Luke 1: Beginnings

• v.1-4 Introduction
• v.5-25 The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
• v.26-38 The Birth of Jesus Foretold
• v.39-45 Mary Visits Elizabeth
• v.46-56 Mary’s Song
• v.57-66 The Birth of John the Baptist
• v.67-80 Zechariah’s Song

v.1-4 Introduction

v.1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,

v.2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.

v.3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

v.4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

[Note: There have already been a number of accounts written that originated with those who were with Christ, so carefully investigating these things, I too decided to write a further orderly account to reassure you of what you have been taught. For notes on who Luke is, see the Introduction page.]

v.5-25 The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

v.5-7 Introducing Zechariah & Elizabeth

v.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.

v.6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.

v.7  But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

[Note: It all started with a priest called Zechariah. He and his wife Elizabeth were both good and righteous people but sadly they were childless and were both now very old, past child-bearing age.]

v.8-12 Zechariah’s encounter with an angel

v.8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,

v.9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

v.10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

v.11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

v.12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.

[Note: On one occasion when he was on duty at the temple it became his turn to go in do the burning of incense while everyone else remained outside praying. Suddenly an angel turned up in there and he was very scared.]

v.13-17 The angel explains how they will have a son

v.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.

v.14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,

v.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.

v.16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.

v.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.”

[Note: The angel sought to reassure him and told him Elizabeth would have a son to be called John who will be very special. He will bring about a return to the Lord by the people of Israel, ministering in the same spirit as Elijah restoring family unity in the land.]

v.18-20 The angel chastises him for his unbelief

v.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.”

v.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.

v.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.”

[Note: Zechariah doubted and questioned the possibility of this. Look, said the angel, I come from God’s very presence with this message. So you doubt, so you can be dumb until the child comes.]

v.21-25 Later, when he returns home Elizabeth becomes pregnant

v.21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple.

v.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.

v.23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home.

v.24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.

v.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.”

[Note: Outside they wondered why he was delayed inside and when he eventually came out, he had to sign what had happened. At the end of his shift, he returned home and somehow (!!!) Elizabeth conceived, rejoicing at this gift of God.]

v.26-38 The Birth of Jesus Foretold

v.26-29 The same angel comes to a young girl named Mary

v.26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,

v.27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

v.28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

v.29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

[Note: About six months later the same angel went to Mary, who was engaged (we might say) to Joseph and greeted her warmly but she was uncertain about this.]

v.30-33 He explains that she will have a son

v.30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.

v.31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.

v.32 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,

v.33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

[Note: So the angel reassures her and tells her she will have a son to be called Jesus and he too will be very special.]

v.34-38 He explains how this can be and she consents

v.34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

v.35 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.

v.36 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.

v.37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

v.38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

[Note: Mary’s only question is how to bring this about (being righteous) because she was not married, and so the angel explains the Holy Spirit will bring it about, resulting in the birth of the Son of God. He explains about Elizabeth to encourage her, and Mary humbly consents.]

v.39-45 Mary Visits Elizabeth

v.39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,

v.40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.

v.41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

v.42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!

v.43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

v.44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

v.45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfil his promises to her!”

[Note: Mary goes to visit Elizabeth and at the sound of Mary’s voice, when Elizabeth is filled with the Spirit and the baby in her leaped, she senses something wonderful is happening to Mary. Yet she questions why she has come and tells what just happened and then declares the wonder of God’s blessing that comes to believers.]

v.46-56 Mary’s Song

v.46-49 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.

v.50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.

v.51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

v.52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.

v.53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

v.54,55 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

v.56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

[Note: Mary pours out what appears as prophecy, declaring that God’s blessing has come to her, God who blesses the humble and deals with the proud, who brings down mighty rulers but blesses the humble, reversing the fortunes of men and women, and who has now come to bless His people as promised. She stays, it would appear, until John is about due.]

v.57-66 The Birth of John the Baptist

v.57-61 Elizabeth speaks out when the baby is born

v.57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.

v.58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

v.59,60 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

v.61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

[Note: Elizabeth has her son, and the neighbors rejoice with her. At the time of naming the child, Elizabeth declares him to be John, but they question this.]

v.62-66 John concurs and starts to speak again

v.62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.

v.63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”

v.64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.

v.65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things.

v.66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

[Note: They ask Zechariah, and he confirms this in writing, and suddenly he is no longer dumb. The neighbors are amazed at all this, and everyone wondered who the baby would become.]

v.67-80 Zechariah’s Song

v.67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

v.68-75 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us  in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us— to show mercy to our ancestors  and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

[Note: He praises God for having brought a channel for salvation into the Land as prophesied

v.76-79 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

[Note: This child will be a prophet, preparing the way of the Lord

v.80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

[Note: Thus John grew up and lived in the desert.]

Additional Background notes for this chapter

Additional Note 1 – Zechariah’s Background: Zechariah was a priest belonging to a division of the priesthood designated by the name Abijah. Centuries earlier in king David’s reign (later affirmed by Solomon), the priests were divided into 24 divisions (1 Chron 26:1-6) who acted as officials of the temple (1 Chron 24:5), and the eighth division was that of Abijah (1 Chron 24:10). Only four divisions had returned from the Exile (Ezra 2:36-39), but these were redivided into 24 and given the old names. It is probable that each division had at least a thousand members and  each division served in the temple for a week, twice a year. Because there were so many of them, many priests never had the opportunity to perform this special task. (Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, also traced her lineage back to Aaron, the original father of the priestly family.)

Additional Note 2 – Burning Incense: One of the tasks of the priests was burning incense, a task to be performed morning and evening, and was something which was only allowed to happen once in the lifetime of any particular priest for it was considered so special, going in and standing before God, in accordance with the Law (Ex 30:7,8, Num 16:40), and presenting Him with this incense, a picture of a beautiful holy aroma that ascended to God to affirm and demonstrate their faithfulness.  Because there were so many of them, many priests never had the opportunity to perform this special task.

Additional Note 3 – Zechariah’s Fear: This may have two foundations: first, total surprise, completely unexpected, this had never happened in his lifetime; second, heaven had been silent for over four hundred years and if God is about to start speaking again to Israel, what has he, Zechariah, an aging, lowly priest, got to do with it?]

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