The Bryce Crawford Podcast - Luke Series Chapter 1 (EP 55)

Episode Date: December 1, 2024

In this video, Bryce breaks down Luke 1 Filmed By; Josh Rodriguez @whitehorse.studios MERCH👉 https://www.jesusinthestreet.com subscribe for more! Sow Into My Ministry One-Time or Monthly! Visit 👉 https://www.equipnet.org/missionaries/bcrawford   (all donations are tax deductible) Download Our FREE Bible Plan https://growinfaith.readytoconnect.com/join-the-one-year-bible-challenge  follow me on other platforms! Podcast Instagram 👉https://instagram.com/brycecrawfordpodcast Personal Instagram 👉 https://instagram.com/brycecrawford Merch Instagram 👉 https://instagram.com/ilovejesus Tiktok (main) 👉https://www.tiktok.com/@brycecrawford  Tiktok (2nd) 👉 https://www.tiktok.com/@adventuresofbryce  Snapchat https://snapchat.com/add/brycecraww  Twitter 👉 https://twitter.com/ibrycecrawford #christianity #christian #Jesus #BryceCrawford #christiantiktok #christianvideos #holyspirit #Jesusheals #viral #christianvideo #venicebeach #evangelism

What's going on, guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Bryce Crawford podcast. I'm Bryce. And in today's episode, this is the first of 24 back to back to back podcast episodes for the Luke Christmas Challenge. The whole month of December, we were reading a chapter of Luke every day on the podcast, whether you're watching or listening, first by verse breakdowns. So by Christmas Eve, you will have read the entire book of Luke. It's amazing. And guys, if you go to our ministry website, Jesus in the street. org slash Luke. You can actually download a PDF for free or you can put it in your photos and it's just a calendar with the days and you can check off that you read Luke for yourself and that you watched or listened to the episodes here. But basically what we're going to do is we're going to read

through each chapter of Luke, verse by verse, and we're going to break it down. What's going on in Luke? What's the context? What is happening? We're going to do it before we get into it. Guys, visit Jesus in the street.com to get you some lovely merch and some hoodies

for the holiday season. Now, let's get into it. it. Now, this is beautiful. We need to understand the author of the book of Luke is Luke, okay, and he is a doctor. Now, we're going to find out what exactly, why he's writing it, what is his purpose of, what's going on in Luke, and then we're going to break down the substance of it, okay? So let's read the first couple of verses here. He says, in as much as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed

good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. Okay, so we learned a couple things here. In the first two verses, Luke is mentioning the prided accounts of Jesus Christ, particularly the book of Matthew and the book of Mark, and he's saying, look, the reason I'm writing this book myself, Luke here, he acknowledges that Matthew and Mark have written accounts, but he says, look, I'm about to write the most common. comprehensive gospel that we have on account. I'm going to write from the announcement of John the Baptist,

from the announcement that Elizabeth and Zacharias get from the angel Gabriel, up until Jesus's ascension, he's writing the most comprehensive gospel that we read today. And then we have to understand what's going on in Luke. Luke's gospel is one of the most interesting when it comes to the roles of women, children, and social outcasts concerning people in Jesus. It's one of the most interesting gospels when it comes to prayer. There are seven different references of Jesus and prayer throughout this gospel.

This is also one of the most emphasizing gospels on the Holy Spirit and joy. It has a huge emphasis on preaching the good news as well. It's so interesting in the book of Luke. The term good news referring to the gospel, preaching the gospel, is used 10 times in the book of Luke, where it's only used once in every other gospel. And then that terms also used in the book of Acts like over 15 times. And a lot of people read the book of Luke and then immediately the book of Acts

because they flow right together. I mean, you've got Jesus's ascension and then boom, Acts 1 is such a beautiful flowing of Luke from a gospel to Acts. I think it's beautiful. But we have to understand what we're about to read here when we read Luke. Okay, we're about to read a lot of interesting things about the life of Jesus. Okay, so this is what Luke's saying. He's like, look, I'm writing this to give you a comprehensive gospel to understand the life

of Jesus here is what he says. Now here we go in verse five. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zachariah of the division of Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth, and they were both righteous before God walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in their years. Okay, so we need to understand something here really quick. Context again, this is going to be important to understanding stuff. Zacharize was a priest. Back in this time period, there were about 20,000 priests that existed. Okay. There were a whole lot of priests. So it is they, so the reason that they cast it a lot to find out who would serve on which days is because they had 20,000 priests.

Okay. So we see that in verse 8 says now while he was serving as a priest before God when his division was on duty, verse 9 according to the custom of the priesthood He was chosen by lot to enter the temple Of the Lord and burn incense And the whole multitude of the people Were praying outside of the hour of incense Okay, so there was a lot that casted to find out Who was going to burn the incense? Who was going to do the offering of the Lord?

