Scripture Passages

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. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 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. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 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. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 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.”
Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
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. 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.”
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 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.
When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “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.”
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

• Luke 1:5-38

Chronological Study Bible Notes

The Birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-36)

Luke gives an extraordinary glimpse of ordinary, pious Jews at the time. We should not imagine that everyone was as spiritually bankrupt as the Jewish leaders who later opposed Jesus. The lives of the barren, old Elizabeth and the young, virgin Mary intersect at the point of God’s unexpected favor to His humble servants. Elizabeth was from the tribe of Levi (Luke 1:5) and was also related to Mary (1:36). Because Elizabeth was barren and elderly, the birth of John the Baptist is presented by Luke as a special work of God.
“Luke implies that John was born 6 months before Jesus (Luke 1:26) and that the two were relatives (1:36). No other Gospel mentions their kinship, and John’s Gospel raises a question: If Jesus and John the Baptist were related, why did John not recognize Jesus at the time of His baptism (John 1:31)? Some think that the Baptist knew Jesus, but did not recognize Him as the Messiah. Geography allows for another possibility: Luke indicates that John was raised in the wilderness of Judea (Luke 1:80), whereas Jesus was raised in Nazareth of Galilee (2:39). During their early years they were separated by quite a distance by ancient standards, possibly distant enough to be unfamiliar with each other as adults.”

• Timothy B. Cargal, et al., The Chronological Study Bible

Other Commentary

Impending Birth Announcements (Luke 1:5-25)

The events describing the announcements and births of John the Baptist and Jesus are carefully paralleled. The same angel, Gabriel, appeared to Zechariah and to Mary. Both were told of a future birth; both births were to be unusual; both sons would be a fulfillment of God’s plan and of OT prophecies.

• Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Ann W. Bowman, Gospels and Acts contributor)

A Virgin (Luke 1:27)

The importance of the virgin birth cannot be overstated. A right view of the incarnation hinges on the truth that Jesus was virgin-born. Both Luke and Matthew expressly state that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived. …  The Holy Spirit wrought the conception through supernatural means (see … v. 35; Matt. 1:18). The nature of Christ’s conception testifies of both His deity and His sinlessness.

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

John the Baptist birth Announced (Luke 1:5-25)

I grew up with the name John the Baptist.  In many circles today, he is referred to as John the Baptizer.  I even heard one theologian say that he was the Baptizer, in that he was not a member of the Baptist denomination.  If I ever heard anyone say there was a connection to the denomination when I was growing up, they were laughing at the time.  I assume that it was a joke, but I think that I am done using both names, unless someone can give me another reason.

These days we get hung up on labels, and we have to change our language due to the confusion.

It is odd how there is so many arguments about what Jesus looked like.  He is not black and thus, the blacks cannot relate.  He was very likely brown, neither black nor white, but a Jew of that time.  And yet, with all the logic pointing in that direction, they still cast white actors to play Jesus.  When will we forget skin color?  Probably not until we are in Heaven.

But before we have a John the Baptist on the scene, Luke talks about the future birth announcements.  Both of these are miraculous.  Now to the actual story.

First, we find yet another couple who do not have a son.  Elizabeth is barren as Sarah, Rebekkah, Rachel, Manoah’s wife and Hannah.  This recurring theme in the Old Testament is repeated in the New Testament.  Where God is involved, there is always the chance.

Zechariah is obviously in the line of Aaron, but the text points out that Elizabeth is in the line of Aaron also.

When we see the angel appear to Mary, the angel, Gabriel, tells her that Elizabeth, in her old age is expecting a child.  So, we have a double miracle, but probably not as unusual as Sarah.  The reason why I take this verse out of order, Elizabeth is identified by Gabriel as a relative of Mary.  But Mary is of the line of David.  It is thought that the genealogy of Mary is in Luke 3, with the genealogy of Joseph in Matthew 1.  Yet, these genealogies go from father to son.  Mary and Elizabeth could be close cousins on their mother’s side.  Since Elizabeth is a lot older, maybe she had a mother who was the mother or grandmother of Mary’s mother.  They would still be cousins, thus related.

This is an interesting bloodline connection.  While the duties of a priest were passed down from father to son, if Jesus was connected to the priestly line through his mother (admittedly not counting in Levitical Law), there is a bloodline connection to make Jesus our Prophet, Priest, and King, at least considering only the DNA.

But now we see the devout Zechariah finally get his chance to burn incense.

Another interesting note.  Gabriel only appears three times in Scripture.  He is the angel in Daniel 9 who explains to Daniel that the dream of the seventy sevens is an End Times prophecy.  Then in rapid succession, we see Gabriel appear to Zechariah and then to Mary, within eight verses of Scripture.  An angel appeared in dreams to Joseph a couple of times but was never named.

But we have Zechariah falter.  Moses said he was slow of speech.  Jeremiah said he was too young.  Now, Zechariah speaks of being too old and Elizabeth being too old.

Old men have a much better chance of making a baby than old women.  My father-in-law said that he thought he was the runt of his family because his father was ninety years old when he was born.  But an old woman might be past menopause, no more eggs.

But Gabriel identifies his source.  God told him to relay the message, and Zechariah should be silent while Gabriel makes the announcement.  You might think Gabriel did not want any further interruptions, but Zechariah is made mute until after John is born.  Because of Zechariah’s disbelief, he is mute.

A mute priest coming out from burning incense raised a stir.  Communication is difficult.  Elizabeth becomes pregnant.

Jesus birth Announced (Luke 1:26-38)

In the sixth month of the pregnancy of Elizabeth, Mary is approached by Gabriel.

She raises concerns, just as Zechariah had done, but Gabriel saw something in Mary.  He says that the power of God will come upon Mary and she will become pregnant.  Rather than making her mute also, Gabriel explains it to her.  Mary was willing to believe if she knew there was a mechanism for her to give birth while still being pregnant.  Mary responds that she is the servant of the Lord.  May it be as Gabriel had told her.

This is where this segment ends.  Elizabeth and Mary are pregnant with roughly six months between due dates.  As the rest of this chapter unfolds, timing becomes interesting.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.