Luke 1:56-66

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56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home. 57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. 59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” 61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” 62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 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. ~ Luke 1:56-66

Today's text provides the account of the birth of John the Baptist, the herald of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  After Mary visits with Elizabeth for three months, she then returned home. She had to return home so that the spotlight would be shown on Elizabeth and Zechariah and John the Baptist. I find this quite instructive for there have been times when I have wondered why the Lord did not allow me to speak at a certain place when I had spoken there before. The answer is simple, He wanted me somewhere else. This is good for me but it is also good for the one who got the spot. Such is the will of God, and I've learn to rest in that.

According to v.57-58 when the people realized that God had been merciful, and God had showed this great favor, and God had demonstrated His great goodness to this old couple who were righteous and who had all their lifelong wanted so much to have a child, when they knew that it had happened, they came and they shared her joy. 

In v.59 we read, "On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah." Tucked away here is the fact that God had prescribed circumcision on the eighth day in the Old Testament because He knew that it took eight days for little John's body to build up enough potassium in his blood causing the it to coagulate. This just illustrates that even the seemingly insignificant statements in God's word are of utmost importance. We must be careful to take note of these parts of His word. Naming the child eight days after birth on the day of circumcision was not an Old Testament prescription. The Old Testament doesn't have any rule about when you name a child.

Circumcision was given by God to remind each Jewish male of God's covenant relationship. This covenant is first seen in Genesis 17 where God says, "This is my covenant, which you will keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.” Every time a Hebrew boy relieved himself, he was reminded that he was a “son of the covenant.” Spiritually, circumcision was a reminder that God was committed to the young man.

According to v.60-63, Elizabeth's son was named John even though it was tradition to name the sons after their fathers. You will remember back in v.13 when the angel came, appeared to Zachariah, he said, "you will give him the name John." John means "God is gracious." God wanted John named "God is gracious" because God's purpose through him would be to proclaim the Messiah is gracious.

According to v.64, "Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God." Zechariah gained his ability to speak after the naming of John, immediately. This word, "immediately" is repeated all through Luke's gospel and we see it through the book of Acts, because it is useful when announcing a miracle.  

In v.65 we read, "All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things."  God's power inspires awe, fear and wonder. This is the first time in this gospel that we have a crowd in awe. And frankly, this sets the stage for all of the awesome things the Lord Jesus Christ will do throughout His ministry. 

In v.66 we see the people who were there. They saw the miracle of John's birth, and they began to tell others of it. Such is the nature of those who have experienced the joy of the Lord. We naturally want others to know of this happiness from the Lord not based on circumstances. In addition, the story prompted the people to ask, "What then is this child going to be?" Then they said, "For the Lord’s hand was with him." This is a metaphor used to describe the fact that God’s favor was upon John's life. The people had made this conclusion given the miraculous story of aged parents giving birth to a son. 

If I may, I'd like to end with a quotes from Thomas Chalmers who once said, "It is in those times of hopeless chaos when the sovereign hand of God is most likely to be seen."

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Luke 1:46-55

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46 And Mary said:“My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”  ~ Luke 1:46-55

In our text, God is about to change the course of all of human history.  And Mary is prepared by her modest and humble upbringing to be used of the God of the universe to usher in His Son to deliver salvation to all who are humble enough to receive it. So moved was this humble Jewish teenager that she breaks out into song. On display here is the lowliness and cheerful humility of Mary. Only those who have experienced God's incredible love are those who are willing to humbly bow their will to His purposes. And, the more we experience His love, the more we will be vulnerable to Him. 

In v.46, Mary proclaims, "My soul glorifies the Lord." We are trichotomous beings, we are made of body, soul, and spirit. The arena of our soul which is made of our mind, will and emotions, is the arena of our sanctification. Sanctification is the process whereby God is changing our way of thinking, our subsequent choices and our feelings. For Mary's soul to glorify the Lord is huge. You see, the only part of us that is "born again" is our spirit which informs our soul, but doesn't guarantee that we choose to bow our will to the Lord.

This is why in v.47 Mary goes on to say, "and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." When we believe in the Lord Jesus, His perfection is applied to our spiritual account and we are made justified in the eyes of God. This procures for us the ability to go to heaven. When we choose to walk in the ways of the Lord, when we are defined by Him, we are being sanctified. This gets heaven into us right now and we make decisions informed by the wisdom of God.

