February 15 2025

Have you ever asked God for something? It is not unusual for people to ask God for things. Zachariah and Elizabeth were no different. They wanted desperately to be parents, but for many years their prayers hadn’t been answered in the way they had hoped. Instead of giving up hope, they continued to pray. In today’s scripture passages, we will see how God answered their prayers and the impact that would have on the world.
 

Here is an example:

Supplies: Writing utensil and paper

God is able to do amazing things with people who are willing to be used by Him. God’s timing requires us to be patient. Zechariah learned a difficult lesson because he didn’t believe what the angel told him and didn’t trust God. Let’s see what other surprises God has in store for us in today’s study.

Read Luke 1:5-7.

5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. 

Read Luke 1:8-17

8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Read Matthew 3:1-6.

1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ”

4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

Read Matthew 3:11-12.

11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Read Matthew 3:13-15.

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

Read Matthew 3:16-17.

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

You are standing on the bank of the river watching John baptize Jesus. Out of nowhere, you hear the voice stating, “This is my Son whom I love.” 

Today’s lesson is about the miraculous birth of John the Baptist and his baptizing of Jesus. Both of these incidents played an incredibly beautiful part in the story of redemption.

If some of your students have spent time with their drawings during the lesson, ask them to show them to the group and have them share the meaning of their work.

Over the next few days look at a couple of the following texts:

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. –Psalm 52:8

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. –Romans 8:28

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. –Galatians 2:20

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. –Ephesians 2:4-5

Luke 1:5-23
Matthew 3:1-17

LEADER’S NOTE

For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.

You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.

Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.

Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.

Jesus had been born; the Messiah had come! Even though this momentous event had come to pass, most of Israel remained clueless that their chance of salvation was already living in their midst. Only a few including the shepherds, wise men, Simeon, and Anna knew that the tiny baby living with a poor family was the Savior of the world. Jesus spent His growing up years living an inconspicuous life in Nazareth, but the time for the beginning of His mission was drawing near.

Jesus had remained sinless and continued to do so. Through all the temptations of childhood and His teenage years, He conquered sin. This was necessary to remain the blameless lamb, to connect us back to the Father. He was ready to begin His time of ministry. A special messenger had also been born to announce Him, and Jesus was about to meet him. John had been preparing the way for Jesus’ ministry and now he would begin it by baptizing the Son of God in the Jordan River.

How many kids are in your family?

Read Luke 1:5-23.

5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Read Matthew 3:1-17.

1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” 

4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

John the Baptist was a miracle baby. Not only because of the situation he was born into, but because of his mission. His purpose was to prepare the way for the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Israelites had wandered so far from God and His commandments and needed a little reminder and a little push to remember who they were—to remember that they were God’s children. John was the perfect fit for the job. He was a strong speaker and had no fear when it came to speaking out against the corrupt religious leaders and the terrible King Herod. He brought back hundreds of people to the way of the Lord. He baptized hundreds in the Jordan, including Jesus. He was doing his job very well, but his life would come to a sad end.

The births of both Jesus and John were very obviously miracles. The rest of Jesus’ life would be filled with miracles as well. We don’t often see miracles quite like that nowadays, but nonetheless, there are still little miracles going on around us all the time.

Many of us go to public schools or at least have friends who aren’t religious. While it probably isn’t the best idea to call them a brood of snakes, we can help prepare their hearts. Our words and actions speak volumes about who we are. One simple action can tell a person that we are a follower of Jesus. A kind word, an encouraging word, or a word that quiets anger can minister to anyone.

The Thriving Ministry Leader
By James L. Black, Sr.

Knowing how to get off to the best start and maintain success in all areas of ministry should never be kept a secret. In this guide, Pastor JB covers issues from A to Z as he makes himself vulnerable and transparent in offering his best counsel to a new generation of leaders. Veteran leaders can learn a few principles as well.

About the Author

Pastor JB has served in youth ministries leadership for nearly 30 years. He is the former youth/young adult ministries director for the Southwest Region Conference, president of the Black Adventist Youth Directors Association, and the former Youth/Young Adult Ministries director for the north American Division of Seventh-day Adventists, a position he held for nearly 17 years. He is the author of 18 books and resources, a sought-after international speaker, and a leadership training facilitator/consultant.

Currently, he serves as the chaplain and director for Prayer and Reconnecting Ministries for the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

PURCHASE