SPIRITUAL TECTONIC PLATES!

While sitting in my Sunday School class this morning studying the first chapter of Luke, I had a train of thoughts that rattled my thinking.

The period of the Old Testament prophets ran from approximately 930 – 500 B.C. The Old Testament closes a little over four hundred years before Christ (about 425 BC) with the Jewish people being partially restored to their land, and living under the dominion of the Persian Empire.

Then came four hundred years of silence. During these years, Israel was under the dominion of Persia, Greece, and Rome.  Alexander the Great insisted on Greek as a common language.  Consequently, our New Testament was written in Greek!  The world largely enjoyed a period of peace as the Romans ruled a massive empire from 27 B.C. until 180 A.D. A worldwide system of roads and transportation built by the Romans allowed efficient travel for military, trade, and the populace – including eventually missionaries like Paul, Barnabas, Luke and others.

But spiritually, not much happened and no canonical writings emerged. 

But suddenly, as B.C. was about to be restarted as A.D. the spiritual tectonic plates seemed to begin to shift!

This change was demonstrated in a number of ways:

·         Some scholars – who were especially attuned to the movement of the heavenly bodies – noticed things happening in the eastern sky that indicated to them that a new king was about to be born in the east.  Curious, and driven by God, they embarked on a long and arduous journey from Persia to Bethlehem.

·         A small town priest named Zacharias was drafted to perform a priestly service.  While he was in the Temple doing so, an angel appeared to him to report that his prayer had been heard and his aged wife would become pregnant and bear him a very special son, and he was to name him John.   

·         Shortly after this, an angel appeared to a young woman from Nazareth, named Mary.  He announced that she would soon become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit and she would eventually bear the Son of God. 

·         Mary immediately travelled to visit her family – Zacharias and Elizabeth - in the hill country of Galilee.  When she arrived, Elizabeth also broke out in a prophetic-like utterance.  She was divinely enabled to know that Mary was pregnant with the Messiah and honored her [Luke 1:42-45]! 

·         Although it is often undervalued, Mary uttered prophetic words that are still considered sacred many years later.  We know her statement as the Magnificat [Luke 1:46-56].

·         Shortly after, Elizabeth gave birth to John.  The Holy Spirit touched Zacharias and he burst forth in an ecstatic utterance with prophetic significance [Luke 1:67-79]!

·         Sometime following, Mary’s husband-to-be, Joseph, also received a visit from an angel who informed him that Mary’s pregnancy was of God and that he should go ahead and take her as his wife!  That angel reappeared to Joseph numerous times over the years to guide him and protect the young child!

·         About two years after Jesus’ birth, the Persian wise men arrived in Bethlehem and visited the young child and His parents.  They bestowed on the young family extravagant gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Then, they were warned in a dream to avoid returning to Herod to report what they had seen and where!

Not much would happen for the next couple of decades while John and Jesus grew up and matured.

However, John – who became known as a fiery wilderness preacher – began to proclaim the coming of the Messiah! His message: “I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” [Mark 1:8].

Then – finally – Mark 1:9,14 records that “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan…Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”

To complete our train of thought, we must acknowledge that the three years of Jesus’ public ministry were marked by a massive wave of spiritual activity.  Some was directed through demons and spiritual oppression.  The rest was orchestrated through the political and religious structures of that day! 

THERE WAS NO MORE SILENCE!