Called to Announce Christ’s Advent – Luke 1:13–17

In light of the Christmas season, our text for today comes from the birth announcement about John the Baptist or Baptizer—John the Forerunner of Jesus. My aim from God’s word this morning is to show you that you are more like John the Baptist than you might think. And I want to challenge you from it to carefully consider your calling in Christ.

Let me read for us the immediate context leading up to the specific phrase which has inspired our biblical exposition for today.

Luke 1:13–17 ESV

¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷ and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

“Make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:17c)

There can be no question that John the Baptist was in many ways a very unique character whom God raised up for a unique purpose. And I don’t mean because his fashion was camels hair and a leather belt, and his food locusts and wild honey. John is more substantially unique than these details of his prophet-in-the-wilderness vibe.

After 400 years of prophetic silence with no new revelation from God to his people, God raises up John as a voice to stand at the conclusion of the old covenant, proclaiming God’s promises coming to fruition and fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. If the former covenants and types and prophets formed a progressive spear pointing to Christ, then John was the sharpened tip of that spear.

John was indeed a unique figure in God’s plan. But Christian, I hope to help you consider this Christmas season that your calling is more like that of John the baptizer than you may realize.

Our goal from God’s word this morning is that we should…

Be spurred in your spiritual calling by continuity with the forerunner.

Christian, your spiritual calling is similar to John’s in miraculous conception, mission, message, and method.

Miraculous Conception

When we talk about miraculous conception in the nativity narrative, our minds rightly go first to the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit conceived in Mary, a virgin, the Son of God in human flesh. But John’s conception was a miraculous intervention from God, like when God gave a son, Isaac, to Abraham and Sarah in their older age.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were barren and beyond child-bearing years. Luke 1:7 “But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.” And yet Zechariah (and no doubt Elizabeth too) had most likely been praying for a child for many years. We learn this from the angel’s words, “your prayer has been heard.” (Lk 1:13)

This encounter with the angel Gabriel took place when Zechariah, a priest, was uniquely chosen by lot to burn incense before the Lord in the holy place of the temple. (Lk 1:8-9) Now as the story unfolds, our attention is further drawn to the miraculousness of this conception because of Zechariah’s doubt that this was possible in their old age. The sign Gabriel gives him, tinged with both discipline and irony, is that he will be unable to speak until the child is born—this child who fulfills the promise of a prophetic voice crying in the wilderness to make a straight path for the coming of the Lord.

Now God did exactly as he promised through his angelic messenger. Elizabeth conceived, but Zechariah was mute during her pregnancy. When the child had been born, and the time came to name him on the 8th day, the other people around would have named him Zechariah after this father. But Zechariah and Elizabeth insisted that his name was John, according to what was commanded them. The name John means “Jehovah has shown grace,” a title appropriate for this time and situation.

When Zechariah had written confirmation of John’s name on a tablet, immediately his tongue was loosed and he spoke, blessing God. (Luke 1:54-66) Not only that, but he prophesied about the fulfillment that was coming in Christ, and about John’s role in going before the Lord to prepare his way. (Lk 1:67-80)

There can be no doubt that the events surrounding John’s conception and birth were miraculous, which were preparatory for the still greater miracle of the incarnation of God the Son. So too, it is quite unique that the angel told Zechariah of John that “he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.” (Lk 1:15)

So let me compare these two miracles from John’s conception to our own experience of salvation: the work of God to give us spiritual life by His Spirit, and to indwell us by His Spirit.

The New Testament teaches that we are miraculously granted a spiritual birth by the gracious will of God, a work of His Holy Spirit. This point is made clear even in the incarnation narrative, which we see in John’s gospel.

Keep your finger in Luke 1, but let’s look briefly at this text in John 1:11-13. In the very context that references John as the forerunner (vv. 6-8, & v. 15), bearing witness to the light, but not himself being the light, the apostle and gospel writer says this about those who receive the Messiah as God’s light.

John 1:11–13 ESV

¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

If we are seeing Jesus as the true light, then we have been spiritually reborn, not by man’s will, but of God’s will. This passage indicates both our responsibility to receive him, coupled with God’s will to give us new birth. Such a tension we cannot erase from God’s word. God does not save us against our wills, but rather throughour will.