Because there were literally 20,000 priests that existed, okay? And this lot, if you got chosen to be the person To burn the incense, this was like a maybe Not every priest was promised this this was a once in a lifetime event, okay? So the fact that Zacharias got chosen to burn the incense, this is like the biggest day of Zacharias entire life, is that he gets to stand before the Lord in the presence of the Lord

and offer something to him, okay? Not everyone got to do this. And if we understand here, 20,000 priests, priests have done this before him. There's probably a thing where Zacharias is nervous as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I just have to put myself in his shoes. maybe he asked other priests what happened when you burn the offering.

Maybe he's talking to him and going, hey, what happens when you go in here? What happens when you offer the burnt incense? What's going on? But the fact that he got chosen to offer the burnt incense to the Lord is a big deal. Okay? And here's the thing about the incense. The incense was offered to God on a golden altar every morning and every evening of every day. It was a part of the law of Moses as we read in Exodus and Levit.

And there were three different lots that were casted for this. Okay, the first and second lot were important, but they weren't like the big role. The first lot was cast to see who cleansed the altar and prepped the fire. The second lot was cast to see who would kill the morning sacrifice and sprinkle the altar, golden candlestick, and the altar of incense. But the third lot that was casted, the one that Zacharias won, the important one was the person who offered the incense, one who would actually go before the presence of the Lord. And this was the most privileged duty that anyone could ever get. Again, we need to emphasize this. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a priest in this time period to get to do this for the Lord. So this is important. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. Verse 11. And there appeared to him, an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

And Zachariah was troubled when he saw him and fear fell upon him. All right. We just have to understand here. imagine Zacharias asking other priests what exactly went down when they went before the Lord and offered the burnt incense and then he's praying and he opens his eyes and then there's an angel of the Lord standing before him all right this again isn't normal he's probably like they didn't tell me that this happened this is not common and it says Zachari fear fell upon him all right we have to understand an angel appearing before someone wasn't this like romantic beautiful thing all right this was a supernatural being that no human being is comprehension in their brain to understand that's standing before him. And he's probably freaking out since that fear fell upon him. And just like any other angel has to say to any other human being that comes in contact with him is do not be afraid. He says, do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer has been heard and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son and you shall call his name John.

And we have a lot to learn from this really quick. But let's let me emphasize something really quick. He says, do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer has been heard. anytime a priest would go into offer the burnt incense to the Lord they would often pray for Israel at the time they would often pray for the people of Israel and they would oftentimes have a prayer list but it would be particularly memorized in their brain and Zachariah having this once in a lifetime opportunity is probably thinking about that prayer in his brain that he was wanting to pray for Elizabeth to have a child their they're advanced in years are old and Elizabeth's baron she physically in the physical realm and this earthly realm would be it would be written off you can't have kids so in the back of its mind for zacharize's going in he's probably

thinking oh man this is important to me but because it's a civil duty as a priest he probably thought man this is selfish of me to bring up in the presence of the lord so he's probably only praying on behalf of israel so for the angel gabriel to be like hey yeah the lord's answered your prayer you're going to have a son he's probably a little bit confused because he's in there praying on behalf of israel he says their prayer has been heard and your wife elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth. Man, when I read that and I think about, man, the Lord revealing to Zachariah and saying, hey man, we heard your prayer and the Lord is going to answer your prayer. Like how often do we offer

up prayers to the Lord and we get impatient and we don't get an answer right away and we think as if that God doesn't show his love and care for us anymore because we didn't get an immediate answer. And this is living proof that even though it was a long time of prayer being offered up to the Lord for a child on behalf of Zach Ryan Elizabeth, it shows that he actually does extend his love and care to his children. He cares about the desires on their heart. He cares about the desires on your heart. And so it's easy for us to become complacent and not get an immediate answer from God. But this is living proof that, man, God does care about what we pray for and he will give us an answer here. He says in verse 15, for he will be great before the Lord. He must not drink one.

or strong drink and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. The reference to not drinking wine or strong drink is just in reference to a Nazarite vow that from an early age, that John the Baptist is going to be set apart before people, that he has a duty to prepare the way for the Messiah. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before him in spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just and to make ready for the Lord of prepared people. So again, here we go. He's being consecrated, set apart early. God has

destined a role for John the Baptist, has given him a name before he's even been like conceived. And he says, look, he's got a role for the Messiah. This is going to be powerful. It's going to be amazing. Okay. And he's going to prepare the way. And Zacharias says something crazy here. He says, how shall I know this for I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years? He questions the angel Gabriel, but he questions him out of doubt because he is looking at it from a carnal perspective of saying, man, I'm old in years. My wife's old in years. There's no way we can have a kid. He's looking at it from a carnal mind and he questions God and doubt. And the angel says, I am Gabriel, I stand in the presence of God and I was sent here to speak to you and bring you this good news.

