Unless otherwise noted all Bible quotations are from the World English Bible translation with our own renderings given in brackets.

Luke 1:5-17

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the priestly division of Abijah. He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of Yahweh. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years. Now it happened, while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to enter into the temple of Yahweh and burn incense. The whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. An angel of Yahweh appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, "Don't be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. You will have joy and gladness; and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of Yahweh, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. He will turn many of the children of Israel to Yahweh, their God. 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 a people prepared for Yahweh." -- World English Bible Translation (Divine name "Yahweh" supplied by us at appropriate places)

(1) IN considering this familiar narrative we are reminded of Yahweh's great care in preparing his chosen instruments for the various parts of his great work. Abraham's life was a long discipline of faith and patience; for he was to be the father of the faithful, a type of the fatherhood of God, and a worthy example to all his children, both those under the Law and those under the new covenant of grace. -- Romans 4:11-17.

(2) Moses was specially prepared to be a leader, lawgiver and judge to Israel. Born under the humiliating conditions of bondage and the imperial sentence of death, he was providentially protected, preserved and adopted into the royal family, where he received a measure of that education necessary for his future service; and after that he had forty years more in the retirement of domestic life, which, under the operations of divine grace, hardened his virtues and mellowed the ardor of his temperament. (See Exodus 1-3) Thus God gave to Israel a trained and experienced character as a leader. Similarly, suitable preparation for the positions they were to occupy or the work they were to do is very noticeable in other cases, both of Bible record and of subsequent history. Mark the case of Samuel, a child of prayer, devoted to Yahweh from his infancy, and trained in the service of Yahweh under the care of Eli; and of Paul, called from his infancy, instructed in the law, and zealous toward God even while ignorantly persecuting the saints, verily thinking he did God service. -- See 1 Samuel 1-3; Acts 8,9.

(3) John the Baptist was another illustration. The preparations in this, as in most of these cases, began before he was born, in the hearts of his parents, -- "They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of Yahweh." (Luke 1:6) Consider also subsequent reformers known to all through the pages of history, and mark the providential leadings in their preparation for their work long before they could have any knowledge of the work that was before them. Consider also how Yahweh has been preparing the Gospel Church for its Millennial work; and how he prepared the faithful one of old for their Millennial work in the earthly phase of the coming Kingdom; and so on through all the list of his chosen vessels. (Acts 9:15) The chosen vessel is always a prepared vessel for the service intended; and that the preparation is of God, and not of himself, is manifest from the fact that in every case it began long before the chosen one knew of the ends to be accomplished or the significance of the providential circumstances or the measures of discipline.

(4) The principal preparation which God requires for every part of his honorable service is holiness of heart -- devotedness to God and to his righteousness and truth, and abhorrence of all that is unholy, unclean. "Be clean, you who bear the vessels of [Yahweh]." (Isaiah 52:11, New King James) There are, however, some parts of Yahweh's service which reflect no honor upon those engaged in it, though they do reflect honor upon the wisdom and power of God who is able to make even the wrath of his enemies to praise him, by his power to out-general and overrule their evil for good to his cause. For instance, Satan, and every other evil worker, whose evil devices are, by divine power, overruled for good of God, unwittingly serve some of the purposes of God -- sometimes for the discipline of the children of God and sometimes for the revolutionizing of affairs in the world.

(5) The prenatal influences upon John the Baptist were such that, from his birth, his heart was inclined toward God and holiness (Luke 1:15); and the training and discipline of his life were such that at maturity he was ready for the work of introducing to Israel the long-promised Messiah. Of him it was foretold, "He shall be great in the sight of [Yahweh]." Yes, he was a great man, a great preacher and a great prophet. Jesus said he was the greatest of all the prophets. (Matthew 11:11.) But he was not great in the eyes of men. He was never a guest at the palace of Herod, but he was a prisoner in his prisons. He was not an esteemed orator in the Jewish synagogues, but he was 'a voice crying in the wilderness.' (Luke 3:2) He was not arrayed in purple and fine linen, nor did he fare sumptuously every day, but his raiment was of camel's hair and a leathern girdle, and his meat was locusts and wild honey. And though, for a time, the multitudes were attracted by his preaching, he was soon abandoned by the people, imprisoned by the king, and finally beheaded in prison.

(6) And yet John was truly a great man; for he was "great in the sight of [Yahweh]." He was great in the sense that he who rules his own spirit according to the principles and precepts of the divine Word is greater than he who takes a city. (Proverbs 16:32.) All the natural aspirations and human ambitions were made subservient to his one mission of introducing his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth, a man of humble birth and circumstances, as the Messiah, to whom he knew the gathering of the people would be after he had accomplished his mission of introducing him. (Genesis 49:10.) But John was pleased to have it so, and declared that in performing this service for his cousin according to the flesh, and thus accomplishing his part in the divine purpose and prophecy, his joy was fulfilled. (John 3:29.) And, by the eye of faith discerning in the humble Nazarene the Son of God, he said to the people, "He comes that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen." "See, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" "He must increase, but I must decrease."-- Luke 3:16; John 1:29; 3:30.

(7) It was this meekness, this complete self-abnegation and singleness of purpose to accomplish the righteous will of God, that constituted the moral greatness of John. And because he was in that attitude of heart where Yahweh could use him he was privileged to be the greatest, the most highly honored, of all the prophets, in that he was chosen to introduce, to Israel and the world, the Anointed Son of God, the Redeemer and future King of the whole earth. (Luke 7:28) Thus he became a great man, a great preacher of righteousness and truth, the greatest of all the prophets, and one of the heirs of the princely phase of the Kingdom of God. -- Psalm 45:17.

(8) What a profitable lesson is in this for all who would seek true greatness in the Kingdom -- to be "great in the sight of Yahweh." It calls to mind that wise admonition of the apostle: "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." (1 Peter 5:6.) The way of the self-denial, the way of humiliation and self-abasement, is the way to the exaltation, to that true honor that comes from God only. Where now is the honor of the great ones of earth who have passed away -- the Caesars, the Herods, the Alexanders and Napoleons; the Jewish scribes and Pharisees and doctors of the law and Rabbis? and where all the reverend Popes and Cardinals and Bishops and Priests of the great Apostasy who proudly flourished in their day? They have all come to naught, and in the Millennial judgment they, like those of proud Jerusalem, will come forth to shame and confusion of face, stripped of all their honors. (Ezekiel 16:52,59) But those truly great ones -- "great in the sight of Yahweh" -- are reserved for honor and glory and power at the appearing and Kingdom of Jesus Christ. -- 1 Peter 1:7; Romans 2:10; John 12:25,26.

(9) Let the lesson come home to each of our hearts,-- "But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and whoever shall humble himself shall be exalted." (Matthew 23:11) "But he that is the greater among you, let him become as the lesser, and he that is governing, as he that serves." (Luke 22:26) Patiently submit to the humbling now, and hopefully and joyfully wait for the glory to be revealed by and by in all the faithful. This is not the time nor place for rewards, but for discipline and service, for the development of character, for making ready for the future exaltation, that our sacrifices may be acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. -- 1 Peter 2:4.

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Based on ZWT, January 1, 1896, R1915 : page 10

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