Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, …
Summary: Telling a story is an art form. Telling a truth in story form is a different kind of art. God, the ultimate Author, can do both.
Continue reading “Galatians 2:1a – The Key”Galatians 1:21 – Timelines
Then I went to Syria and Cilicia.
Summary: The story Paul tells about his travels sounds different than the story Luke tells us about Paul. When we consider how people tell stories, the differences disappear, and a more detailed picture emerges.
Continue reading “Galatians 1:21 – Timelines”Without Fear
In verses 69-71 (“Horn of Salvation”) we looked at the difference between how the Israelites viewed their enemies and who God sees as the real “enemy.” In this passage, Zechariah returns to that same theme but here he explains the reason why this is important.
…the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
Luke 1: 73-75
To serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness is a picture of great beauty.
Continue reading “Without Fear”Ancestry
When Zechariah regains his voice he bursts out in praise for God and prophesies by the Holy Spirit (v67). Referring to Jesus, he explains what God has done and how He, God/Messiah, has come to redeem his people. He then tells us that God has come …
to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant…
Luke 1: 72
The ancestors Zechariah refers to are probably not those who are still living, but the dead.
This is an important point because one of the questions I hear asked now and then is, “What about those people who were alive and then died before Jesus came?”
Continue reading “Ancestry”The Hand of God
When John the Baptist was born nobody would know about the “Baptist” part for almost 30 years. What people did know was that something amazing was happening. Zechariah had seen a vision in the temple and had become mute, unable to argue with anyone let alone The Messenger from God. Then Elizabeth, a woman well past the age of childbearing became pregnant. For nine long months, Zechariah was unable to say anything until the time came to name the baby.
Luke 1: 65-66
” All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?’ For the Lord’s hand was with him.”
If you were God and you wanted to prepare your chosen people for a major event, what better way than to be silent for two hundred years or more? No prophets, no word from God until without warning God’s Messenger Angel, Gabriel, appears to Zechariah and then to Mary herself. Two women become pregnant within six months of each other, both by miraculous means. In a world where people love to talk about what happens to others, suddenly there was much to talk about!
Continue reading “The Hand of God”