So where Zachariah is feeding his doubt by reminding himself of a carnal perspective, Gabriel reminds him who he is and what authority he stands on. Gabriel says, I'm an angel of the Lord and I stand in the presence of God. I came here on behalf of the Lord to tell you that he's a promise keeper. He's going to answer this. And then he says, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place because you do not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time. So the punishment for Zachariah having disunbelief is the fact that he can't enjoy the promise of God.

Just because Zachariah had unbelief, that doesn't mean that he took away God's promise, because God is a promise keeper. But Zacharias didn't get to enjoy the longevity of anticipating this blessing from God because he gets punished for his unbelief. And this is so crazy in verse 21. It says the people were waiting for Zachariah and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. Because normally the priests going in and out of the temple was clockwork around the same time period. And normally if it took a little bit longer than normal, the people get worried because they thought maybe they messed up in the ritual. God struck them down because they did something incorrect. So they were a little bit worried.

But Zachariah walked out and he was unable to speak to them and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple and he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. So Zacharias came out and the people were relieved and they knew because he was mute that he had some encounter with the Lord in there. But man, what a beautiful comfort to know man. Zacharize didn't die. He didn't mess up. Like in the presence of the Lord, to be struck down out of the ritual. But man, he encountered the Lord and it was beautiful.

Verse 24, after these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months, she kept herself hidden, saying, thus the Lord has done for me in these days when he looked upon me to take away my reproach among the people. So Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist. They walk out in action, what God had told, what God had promised them. They're in a covenant relationship.

Elizabeth conceives John and it says that she hid herself. Now, we need to understand this. Elizabeth didn't hide herself because she was embarrassed of her pregnancy. The phrase she kept herself hidden was saying she hit herself for five months with the Lord. She went to be in secret for the Lord to just bathe and thank the Lord for this blessing and thank the Lord for him being a promise keeper and hearing her prayers. Now in verse 26, we transition into the birth of Jesus being foretold. so the assignment of Gabriel isn't done.

He doesn't just go to Elizabeth and say, see you later. It says in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent to a city named Nazareth, to a virgin named Mary who was betrothed to a man named Joseph. Now, there were three stages of marriage back in that time period. You had engagement. You had betrothment, betrothal. I think you could be saying that wrong. And marriage came betrothal was just a vow of promises that you made exactly a year before marriage.

and Mary is betrothed to Joseph. And here's the thing. It was very shameful in that time period to have sex outside of a covenant marriage. Okay, so this was a very rare thing. So we're about to see something unfold here. And Mary was a virgin. And Gabriel came to her and said,

greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, again, do not be afraid, for you have found a favor with God. and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. Okay? He will be great.

He will be called the son of the most high, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom, and there will be no end. Okay? This is beautiful. When it says that she was greatly troubled at the sight, trying to discern what she was going, and the angel says, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. the angel Gabriel is complimenting Mary for her righteousness and faithfulness to God. She has been chosen because of her righteousness and faithfulness.

And he actually, because Mary is a woman of the word, she recognizes that the angel Gabriel is quoting Isaiah 7. When he says, Behold, you will conceive in your room and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus. So she knows, unmistakingly, what is going down here? This isn't just some normal Jesus. This is the Messiah that they're talking about. She understands this.

And Mary said to the angel, how will this be since I'm a virgin? Now, we need to understand something. Mary asks the very same question that Zacharias asked, but why isn't Mary punished for her question? Zacharias asked out of a heart posture of unbelief. Mary was a woman of the word. She understood what was going on in this conversation with Gabriel. Her question came out of a logical understanding. She goes, how can this be?

because I'm a virgin. She goes, how can I bear a son if I'm not married yet? How does that work? This is a logical question. She's abiding by the law. She's not going to commit adultery. The Lord's not going to tell her to go out of the law that he's set before mankind. So she's asking it out of a logical understanding. How can this happen if I'm not married yet? How is this going to work? This is why she isn't punished. She's thinking well here in honoring the Lord. The angel answered her in verse 35. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you. therefore the child to be born will be called holy the son of God. That term in verse 35 where it says the power of the most high will overshadow you. You see this in Exodus.

It's called the Shikina glory. But it's basically this visible cloud of the presence of God that would hover over a place or hover over someone like Moses to show that, man, this is ordained by God. This is a beautiful thing that is orchestrated by God. And so the angel Gabriel is saying, no, this is a God thing. This is going to happen. And the glory of the Lord will protect you. will be over you, will overshadow you, the child will be born, he will be holy, the son of God.

