Luke 1:57-80 Cameron Jungels 12-23-2012

Luke 1:57-80 “The Mercies of God”

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷ When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. ⁵⁹ On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, ⁶⁰ but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” ⁶¹ They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” ⁶² Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. ⁶³ He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” ⁶⁴ Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. ⁶⁵ All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. ⁶⁶ Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

Zechariah’s Song

⁶⁷ His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

⁶⁸ “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. ⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn^[a] of salvation for us in the house of his servant David ⁷⁰ (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), ⁷¹ salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us— ⁷² to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, ⁷³ the oath he swore to our father Abraham: ⁷⁴ to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear ⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

⁷⁶ And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, ⁷⁷ to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, ⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven ⁷⁹ to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

⁸⁰ And the child grew and became strong in spirit^[b]; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

God is abundant in mercy.

1. God demonstrates his mercy in his own time.

· Luke 1:57

· Luke 1:20

· Luke 1:64

· Luke 1:68-70

2. God demonstrates his mercy in faithfulness to his promises.

· 2 Samuel 7:10-13

· Isaiah 9:6-7

· Luke 1:68-71

· Genesis 12:1-3

· Luke 1:72-75

3. God demonstrates his mercy to those who desperately need it.

· Luke 1:79

· Malachi 4:2

4. God demonstrates his mercy through his Son, Jesus the Messiah.

· Luke 1:76-79

· Galatians 4:4-5

God is abundant in mercy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cameron Jungels Eastside Baptist Church December 23 2012 Sunday PM Unless otherwise noted, the verses are in NIV.