Jesus taught Nicodemus that he would have to be born of the Spirit (John 3:1-8), which was not something even the great teacher of the Pharisees could conjure up by the effort of his flesh. Just so, I believe the NT teaches that my will is contrary to God apart from the Spirit’s regenerative work (Rom 8:7, Gal 5:17). But God in his grace makes me alive that I may see him rightly and thereby covenant myself to him, which is truly a miraculous gift of God’s grace.

Also similar to the conception of John the forerunner, Jesus teaches that the same Spirit who regenerates us by faith remains to indwell us. The Lord comforted his disciples with this truth in the upper room discourse to prepare them for his death, resurrection, and departure. In John 14:17 he says that those who are his do receive and know the Spirit of truth. “You know him, for dwells with you and will be in you.” The NT confirms that this applies not just to the apostles but to all of Christ’s true disciples as well.

Like John’s miraculous conception, it is by God’s intervention that we have responded and become a willing part of God’s people being prepared as Christ’s Bride. And like John, we are empowered by God for ministry by the presence of God’s own Spirit.

Now, from the text that we read at the outset, this one who was miraculously conceived and imbued with the Holy Spirit from the womb, was further given a clear mission even before he was born. And as we will see, for us to be in Christ is to necessarily be caught up in a mission that is actually quite similar to John’s.

Mission

John’s mission was to be a witness, “to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

All four gospels draw attention to John’s fulfillment of a prophecy from Isaiah 40:3. The three synoptic gospels—Matthew, Mark, & Luke—each confirm this at the outset of John’s public ministry. Mark essentially begins his gospel this way, with the preparatory ministry of John. He quotes from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 to set up John’s mission and ministry. [Mark 1:2b-3]

Mark 1:2–3 ESV

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ”

To the children of Israel, with centuries of messianic expectation, this text conjured up the mental picture of calling people to do the hard work to prepare a nice, level road, appropriate to receive a coming king. John’s mission was to spiritually prepare some in Israel to receive their long-awaited Messiah.

John himself was aware that he was fulfilling this prophecy. When he had already begun ministering in the wilderness and baptizing people in the Jordan River, the Pharisees sent priests and Levites out to John to question him about how and why he was calling people to repentance and baptizing them. When pressed about his identity, here was his answer.

John 1:20 ESV

²⁰ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

John would not even elevate himself to say that he was Elijah or another prophet… even though, as we read in the angelic message to Zechariah, God did send John in the spirit and power of Elijah. And Christ would later confirm this.

Finally, though, when they pressed him further, John did say this:

John 1:23 ESV

²³ He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

The forerunner knew with clarity that his mission was to be a witness about the coming Christ, “to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

Your mission, which you have already accepted when you became a disciple of Jesus, is to testify that Christ has come and is coming again: “to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” Chosen by God, we are witnesses “to make ready for the the Lord a people prepared,” only now we are preparing people for his second advent, when he returns in power and glory.

We know that we cannot possibly do what only the Spirit of God can do to make souls alive in Christ Jesus. John couldn’t ultimately convict people either. All John could do was bear witness. Your calling also is to bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, trusting in the Spirit of God to convict and create spiritual life. 

But how was John accomplishing this mission, and how are we? That leads to more specific discussion of his message and method, and ours.

Message

Matthew summarizes John’s message as essentially, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt 3:2) The first part was a call to recognize sin and false claims of righteousness, and to seek God’s forgiveness. John was telling them that this repentance was essential to prepare for the coming Christ.

Repentance is a turning from sin to God. It is a complete change of our view regarding God and our sin, leading to a change in the way we live. Repentance is therefore a broader mind-change that leads to specific life change. Repentance is a mind change about God and sin that leads to specific life change.

John the forerunner taught this. He warned everyone, but especially the religiously self-righteous who came out to him. “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Mt 3:7-8) Luke records John as even giving specific examples to all, and to tax collectors and soldiers as to how their lives might display true repentance. (Lk 3:10-14)

The point is that repentance must be sincere, and that it must lead to specific change in one’s life. If not, “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Lk 3:9)

Along with this message of repentance, John was explicit that the one coming after him was greater than he and would accomplish something far greater:

Mark 1:7–8 ESV

⁷ And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸ I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

This baptism of the Holy Spirit is what we have already talked about, which is God the Father and the Son sending God the Spirit to indwell those made alive by the Spirit, empowering sanctification in their lives. 

