Ep. 252 Luke 1 | Zechariah and an Angel

EPISODE 252

ZECHARIAH AND AN ANGEL: LUKE 1

I find it amazing that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. Almost as incredible is that both of his parents were filled with the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, or before the ascension of Christ for that matter, the Holy Spirit was often said to be "on" people. Very seldom, before the book of Acts, was the Spirit said to be "in" someone. Consider how in 1 Samuel 16, we see that God removed his Spirit from King Saul and put it "on" David. Consider again that when David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed, he later wrote in the fifty-first Psalm, "Take not your Holy Spirit from me." We know that the prophets of the Old Testament wrote by the power of the Holy Spirit and even inquired of "the Spirit within them" as to when the times of the Messiah would come. (1 Peter 1:10-11) The Holy Spirit even came upon Samson in strength to bring about deliverance from the Philistines. The Spirit led and instructed Simeon when he beheld the infant Jesus. But it would only be in the book of Acts that the Spirit was given as a seal to every believer. We do not need to fear the departure of the Spirit from our lives as David did.

It is just incredibly beautiful that not only John the Baptist, but also his parents, were filled with the Holy Spirit before the coming of the Savior.

Paul, though set apart for the work of the Gospel from his mother's womb, would not receive the Spirit of God until that fateful day in Damascus, three days after being confronted by Jesus on the road. Peter, when void of the Spirit, denied knowing Christ, but when filled with the Spirit, he was also filled with boldness.

You and I have been given the Spirit as our teacher of all truth. He is our seal and guarantee of our salvation. He gives us gifts according to his pleasure. He transforms us from glory to glory into the likeness of Christ, and he can't be taken from us.

When you read this first chapter of Luke, I hope you will always be a little bit awestruck by the faith and faithfulness of this tiny Jewish family filled with the Holy Spirit. We know that anyone who has the Spirit belongs to Christ.

ADDITIONAL READINGS: Malachi 4:5-6; 2 Samuel 7:11-13; Isaiah 9:6-7; Daniel 7:13-14; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; Psalm 22:9; Galatians 1:15; Jeremiah 1:5; Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3-5; Isaiah 9:2