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.”
Gal 5:3, “And I testify again to every
man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole
Law.”
Gal 5:6, “For in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through
love.”
Gal 6:15, “For neither is circumcision
anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.”
Col 2:11, “And in Him you were also
circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body
of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.”
The believer
receives a spiritual circumcision upon faith in Jesus Christ. It is the removal
of the sin barrier that kept us from a relationship with God. The Baptism of
the Spirit at salvation and the resultant Positional Sanctification is the only
circumcision of the Church Age.
Phil 3:3, “For we are the true
circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and
put no confidence in the flesh.”
Circumcision as a ritual, in the ritual plan of God for the dispensation
of Israel, no longer exists. Yet, at that time, for the Jew, (as it continues
to be today), circumcision was the memorial sign between God and the Jewish
race. But, only with Bible doctrine in the soul was circumcision meaningful to
them. This too was an OT doctrine. Because of the tendency to rely on the mere
physical outward sign of inclusion in the covenant, to the neglect of the
demand to believe in and serve God, several passages of the OT reiterate the
need to be “circumcised in the heart,”
Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4, cf. Rom 2:29.
It is not enough to show only outward adherence to God; one must believe and
live as a faithful servant of God. So, even in the OT, circumcision identified
a relationship with God spiritually.
Deut 10:16, “So circumcise
your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.”
Jer 4:4, “Circumcise
yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and
inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else My wrath will go forth like fire and burn
with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”
That is why we see Zachariah and Elizabeth taking their son to be
circumcised at this time, because they understood their relationship to God, to
Abraham, the Law, and more importantly, the meaning behind the ritual, just as
we will see Jesus being circumcised in Chapter
2. It was a great demonstration of their faithfulness, which is also shown
in the rest of this section.
Next, we see
the process of naming Zachariah’s and Elizabeth’s baby. “Typically, Jewish children were named at birth (cf. Genesis 4:25; 21:3, et al.). Some have
suggested this account more closely resembles the Hellenistic custom of waiting
seven to ten days before naming a child. In addition, there is no written
record of naming children in association with circumcision until the Eighth Century
A.D. In addition, while there is no record that it was common at this time for
friends and family to be involved in the naming of a child, a similar scenario
appears in Ruth 4:17.” (Complete
Biblical Library Commentary)
Remember, at
this time Zachariah was still mute and deaf from the discipline he received for
wavering in his faith back in vs. 18-20.
They both wanted to call their son John, according to Gabriel’s command from vs. 13, but the people thought he was
going to be named after his father, Zachariah. So, in vs. 60, Elizabeth speaks up and tells them his name would be
“John.” Because of Zachariah’s muteness, he was not able to speak up at this
time, so Elizabeth had told. The people thought this name to be strange, vs. 61, since no one in their family
was named John. Naming children based on family names, especially after the
father or grandfather, was a common practice of the day. In addition, naming
was sometimes associated with dominion or rule; this child will be under God’s
rule, not man’s as God is the one who named him John.
But, in vs. 60, Elizabeth strongly objected “No indeed,” with the emphatic OUCHI,
when in accordance with the angel’s message, Elizabeth instructed everyone what
he would be “called,” using the
Future, Passive, Indicative with an imperative force of the Verb KALEO, “called, named, etc..” She stated that
her child’s name would be “John,”
IOANNES, Ἰωάννης, which is a proper noun transliterated from the Hebrew
YOCHANAN that means, “YHWH-given or YHWH has been gracious.”
In vs. 61, part of the reason for the
people questioning this name was that no one in their family had the name John.
Typically, people were named after their relatives in honor of their “relatives;” the Noun SUNGENEIA, only
used here and in Acts 7:3, 14, where
it refers to relatives in the extended families of Abraham and Joseph
respectively.
In, vs. 62, because no relatives had the
name John and it was not customary for the mother to name the child, to confirm
this, because he was also deaf, they “made
signs” to Zachariah to ask him what to name the boy. This was ironic given
that at the announcement of the pregnancy of Elizabeth, Zachariah was looking
for a sign to be certain that what Gabriel was telling him was true, due to his
lack of faith, vs. 18-20. So here,
they are giving him “signs” to ask what his son’s name would be. “They made signs” is the Progressive
Imperfect, Active, Indicative for ongoing simultaneous action of the Verb
ENNEUO, ἐννεύω that means, “to nod, make signs, or signify.” It is only used
here in the NT.
Next, in vs. 63, Zachariah asks for something to
write on, PINAKIDION, (a small wooden tablet with a wax or possibly a parchment
coating, which too is only used here in the NT), so he could respond to their
signaled question. I love the forcefulness of Zachariah’s response. He could
have just written, “John,” but he writes, “his name is John,” Boom! End of
discussion!
When he wrote this, “they
were all astonished,” using the Verb THAUMAZŌ, θαυμάζω that means, “to
wonder, marvel at, admire, be astonished, or be amazed.” The people’s reaction
reflects the finality and authority of Zachariah’s response. It also continues
the aura of mystery and wonder that Luke gives to the birth and life of John
the Baptist. Interestingly, most
of the usages of the word THAUMAZO have to do with people’s reaction to the
healing activity and miraculous power of Jesus Christ. And, don’t you know that
Zachariah was healed of his muteness and deafness right after this, vs. 64.