In v.48, Mary tells us why she is bowing her will to God when she says, "for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant." God mindful of us is far, far more important than the most important person in this world being mindful of us. His mindfulness of us is proof that we have entered into a personal relationship with Him and there is a growing trust and intimacy in the God of all. It is His goodness that melts our hearts, causing us to bow our will to His purposes in this world.

In addition, in v.48, Mary demonstrates that she knew the Scriptures when she said, "All generations will call me blessed." Here she is speaking of herself as the recipient, not the dispenser of blessing.  She doesn't say all generations will look to me to bless them. They'll consider me blessed because of what I’ve received. She rejoices in the great mercy God has shown her.

In v.49 Mary proclaims that God's name is holy. That is, He is completely free from sin, and His ways are not our ways. He is separate from and exalted above the creature. All His attributes are perfect. Mary's words are a warning to Theophilus to keep God special in our minds. God loves  the underdog who cries out for His mercy. She mentions this three times in v.50-53.

God is not partial to the rich, the powerful, or the proud. Luke is using Mary's words to poise Theophilus to look at what God is really like. He has mercy on those who fear him, who humble themselves and turn from dependence upon themselves. In v.50 Mary says, "His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation."  She quotes Psalm 103:17.  She says that it's not just me, but this mercy of God, this salvation of God is going to come to generation after generation after generation to people who fear, or reverence God.  

In v.51 we read, "He has performed mighty deeds with his arm."  We worship God because of who He is, reciting His attributes, and what He had done, reciting His deeds. In v.52 Mary says, "He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble." Mary is reminding us that God is sovereign and deals righteously with all of mankind. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble.

In v.53-55, Mary continues with God as her subject as she uses the pronoun He throughout. The simple truth is that many people say they have a personal relationship with the Lord but all they have is religion. Unlike Mary here, they don’t have God. We can have religion without God. Christianity is not about to our circumstances, it is rather about this new life that has begun within us. Deep and abiding joy is found in the unchanging source of all perfection. Deep and abiding joy is found in a personal relationship with God.

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Luke 1:39-45

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39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” ~ Luke 1:39-45

Luke begins his gospel with two miracles, the conception of two sons to two different women. Elizabeth, who was barren, was somewhere in her sixties. And, Mary, a twelve year old virgin, who became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth lived in the hill country of Judea or Judah. Mary lived in Nazareth, a small town in the Galilee in the north of Israel. 

In v.39, we read, "At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea." Seventy-five miles separated these two relatives who were experiencing parallel miracles. And, in both accounts, Gabriel said to Zechariah and Mary, "Do not be afraid," the most often repeated command in the Bible, used 365 times. 

Mary rushed south because her fear gripped her. When our fear grips us, we want to be with those with whom we love and share the most. Fear has the potential to corrode our confidence in God’s goodness. We begin to wonder if He cares. Fear turns us into control freaks. When life spins wildly out of control, we grab for a component of life we can manage: our diet, the tidiness of a house, the armrest of a plane, or, in many cases, people. The more insecure we feel, the meaner we tend to become. Our insecurities bring out the worst in us. For Mary, it drove her to Elizabeth.

Since Mary had been told that something absolutely humanly impossible was about to happen, she made a beeline to Elizabeth. This illustrates that she believed the message delivered to her from Gabriel. Elizabeth was one person who would understand what she was going through. So, Mary arose and traveled about three days to visit Elizabeth.

According to v.40-41, "When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit." Now the movement of a baby in a womb is not abnormal. But, what about Elizabeth being filled with the Holy Spirit? Throughout the Scriptures, being filled with the Holy Spirit is often connected to speaking a message from God. And it was at this moment that Elizabeth had a message from the Lord in v.42-45. Being filled with the Holy Spirit means God is taking control of the one being filled. The result is a revelation from God. 

According to v.42, Elizabeth, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, "In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!" Elizabeth pronounces blessing on Mary because in the Hebrew culture, a woman gained her greatest stature on the basis of her children. And Elizabeth is saying, you are the most blessed because you have the greatest child.

