21 Feb 2024
We noted that Luke wrote the gospel to help the hearers to have certainty of the gospel (God’s salvation plan) and to affirm the credibility of God’s salvation plan. In that light, we need to look at the first chapter (which includes the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of the Messiah) as the fulfilment of God’s prophecies through his prophets of old and the assurance of our future hope in Christ.
The coming of one who will make straight the way for the Lord (referring to John the baptist) was prophesied as far back as in Isaiah (40:3) and Malachi (4:5). The promise of the Messiah (God’s Servant) was also prophesied in Isaiah 42 and 53 (the famous chapter).
The Magnificat by Mary, the prophecy by Zechariah and the prayer of Simeon not only affirm God’s faithfulness in bringing forth the birth of the Messiah but they also look forward to his mission at the Cross, as well as the hope of the future for God’s people.
Overall, what comes through in the gospel of Luke in the first chapter is the faithfulness of God and the fulfilment of his promises (God does not lie) and the upholding of his integrity.
Our desire for instant action in response to our prayers to God reflects the limitation and smallness of our view of things compared with God’s. God fixes his time for doing what he has promised (and what his people look to him to do) in light of long-term purposes of goodness and wisdom involving far more than we can ever be aware of (hence the sovereignty of God and the transcendence of God need to be affirmed, as well as the ‘mystery’ of God’s will, not so much that it is untrue but because of our limitations as finite beings to understand).
The principle that Bible believers must grasp is that it is God’s prerogative to do what he promises in what he knows to be the best and wisest way, at what he knows to be at the best and wisest time. Seeing this will help us to develop the patience and settled trust that God desires to shape in us, and will stabilise our hope when our hearts move us to pray. “Lord, how long?”
Take note that the prophecies in the OT regarding John the baptist and the Messiah were made hundreds of years before; and after Malachi, there was silence for some 400 years before we read of the appearance of the Messiah, heralded by the arrival of John the baptist first.
As shared before, the ‘seed was sown’ way back in Genesis, ‘the sprouting’ took place with the arrival of John, and the Son of God, in his incarnation, and the ‘fruitful tree would appear ultimately in the eternal future.
The church is now in the context when she is waiting for the parousia and the ultimate fulfilment of God’s salvation plan. We must continue to keep on living the life of faith as a matter of living and dying in the strength which God’s promises give, and we must not abandon the firm foundation of the divine promises for the yawning abyss of a foggy uncertainty. In Hebrews 11, the saints of old looked for the eternal city and the eternal hope with many not having the experience of seeing them fulfilled; yet they pressed on by faith.
Their example is for us to emulate as we, in our present context, continue to trust in God, in his faithfulness, sovereignty, love and mercy; and this is also what Mary, Zecharias, Simeon and the early disciples left behind for us to follow firmly, for our God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
One of the difficulties with promises is waiting. As God is outside of time and space, his promises may not be fulfilled in the time frame of those who first received these promises; yet this does not mean that God is unfaithful and not true to His Word and promises. The Lord God would fulfil his promises and he would steadfastly keep his covenants.