Tag: prepare a people for the Lord
Preparing a way for the Lord!
Scripture reading for March 13th: Luke 1:1-25, Psalm 56:1-13, Proverbs 11:8
Luke was a Greek doctor who became a follower of Jesus Christ. He wrote a detailed account of the life of Jesus that we now know as the Gospel of Luke. He followed this with Acts, a history of the early church from Pentecost through the spread of the Gospel to Rome by the Apostle Paul. Luke’s theme in his Gospel is that Jesus is the Son of Man. (Luke 3:23-37) Luke also emphasizes prayer. Let’s begin our journey through Luke by looking again at the life of John the Baptist.
Luke begins his account with the supernatural announcement of a coming pregnancy and birth to a couple who had been barren but prayed for a child. Zechariah was a Levite who served in the temple and his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. They had served faithfully and were getting older. Zechariah was chosen by lot to go and offer incense before the Lord in the Holy Place at the Altar of Incense. As he was performing this duty, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and spoke. “Do not be afraid, Zechariah: you prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and a 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, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many people of Israel will he bring back 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 fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous–to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
John was the child’s name and he was to be set apart for the Lord as a Nazarite. He would be filled with the Holy Spirit and turn many back to the Lord. He would go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah the prophet. His would be a ministry of preparation for the coming Lord. This preparation would bring restoration of families and repentance of the people. Repentance prepares the way for Christ’s grace and rule!