The remaining portion of v.42, reads, "blessed is the child you will bear!" She is saying, "Blessed be the One who will receive all blessing." “Lord” is used to refer to God twenty-five times in Luke 1-2.  There can be no other conclusion than that the child is also God since He is referred to as Lord.  God is called Lord twenty-five times. It's an exalted, divine title.  And when we say Jesus is Lord, we're saying He is also God.

In v.43, Elizabeth is in awe, and she says, "that the mother of my Lord should come to me." Mary is the mother of her Lord and she is never in Scripture called the mother of God.  God always existed. God was never born.  The eternal God has always existed. When people say, "Mary, mother of God," they're not talking about the Mary of Scripture. She was the mother of Jesus, the man. She is not the mother of God. Deity is true of Jesus, but it is not just confined to Jesus. The Father and the Spirit also referred to as God.  

In v.44, we read Elizabeth's explanation.  "As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy."  

In v.45 , we read, "Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!." Notice that Elizabeth speaks in the third person. Anybody who believes God fulfills His promises is going to be blessed. Elizabeth is noting that Mary is an example of a model believer, one who believes the promises of the Lord. Mary heard, believed, obeyed, and worshiped. An example for all of us to follow. And, when we do, we will be blessed!

The real bottom line here is who frames up the blessing? You see, the longer I walk with the Lord, the more I recognize that my human way of looking at this life is quite to the contrary to God's way of looking at it. His blessing often appears as a curse and His curse is often seen as a blessing.

For example, I became a believer in the Lord Jesus as a result of my dad dying when I was seventeen years old. The trouble forced me to bow my knees to the Lord. And, like Mary, we will not be blessed to recognize the blessings from God until we bow our will to the Lord.

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Luke 1:31-38

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31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  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, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 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. 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.  37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. ~ Luke 1:31-38

God chose to come to earth to solve mankind's sin problem through the womb of a virgin. The Lord Jesus is the Son of God, not the son of Joseph. And, as a result, He is divine as God’s Son, and human as Mary’s son. Throughout the Old Testament God gave promise after promise pointing anyone with ears to hear to the day when a son of David would come, a king, an heir to the throne. In v.31 Gabriel directed Mary to name her child Jesus which means "YHWH is savior, deliverer or rescuer."

The first thing Luke wants Theophilus to know about the Lord Jesus in v.32 is that "He will be great." Luke sets out in this gospel to present a new view of greatness. In Luke 9:48 we learn from the Lord Jesus that, "He who is least among you all is the one who is great." Luke is telling Theophilus that this Jesus is going to be great, now learn greatness from Him. But be forewarned that His definition of greatness is quite different than ours.

The second thing Gabriel tells Theophilus about the Lord Jesus is that "He will be called Son of the Most High." This means that when God entered the universe, the person He became was both divine and human. The king who rules the world is not just the king of Israel as the son of David, He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords as the Son of God. To have this king as our king is to rest under His sovereign care.

At the end of v.32, we read, "The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David." This means the Lord Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the king of Israel. The Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy to David found in 2 Samuel 7:14 where God promises that the offspring of David would be His son.

In v.33, we read, “and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” The king of Israel, who is also king of the universe, will never be replaced. His kingdom is forever. Therefore, salvation and His protection of our lives are forever.

In v.34, Mary expresses her difficulty with understanding the words of Gabriel by saying, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" Even though we struggle to understand God and His ways, it was through the virgin birth that God chose to demonstrate His sovereignty to mankind. According to Matthew 1:25, Mary and Joseph had no sexual relations until after Jesus was born. Joseph's desire to put Mary away proves this, as well. And, even Joseph had difficulty making sense of this plan.

Instead of the normal means of conception, the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and the power of the Most High overshadowed her and the greatest event in the history of mankind happened: God became a man and man played no role in it. He couldn't because we were the ones in need of His salvation. The Lord Jesus is God's Son, begotten by God and come to earth to redeem man by His perfect life and death on the cross. 

In v.35, we read, "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." The unique sonship of the Lord Jesus comes from the fatherly agency of the Holy Spirit in His conception. God, not Joseph, was His only father, whose nature He shares. And, because of His divinity, the Lord Jesus dealt a death blow to death itself, making it possible for us to know His eternal life. 

In v.36, Gabriel encourages Mary with news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. God is not just doing a miracle through Mary, He is doing something extraordinary in the womb of a barren woman. God always does what He says He will do, even if what He says He will do seems preposterous. Barren woman who are at least sixty years old, do not become pregnant. And, virgins do not become pregnant without human relations. But, with God, all good things are possible.