Finally, John pointed specifically to Jesus as this One they were awaiting. John 1:29 records,

John 1:29 ESV

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

It seems clear that God had revealed to John that this Messiah was to be a greater deliverer than most expected him to be. He would rescue from slavery to sin. And referencing him as the Lamb of God meant John also knew (at least in some measure) of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice of his own righteous life for the sin of the world. The sin of the world, where sin is singular, means that Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection is sufficient to pay for all the sins of anyone in humanity who will respond to him as Saving Lord.

Such was John’s message. John preached repentance toward God in preparation for the greater One to come. The kingdom of heaven was indeed at hand. People would need to repent and respond to this Jesus in what he would accomplish.

Our message too remains that people must repent and turn to God, and that it is Jesus who makes this possible. Jesus is the only one who can grant us spiritual life by God the Holy Spirit, and this he accomplished by his saving work in his perfect life, his substitutionary payment at the cross, and through his triumphant resurrection. That is our message.

Lastly for this morning. We are more like John in even his method than we might be inclined to think.

Method

From God’s word, I can think of at least three similarities to John’s method for our calling as Christ’s followers.

First, John was like a method actor. He was always in character. John lived the ascetic lifestyle commanded about him to his father Zechariah, with no wine or strong drink for his whole life. John didn’t just do this for a time, like the normal practice of those who would take a Nazarite. John was obediently set apart of life. Also like a method actor, he literally lived in the wilderness to be the voice crying in the wilderness. He played the part with camel’s hair and a leather belt, not accidentally reminiscent of the prophet Elijah.

The point I’m making is that we also have been called to live a life that is set apart to God. We do not have to become ascetics in the wilderness, but we must be learning to be the distinct people of Jesus. This is what we are studying presently in Romans 6-8 regarding our sanctification, growing in holiness by submission to the work of the Spirit and not the flesh.

Not only was John always in character, but another interesting connection is water baptism. A key to John’s method was baptism as a living illustration of the repentance and cleansing that his hearers were committing themselves to before God.

Now after the cross and resurrection of Christ, baptism symbolizes not only cleansing from sin but it also symbolizes our union with Christ in his death and resurrection. It pictures us dying with Christ to sin and rising again to new life in him. It pictures us being wholly dependent on him for justification and for sanctification. So we now baptize those who are committing themselves to a life of repenting from sin and confessing Jesus as Lord.

John baptized people for repentance, pointing his disciples to Jesus, the Messiah. Our calling is similarly to make disciples of Jesus, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus commands. Perhaps you’ve made this connection before that this is how Matthew concludes his gospel, with a clear commission from Christ, including an important reference to baptism:

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[By the way, we are planning another baptism opportunity for January 11. If you are interested, one of the elders would be glad to talk with you to help you be sure you are ready to take this step of obedience as Christ’s disciple.]

Finally, and similar to the commission we just read, John’s method was to point his followers to follow Jesus. John 1:36-37 records John saying again “Behold the Lamb of God” to two of his disciples, who then immediately left to follow Jesus. Our method too is not to get people to follow us, but to follow Jesus.

What’s more, when there was any notion from John’s followers of competition because so many were going to Jesus, John said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Actually, listen to the picture he gives that leads up to this statement.

John 3:29–30 ESV

²⁹ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. ³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John compares Jesus to the bridegroom, and himself as the friend—the best man. John’s joy was in seeing others honor and celebrate the bridegroom.

Oh, that such would be our method as well: He must increase, but I must decrease. And in doing so we will realize such great joy! 

My prayer today then is that each one of us here will be like John the Baptist and…

Heed this call and calling: “Make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

1. First, you must be sure that you are in Christ and being prepared for his second advent.

As John proclaimed, repent of sin and self and turn to Jesus, the Lamb of God, who alone can take away your sin and restore you to right relationship with God. May we be among those of whom Jesus speaks in Luke 7:28 “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” Be certain that you are among those of Christ’s kingdom, prepared for his return.

2. If we claim to be in Christ, then like John, we must be set apart to God. Be distinct from the world and love God’s people. In these ways it should indeed be obvious when we belong to Christ. Because God has miraculously given you spiritual life in Christ Jesus, know too that you have been given a crystal clear message concerning Christ in order to be a part of his mission to make a people prepared for his coming.
3. Permit me one final application that we didn’t already discuss: As John did, when suffering leads to doubt, seek the Lord with your doubts. When he was imprisoned, John sought confirmation from Jesus about his identity. So too we must continually seek to draw near to the Lord to see us through our difficulties and doubts. Where else would we go? He is our source and solution and solace.

In summary, Christians, let us live to announce Christ’s first advent to prepare a people for his second advent.

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