In vs. 64, following Zachariah’s
faithfulness to the message of Gabriel, he was healed “at once” or “immediately,”
the Adverb PARACHREMA, (that is also used predominately in healing narratives).
The words of the angel Gabriel from vs.
20, came true. His prophecies are once again fulfilled; God is faithful to
His Word!
“Luke adds emphasis to this event by
means of a literary device called a zeugma (i.e., the use of a word
["opened"] with two other words in a given context ["mouth,"
and "tongue"] of which only one is appropriately used
["mouth"]).”
(Complete Biblical Library Commentary).
So, we see
that at the precise moment of Zachariah’s faith and obedience to the Word of
God, in mercy, God lifted his punishment and freed Zachariah’s mouth, and we
can assume restored his hearing too. Just as when the unbeliever demonstrates
faith in Jesus Christ by believing in Him, God frees him from the slave market
of sin and gives him salvation. Likewise, when we demonstrate faith in God to
rebound, 1 John 1:9, and recover,
God restores our fellowship with Him and turns our discipline into blessing.
Principle: When we are faithful and obedient to
God’s Word, His mercy comes into our lives, even when under judgment or
discipline.
Then, as is
also customary in Luke’s writings, the first thing Zachariah does is “praise God,” EULEGEO THEOS. We have
noted this verbal aspect of praise in vs.
28 and 42.
Here, we have
a principle of suffering and enduring God’s discipline. Our suffering will either
make us bitter or make us better. It made Zachariah better. He had learned more
about his own heart and about God, than he ever knew before. The proof of that
is the praise for God that leaped from his mouth that very instance.
How are we
handling our suffering? Is it working in us deeper thoughts of God’s goodness,
or harder thoughts about our circumstance? Are we growing warmer or colder
toward God?
Now at this
point, Luke could have gone on to give us Zachariah’s great proclamation found
in vs. 67-79, and in fact, the “speaking,” LALEO, Luke references in
this verse, is just that. But, before Luke gives us the proclamation, he tells
us of the impact all of this had on Zachariah’s relatives, neighbors, and those
living in the surrounding region in vs.
65-66.
In vs. 65, as a result of Zachariah’s
healing and speech, “fear,” PHOBOS,
“came on all those living around them,”
using the Verb PERIOIKEO, “dwell around,”
which is only used here in the NT, as we noted the Adjective in vs. 58. We could say, “their
neighbors,” which is the group we noted in vs.
58.
Yet, this
“fear” reached even more people than did the previous rejoicing of their
neighbors, as it included all those living in the “hill country of Judea,” ORIENOS HO IOUDAIA, of which ORIENOS,
“hilly or mountainous,” is only used here and in vs. 39, in the NT, as we noted previously. The reaction of those
gathered was one of a deep reverence and awe at what God had done, cf. Luke 5:26; 7:16; Acts 2:43; 5:11; 19:17.
The phrase, “being talked of,” is the Progressive
Imperfect, Passive, Indicative of the Verb DIALALEO that means, “discuss or
converse together,” that is only used here and Luke 6:11. In Luke 6:11,
it is used for the Pharisees plotting to get rid of Jesus, so it carries
somewhat of a negative connotation of “continuous talk back and forth between
people.” We do not see the rejoicing here by the people, but more of a
perplexity as to what was going on, as also seen in vs. 66. Nevertheless, we do see in their hearts a respect and awe
at what God was doing
Another
important Lukan theme begins to appear in this verse, i.e., miracles as
catalysts for the proclamation of the good news, “Luke 2:17; 4:37; 5:15; 7:17; 8:39; etc.” This event had moved the
people deeply. Their awe over what had happened to Zachariah and Elizabeth
caused them to commit these things to their memory and speak about them to
others.
“Kept in mind” in the Greek it says,
“laid up in their heart.” This is an idiom meaning, “to store information in
the mind, with the implication of its being valuable.” Mary would later respond
in a similar way at Jesus’ response to her and Joseph when they found Him in
the temple, Luke 2:51. Hopefully,
the people of the hill country of Judea were cycling this doctrine in the right
lobe of their souls. The question they were pondering was, “What then will this child turn out to be?” Luke used PAIDION
for “child” that means, “young child or infant,” and the Future, Middle
Deponent, Indicative of EIMI, for “will
be?” This reflects that they were not quite sure what this child would do
or accomplish, maybe only in detail, but still understanding he was to be the
forerunner to the Christ.
Principle: When you receive the Word of God, it
should cause you to want to delve further into it, with a desire to know more.
Questioning is not a sign of unbelief. It may be if the questioner has an
attitude of antagonism. Yet, those who question typically have a heart and
desire to know more, which God will provide to those who are positive in their
volition.
Then we have
Luke’s closing comment, which hopefully was also in the heart of the people of
the hill country. It was, “for the hand
of the Lord was certainly with him.”
Cf. Acts 11:21; 13:11; Ezek 1:3; 3:14,
22, as the “hand of the Lord,”
CHEIR KURIOS, was the Greek translation of a common OT phrase. It is only used
three times in the NT, here and in Acts
11:21; 13:11. This means that the demonstrated power of God was with John
the Baptist for all to see and know, and that God had a plan for his life. This
is also true of every believer. God’s power is available for you 24/7, and He
definitely has a plan for your life!
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