In v.37 we are reminded that "no word of God will ever fail." Nothing can thwart the will of God. Perhaps Mary knew that this had been prophesied in Isaiah 7:14 where we read, "A virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and you shall call His name Immanuel, God with us." How much more explicit could God be some seven hundred years beforehand. Although Luke does not refer to Isaiah's prophecy, Matthew does in his account.  

In v.38, Mary's response is of one who has come to understand the sovereignty of God. Mary says, “I am the Lord’s servant.” The servant of the Lord will always make himself available to the One who makes possible the impossible. As a result, Mary suffered acute embarrassment before all. No doubt, suspicious neighbors in Nazareth questioned her and refused to believe her honest answers. There are times when we bow our will to God that we experience humiliation before those who themselves have not yet submitted to the will of God.

Finally, ever since Adam and Eve had chosen to eat of the forbidden tree in order to be like God, independent of Him and wise in their own right, the human race has been enslaved to a rebellious heart that hates to rely on God but loves to make a name for itself. However, when we enter into a personal relationship with God through His Son, we are realigned with God's goal in creating us in the first place: that we might show forth His glory to others. It is in this context that we realize our greatest joy.

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Luke 1:26-30

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26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,  27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ~ Luke 1:26-30

This is the second time in this chapter that Gabriel, the angel, appears. The first time he appeared to Zechariah, this time to a teenage girl by the name of Mary. According to v.26, it happened during the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy when Gabriel was “sent from God."  

In this Gospel account, Luke focuses on God. This means the source of the message was God. This is really the key to the whole story. Luke is recording the truth about God's intervention in mankind's sinful and hopeless predicament. And, Mary appears to be an insignificant woman in an insignificant town. In fact, Mary's hometown was Nazareth which wasn't the seat of anything. It wasn't an important place at all.  

"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked in John 1:46. A place so despised and insignificant that nothing good was expected out of it. They asked back in that day, “Why would God use a young teenage girl from a backwards no good village to bring the Messiah to earth?”  Isn’t that what we often ask, when we try to put God inside our neat little box, a box that we’ve built out of our preconceptions of what God should be and do? 

According to 1 Corinthians 1:28, God chooses the despised and weak things of this world, things counted as nothing at all, and uses them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. He does this so that no one can ever boast in His presence. According to 1 Corinthians 1:29, He does it so that in our weakness, we can only point to Him and say it was all because of the Lord Jesus. Our weakness, our insignificance brings glory to God when He uses us to do His work. 

According to v.27, Gabriel appeared before a virgin which means "one who has had no sexual relations." According to Roman law, the minimum age for girls to be engaged and married was twelve years old. Girls were usually engaged around 12 or 13 and married after the engagement or the betrothal was over. The reason they did this was because they therefore would guarantee their virginity. 

So, here was a young girl, "pledged" or engaged to a man. Literally the word used is betrothed, which was a legal binding, an arrangement by the parents. It was a legal document notifying that the parents had agreed that their children would marry. There was no sexual relationship during this period of betrothal which usually lasted a year. The couple did not live together, and only death or divorce could sever the contract. And if the man died, the betrothed girl would be considered a widow.

Mary was engaged to Joseph, a descendant of David. He had Davidic DNA. He was in the royal line.  His blood line had come right through David. This is key because it was predicted that through King David would come the Messiah. 

Joseph was a young boy, aged 13 or 14 who had royal blood. And even though Joseph was not His father by blood, he was of the line of David and passed that on to the Lord Jesus because He was his son, if not by birth, by adoption, which was legally binding.

Mary means "exalted one."  Nothing more is said of Mary. Luke doesn't say she was a devout believer, like Zachariah and Elizabeth. In Luke 3, there is Mary's genealogy. Even though Mary is not named in the genealogy, because only the men are named, that would be the line that led to Mary so that the Lord Jesus would have royal right passed down to Him by His legal father, Joseph. The Lord Jesus would have royal blood passed down to Him through, His mother, Mary.  In every sense, then, the Lord Jesus was royalty because Joseph was David's descendant, and Mary was as well. 

According to v.28, Gabriel enters Mary's house and says, "Hello, favored one, the Lord is with you." Mary was the recipient of God's grace.  God gave her grace because she needed grace. Mary needed grace to go through the birthing process, but also the difficulties that would follow.  