Jesus Christ will be the son of God. He is the son of God. Verse 36, and behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called Barron. So he's saying, look, I'm going to even take it up a notch. I'm going to show you the proof in the put in here. You're not the only one I've approached. He says, I actually approached Elizabeth, one of your relatives, and you know her. She's not able to have children in the physical realm, but guess what?

God has chosen her to bear a child John the Baptist who's actually going to prepare the way for the Messiah that you're going to bear. And not only that, but he's answered their prayers of wanting a child. Verse 37, for nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word and the angel departed from her. Man, what a beautiful picture here. Verse 39, in those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a town and Judah. She entered the house of Zachariah and greeted Elizabeth. Look, now Mary goes and

visits Elizabeth because she has heard the news. She is having a baby. She's holding Jesus Christ in her belly, but then she also hears that Elizabeth's having John the Baptist. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist could feel the presence of God through the belly of Elizabeth and understood the assignment so much so that because of the Holy Spirit being filled inside of Elizabeth and being filled inside of John the Baptist in the womb, he was able to leap with joy for the assignment that was about to come into the world, which is Jesus Christ. And she gives a blessing. She says, blessed are you among women? Blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. Now, Mary's song of praise, the magnificent. So from verse 46 through 56, you guys can go read it yourself, but Mary sings a song to the Lord. This isn't just any song that she made up. Again, because Mary is a righteous woman, a faithful woman of God, who is a woman of the word. She's actually quoting like 12 different scriptures here when she's singing this song, including a good portion of it from 1st Samuel. And so when we read the scripture, we know, hey, look, Mary is able to be able to

to have this heart posture because she's a woman of the word. But she's releasing a song to the Lord out of praise saying, look, this is coming from my heart. God, I love you. This is beautiful. The Lord is, it's so cool how Mary is able to worship the Lord through song from Scripture. Beautiful. Verse 57 is now the birth of John the Baptist. Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth.

She bore a son and her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord has shown great mercy to her and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they would have called him Zachariah after his father. So normally when children were born, they would name them after the child. But Zacharias and Zacharias and Elizabeth knew that the Lord had already given a name for the baby, John. So they had to go with it. But his mother answered, no, he shall be called John. Verse 61, and they said to her, none of your relatives is called by this name. And they made signs to his father inquiring what he wanted him to be called.

That's so funny because they'd treat them. They treated Zacharias as if he was deaf, but he could hear everyone. He was just mute. The Lord silenced his mouth. They're doing sign language, Zacharias, as if he can't hear them. But he can't hear them. He's just mute. The Lord only punished his mouth.

And immediately his mouth was open and his tongue was loose and he spoke to blessing God. And fear came on all the neighbors and all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea. And all who heard them laid up in their heart saying, what then will this child be for the hand of the Lord was with him? So just like Gabriel promised, his tongue was released once the child was born. And now we're about to watch Zachariah close out Luke chapter 1 here with a prophecy. Now that his tongue was released, it says that Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit in verse 67. And he says, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.

And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant, David. as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our Father Abraham to grant us that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear. And holiness and in righteousness before him all of our days, and you child will be called the prophet of the most high,

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people, and forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in the darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet in the way of peace. And the child grew and became strong of spirit

and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. Now what's happening in the Zach Rye's prophecy? He's just prophesying exactly what Jesus Christ is about to be. Jesus Christ, look, let's substitute him in these verses. Jesus Christ has visited and redeemed his people. He's going to do that. Jesus Christ is the horn of salvation for us.

Jesus Christ is going to show mercy promised to our fathers. He's going to remember the covenant with the Father. He's going to deliver them from the hand of their enemies so that they can serve him without fear. Jesus Christ is going to give knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness of their sins. Jesus Christ is the tender mercy of our God. Jesus Christ is going to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide their feet in the way of peace.

And then verse 80 closes out saying that John the Baptist grew up, he became strong and spirit just like the angel Gabriel promised, and he was in the wilderness until it was his time to prepare the way for the Lord. Man, what a beautiful scene to understand the context of Luke chapter 1. We understand what Luke's about, why he's riding. We understand the context of who John the Baptist is, where he came from, the history of his family, the history of Mary and Joseph, what that encounter looked like with Mary, the difference between questioning God out of unbelief and questioning God out of trusting him through logical understanding as we see with Mary. And now we're about to enter into a whole new storyline in Luke

chapter 2 and watch the story of Jesus Christ unfold, watch this ministry unfold and the covenant of God come until a full circle moment and into full picture. Guys, thank you so much for listening and watching the first episode of the Luke series. I pray that the series blesses you all month. Like, subscribe. Follow us on all platforms, Bryce Crawford podcast, and I'll see you guys tomorrow

for tomorrow's episode of Luke chapter two.