Day 241 – Jesus’ Predecessor

• Of all the Gospels, Luke’s begins at the earliest moment, his conception (i.e. how his mother became pregnant), and then birth, of John the Baptist. We’re starting with Luke today, but we’ll spend the next couple of months digging into all four gospel accounts in detail.
• Who was Zacharias, and what was he doing when he heard the news that he was about to become a dad?
• Why do you think he had a hard time believing the news that the angel gave him? You might have several good reasons! How long do you think Zacharias had been praying for a child?
• How was Zacharias affected because of his initial disbelief? Do you think this was unfair, or was it part of the way the angel demonstrated the validity of the promise?
• Zacharias had probably been praying for a child for a very long time. Have you been praying for something for a long time? If it hasn’t happened, do you continue in faithful prayer? Is there something you have stopped praying for because you were disheartened?
• The second section of Luke 1 we read today gives us a view of John’s birth and the days immediately afterwards. Why did his parents name him “John”? Notice that in verse 62, Zacharias’ relatives signed to him – presumably this meant that he was deaf as well as mute!
• What truths about John and his ministry did Zacharias prophecy about in his song?
• Imagine you were not able to hear or speak for several months, and then had that restriction taken away from you instantly, like Zacharias. How would you react, and what would you say (or sing)?
• John was a fulfilment of the promise in Malachi 4. How? Moses wasn’t Elijah himself, of course, but someone who came demonstrating the “spirit and power of Elijah”. Jesus refers to John being the man Malachi prophesied about in Matthew 11:13.

It’s important to read these words, and indeed all those in the New Testament, in light not just of the Old Testament, but of the 400 years of “quietness” that occurred between Malachi, yesterday’s reading, and the Gospels that we begin today.

Make sure you’re aware of this – it’s a long time! 400 years between day 240 and 241!

People would have been expecting a “messiah” of some type for many hundreds of years, and things in the world would have been much different from the days of Nehemiah and Ezra. The Jewish people would have been spread around, different denominations of Judaism would have evolved, and the influence of the Persian, Greek and Roman cultures would have dominated and influences their way of life. I would highly recommend doing some reading about this period of time – it will help you to understand the world that John (and then Jesus) would come and speak into. Perhaps your study bible has an overview which you could check out?