But, that is a side note. You see, Mary was conceived into sin and therefore she was a sinner. And all sinners need the grace of God, in order to have a personal relationship with Him and to be used by Him in this fallen world. We cannot go to Mary and receive grace. And, Mary can't hear the prayers of anybody.  Only God hears prayers. 

In v.29, we read, "Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be."  It was what Gabriel said that shook Mary. She was troubled, disturbed, perplexed, and confused, because she knew she was a sinner. In fact, this is why in Luke 1:47 when she praises God, Mary says, "God, my Savior."  She knew she needed a Savior.

In v.30, we read, "But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.’"  Mary's confusion and perplexity were rooted in fear, but Gabriel reassured her with the favor or grace of God. This was really important due to the fact that appearances of angels always created fear in people. 

This highlights the fact that we have nothing to fear. We definitely have no reason to fear the wrath of God because the Son, the Lord Jesus has paid our debt. Even when we sin deliberately, we have no reason to fear because the Son absorbed in His body while on that tree so long ago all that would separate us from the love of God.

To this point Mary doesn't even know what the message from God will be. All she knows is that God has chosen her to be gracious to her.  By the way, as a footnote, God is only gracious to those who believe in Him. He gives no grace to those who refuse Him, He gives no grace to those who do not know Him or who are known by HIM. The Lord was with Mary and the Lord was gracious to her in a special and unique way. This was necessary because to this point in time, she did belong to Him just yet.

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Luke 1:21-25

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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.” ~ Luke 1:21-25

The number of priests in Israel during the days of the Lord Jesus was from 12,000-15,000.  These priests were divided up into 24 divisions. Each division served in the temple twice a year.  If we take the low number of 12,000, then there would have been 500 on duty that day with Zechariah being one of them.


By casting of lots, the duty of burning incense fell to this aged priest named Zechariah.  It’s no mistake that Luke adds this bit of information because he wants us to see God’s hand involved in the selection of Zechariah that day.  Most priests would spend their lifetime serving never to be selected to burn incense in the temple.

As a priest, Zechariah lit the incense, illustrating his offering of the prayers of the people to God. According to v.21, the people waited outside for Zechariah's final prayer, but due to his delay of coming out from the altar, the people suspected something bad had happened. What they didn't know was that God was doing a good thing for Zechariah for He was silencing his unbelief.

In 1 Peter 2:4-5, we read, "4 As you come to him, the living Stone, rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him, 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 

Similar to Zechariah, we who have believed on the Lord Jesus have been made priests who offer spiritual sacrifices to God. These sacrifices are offerings presented to us by the Holy Spirit and we present them back to the Lord. These offerings are the products of being defined by God through His word and the leading of His Spirit in our lives.

There are two things in this world which will pass into eternity: the word of God and the souls of people. Our offerings are products of our investments that we will have made in the lives of those have come into contact with while on this earth. Today, our lives must be framed up by how we can make investments in those two things, the souls of people and the word of God. Let us creatively think of how we can bring those two together.

When Zechariah finally did appear, according to v.22, his inability to speak suggested that something supernatural had happened. Zechariah could not talk. According to the Talmud, the priest was to go in and do his work and get out of there as fast as he could. The people thought the longer the priest stayed in there, the more potential for death there might be if he did anything offensive or blasphemous to God.  

When the priest finally came out, He was supposed to give a prayer for the people. Found in Numbers 6:24, the prayer reads, "The Lord bless you and keep you, The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.  The Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace."  But, when Zechariah came out, he couldn't speak. And according to v.22 of our text, "he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak." 

In v.23, we read, "When his time of service was completed, he returned home." At the end of the week, Zechariah arrived home to Elizabeth who I am sure had a hard time understanding why her husband was mute. This obviously heightened Zechariah's and Elizabeth's focus on the Lord. I am sure their walk with the Lord was at an all time high.

In v.24, we read, "After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion."  Elizabeth didn't get pregnant until Zechariah came home. And, since everybody knew she was barren, no one would buy that story that she was pregnant. Rather than deal with the disgrace, Elizabeth waited five months to tell everyone that she was with child. 

In v.25,  we read, "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." Remember, barrenness was shameful in their culture. But, Elizabeth knew that God had performed this miracle on her behalf.  

