Introducing the Gospel

GOLDEN TEXT: “When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the Law.” —Galatians 4:4

LUKE 1:1-4; 3:1-6

LUKE, the writer of the third Gospel, was not one of the twelve apostles. Historians are not even sure that he was a Jew. His Gospel is addressed to the “most excellent Theophilus.” The identity of this man is uncertain, but the general opinion is that he was a Gentile of considerable importance, possibly living in Rome, who had become a Christian. Luke is referred to as the “beloved physician,” so he was evidently a man with some medical knowledge.

But regardless of how much we may or may not know about Luke, his Gospel is a rich contribution of information concerning Jesus and his teachings. Whether or not he was an eyewitness of any of the events in Jesus’ life concerning which he writes is uncertain. He did spend considerable time with the Apostle Paul, and this was bound to enrich his knowledge and appreciation of Jesus and the place he occupies in the divine plan of salvation. He would understand, for example, the full depth of meaning contained in our Golden Text. Luke recorded truths which were the inspiration of his life.

While the birth of Jesus is ordinarily celebrated in December, actually early October is nearer the correct date. Jesus did not begin his ministry as the promised Messiah until he was thirty years of age. (Luke 3:23) Six months before this John the Baptist began a reform work in Israel in preparation for the Messiah. Luke says concerning John that “he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”—ch. 3:3

Luke identifies John’s ministry as the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3-5. We are not to understand, however, that the ministry of John the Baptist was a complete fulfillment of this prophecy, although it did mark the beginning of its fulfillment. John’s message was indeed as “the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”—Isa. 40:3

John did his part faithfully, and while there was some response, it was not general enough to fulfill the next verse of Isaiah’s prophecy, which reads, “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.”

The attempt of John the Baptist to reform Israel, and thus prepare the nation to accept the Messiah, is forecast in Malachi 4:5,6. Here he is referred to as the “Elijah” whom the Lord would send “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” His work was to be the turning of the hearts of the “fathers” to the “children,” and the hearts of the “children” to the “fathers.” Broadly speaking, this was to be a work of reformation.

However, the possibility of the failure to reform Israel is suggested in this prophecy by the expression, “Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” John’s mission did fail, and the foretold “curse” came upon Israel in A.D. 70-73, destroying the nation and scattering the people.

Jesus said to his disciples that if they could receive it, John the Baptist was the foretold Elijah. (Matt. 11:14; 17:12) John himself denied that he was the Elijah, but this was evidently a matter of humility on his part, and a recognition of the fact that there was little likelihood that he would accomplish what had been foretold concerning the Elijah.

We understand that the Elijah work continued to be carried on by Jesus, and later by his followers. The call to repentance his gone out to the world throughout the entire Gospel age, but the world has not been reformed, even as Israel was not reformed by the ministry of John the Baptist. For this reason the alternative fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy is now upon the nations. They are being cursed by what Jesus described as a time of “great tribulation.”

It will be through the kingdom agencies that the leveling work in human society, symbolically described in Isaiah’s prophecy as the exalting of the valleys and the making low of the mountains will be accomplished. It will be then that the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. Yes, then the knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth “as the waters cover the sea.”

While this glorious objective of the divine plan was not accomplished in the days of John the Baptist, the Christ, whom it was his privilege to announce, will yet bring it about. John was right in his declaration that earth’s new King had appeared.

QUESTIONS

Who was Luke, and who was Theophilus to whom he addressed his Gospel?

Did John the Baptist accomplish all that is prophesied in Isaiah 40:3-5?

Explain Malachi 4:5,6, as related to John the Baptist.

When will all flesh see the glory of God?

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