With this miracle, begins the story of mankind's salvation where the silence of heaven ends and the God who in time past spoke through the prophets is now speaking to man through His Son, the Lord Jesus.

God remembers his PROMISE and heaven speaks to mankind. The name John means God is gracious. The Old Testament is law; the New Testament is grace. "The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." 

We go from curse to grace by believing in the One that John saw and said of him, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." God made a promise of a new covenant in the Old Testament, one not based upon our performance, one based upon the performance of the perfect Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

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Luke 1:18-20

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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.”  Luke 1:18-20

Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist was skeptical. I would have been, too. In v.18, we read, "Zechariah asked the angel, 'How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.'” 

Doubt is not a problem of evidence or the lack thereof, it's a problem of the sinfulness of the human heart. But, doubt is useful in our pursuit of faith because doubt is the shadow cast by faith. Even those who are "righteous," like Zechariah, struggle through their doubts. After being told that he and his wife would have a son in their old age, according to v.18, Zachariah struggles with doubt.

Our sinful hearts make us all prone to limiting God by human potential. And, even if we’ve walked with God for years, when we are faced with a seemingly impossible situation, we need to look to our hearts, which are prone to limit the Almighty by human possibilities. God has given us abundant evidence in Scripture that He is the God of the impossible. Nothing is too difficult for Him. The source of our doubts is not a lack of evidence. 

Having been married for to forty years, Elizabeth and Zechariah had for many of those years asked God to give them a child. But, He had not answered the way they wanted. Now, that they were physically too old to have children, they had come to terms with their disappointment. They had concluded that it must not be God’s will. So when the angel suddenly announced that they would have a child, Zachariah doubted.

Their pain played into the plan of God. The question is: "Is this okay?" Are we okay with God accomplishing His will through our pain?

Doubt is useful for the development of our faith, though. You will remember that Luke addresses his gospel to a man who was probably a young believer who needed assurance in his faith. The opposite of doubt is not a leap in the dark. The Christian faith is founded on solid historical evidence. Luke wrote to convince Theophilus that God was in fact at work in this dark world of fallen man. 

Zechariah, in v.19, is given by Gabriel the antidote for doubt which is "I stand in the presence of God." Gabriel spoke out of the perspective of God. Curiosity and questioning are inevitable parts of our pursuits of faith. The fact is the visible world around us is not the totality of reality. In Romans 10:17, we are informed that our faith is a product of the spoken word of God. When we seek the Lord in His word, and we hear Him speak to our hearts, we will grow in our heart's ability to see God.

In v.20, we read, “And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words." Being made mute helped Zechariah in his belief. Most believe that this was discipline from God, I disagree. I believe the silence helped Zechariah process what he was experiencing.

As a result, Zachariah submitted to God by meditating on His Word and being thankful for His faithfulness in fulfilling His gracious promises. This is evident from the stream of praise that gushes forth when he finally has his speech restored (1:68-79). It is loaded with references to Scripture and how God has fulfilled His promises. If Zachariah had spent those silent months grumbling about how unfair God was to strike him deaf and dumb, he wouldn’t have erupted in praise as he did.

I am told that complaining and gratitude cannot coexist because the travel on the same neurotransmitter in the human brain. We can overcome the problem of doubt if we will trust that God does what He says He will do. Just give Him time, He rarely blesses us with only us in mind.

In the matter of faith and doubt, the crucial thing is not our feelings and not even our faith. The crucial thing is the object of our faith. We can have great faith in a faulty airplane, but it will crash in spite of our great faith because it’s not a trustworthy plane. We can have little faith in a sound airplane, just enough to get us on board, and that’s all it takes to get us where we’re going. It’s not our faith, but the object of it, that matters most.

Luke wants us to see that God is faithful to His promises, especially in the matter of sending the Lord Jesus Christ to be the promised Savior. We can trust such a God and such a Savior. He has a proven track record of keeping His promises and His promises never fail.

Throughout the Bible God reminds us of who we are in relation to Him. This is very different from what we see in this world which directs us to think of our lives in relation to things we possess. Everything has its true significance or insignificance in relationship to God. A tremendous stability comes into our lives when we let the Bible define who we are in relationship to God rather than letting the world define who we are in relation to things of this world.

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Luke 1:12-17

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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.” ~ Luke 1:12-17

The first story Luke tells in his Gospel involves an angel named Gabriel who was sent from heaven to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. God had last spoken directly to man four hundred years earlier. For the first time in a very long time, God breaks into man's story of his separation from God. 

As the priest, Zechariah, goes into the Holy Place to light the incense, the angel Gabriel appears before him, standing on the right side of the altar. In v.12, we read that Zechariah "was startled, and was gripped with fear." Gabriel commands Zechariah, “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.”

One of the great lessons learned from this story is that God uses regular folks in His story of redeeming man. In fact, He tells us that He uses the weak of this world to confound the strong. Be encouraged to step out in faith in the confidence that He is actively at work in your life and be use by Him in the lives of people all around you who need His message of hope.

Our lives are not accidents, but a part of the larger plan of God. There is so much in our lives that we don’t understand. But sometimes God reaches down and says, “You’re going to be a part of something bigger. You’re going to be a part of the grand story that I am writing of the redemption of mankind. Are you willing?” 

When the angel appeared to Zechariah, he said, "Don't be afraid, Zechariah." Throughout this Gospel, Luke writes about this fear. He refers to it repeatedly in Luke 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 23. Zachariah knew that angels were the instruments of divine judgment. But, this wasn't a visit to deliver judgment.

In v.13, we read, "your prayer has been heard." This was a long-standing prayer of Elizabeth and Zechariah. This was a prayer which they had started praying long ago. Then, Gabriel shows up and says, "Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son."

At the end of v.13 Gabriel tells Zechariah to name his son John which means "God is gracious."  By giving him the name John, God is saying, "I'm about to explode upon the world with My grace." The final message in the Old Testament, the final message in Malachi 4 includes a curse. The last words in the New Testament, the final words in Revelation 22 is: "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people." 

The naming of John is followed with this in v.14: "He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth." John will herald the coming of God who will come with the message of grace. And, the core of the message of God's grace says, "God loves us because of who God is, not because of who we are or any good that we do."


In v.15, we read, “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.” God set John the Baptist apart to be laser focused on being a herald for the Lord Jesus.

The impact of John's ministry is defined in v.16, which reads, "He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God."  The words "bring back" are a technical term for “conversion.”  John will call people back to the Lord, back from our rebellion, back from our self-righteousness.

In v.17 we learn the practical outflow of our personal relationship with the Lord: "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."

Remember that Zachariah and Elizabeth together means: "God remembers His promise." The promise of a new covenant not based upon our performance, but upon relationship with the One He would send. Luke is saying that with the birth of John the Baptist will come the introduction of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the One that God sent to pay the penalty for that which separated us from God. 

We go from curse to grace by inserting the Lord Jesus Christ into the equation. When we insert the Lord Jesus Christ, we access God's grace, His unmerited, undeserved favor. This is the introduction of the Gospel of Luke.

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Luke 1:5-11

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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. ~ Luke 1:5-11

In Luke 1:78, we read, "the rising sun will come to us from heaven.” This is a reference to the coming Jewish Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Luke 1, we enter God's story of redemption during the final hours of darkness before the sunrise arrived. The night, for Israel, had been long and dark, a history that began with Abraham, and a history of exile 400 years in Egypt, a history of wandering for forty years in the wilderness, a history of the conquest of the land of Canaan, a history of the occupation of the land of Canaan, a history of captivity, the northern kingdom taken captive in 722 B.C., and the southern kingdom taken into Babylon in 586 B.C.

Luke 1 provides the story of God breaking into the darkness of mankind. In Luke 1:5f we are introduced to the parents of John the Baptist, Zechariah and Elizabeth. It happened during “the time of Herod” who was Herod the Great. This evil and paranoid king had been appointed as King of the Jews by the Romans in 40 B.C. He was a tyrant who executed family members whom he felt were a threat to his power. He even kill one of his ten wives and three of his children! He was the same Herod who had the children two years and younger in Bethlehem put to death. 

In contrast to Herod, we are introduced to a “priest named Zechariah" ... and "his wife...Elizabeth.” As v.1 points out, Zechariah was in “the division of Abijah” who was one of the heads of the priestly families in the Old Testament. His wife, Elizabeth, "was also a descendant of Aaron," was also of priestly lineage. This is important information regarding the Old Testament prophecies of the forerunner to the Messiah.

In v.6, Luke zeroes in on the character of Zechariah and Elizabeth. He highlights the fact that they were both "righteous in the sight of God.” To be righteous means to be in a right relationship with God. God declared them righteous by their faith in His promises. Their relationship with God enabled them to hold on to a God whom they did not understand, as we will see. And, as a result, this faithful couple were lights in their very dark world. 

According to v.6, Zechariah and Elizabeth "observed all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.” This does not mean that they were perfect, it means they were defined by the Word of God. This is why they were right in the eyes of God. God made them righteous, not them. Their obedience to God's definition of things provided them with the wisdom to be defined by God. Biblical righteousness is an inward quality that manifests itself in outward obedience to God’s word. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.

In v.7 we are provided with an underlining principle which explains this couples desperate dependency upon the Lord: "THEY WERE CHILDLESS." For a Jewish couple to be childless was thought to be a sign of God’s displeasure. To be barren was considered to be a tragedy, personally and socially. This pain undoubtedly drove this godly couple closer to God. This is the nature of our trials, they either drive us closer to Him or they drive us away from Him. 

In v.8-9, we read, "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." 

One of the highest honors for a priest was to offer incense which was done twice a day in the Temple, once in the morning and once in the evening when the evening sacrifices were made. The priest who was to offer the incense was chosen by lot. Since there were probably around a thousand priests in each division, being chosen to burn incense on this day was a once in a lifetime opportunity.  

Zechariah means “God remembers” and Elizabeth means “God’s promise.” On this day, God was not only remembering Zechariah and Elizabeth, He was remembering His eternal covenant of redemption with mankind. 

According to v.10-11, while Zechariah was worshipping and serving the Lord, "an angel of the Lord appeared to him." It was at this point that God chose to intervene into the anguish of this couple who were, according to v.7, beyond their child bearing years. They were probably at least 60 years old.

Elizabeth's barrenness had nothing to do with sin in her life. This is why God includes v.6 which reads, "Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly."  But it had everything to do with something God was planning. 

God had something planned for this elderly couple which blew their minds. To them was to be given the forerunner, the first prophet in Israel for 400 years. The Lord Jesus referred to John as the greatest man who ever lived up until that time. They would have only one son. He would be the greatest human who had ever walked the earth. This is not divine punishment, their barrenness, this is divine planning.

This is how we must view the unwanted things in our lives, be it barrenness or cancer or the loss of a job. The unwanted things in our lives merely provide a context where God can and will do His thing. It is our unfailing faith which enables us to see His works He performs them. 

Zechariah and Elizabeth were willing to be used by God, they learned that God’s “No” is not forever, and they were faithful to the Lord in spite of their circumstance. The kind of faith they displayed was enduring despite their pain and their uncertainties about God. 

It was essential that the Messiah's story begin with the story of John the Baptist because he connects the Old Testament with the New Testament. The Old Testament and the New Testament does not propose two different approaches to God. There is not the approach of Judaism and the approach of Christianity.  Rather, the Old and the New Testament are one revelation from God with continuity telling the story of redemption.

In addition, John the Baptist is the fulfillment of several Old Testament prophecies and this shows the accuracy of Scripture. And this, therefore, authenticates the New Testament. Think of all that preceded the arrival of John. We must be careful to keep our eyes on Him because He knows the big picture and we do not. This is the nature of faith. This is the only human thing that pleases God.

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Luke 1:1-4

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1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 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, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. ~ Luke 1:1-4

The writer of the Gospel according to Luke is also the writer of the book of Acts. Luke wrote more of the New Testament than anyone else, even more than the Apostle Paul. Luke is a man that the Apostle Paul calls the “good physician” in Colossians 4. Luke was a medical doctor who was a companion of Paul. He was also a Gentile convert to the Christian faith. Whereas the other Gospel writers were all Jewish, Luke was not; he was the only Gentile to contribute a Gospel account.

In v.3 we are introduced to Theophilus which is a Greek made up on two Greek words (theos and phileo), which means "friend of God." Theophilus was a Gentile who probably held some important office in the Roman government. 

According to our text, Luke wrote this Gospel in order to bolster Theophilus' confidence in his narrative. Luke does this by referring to three important facts. First, he says in v.3 that his narrative is based on thorough and careful research. The Lord Jesus used the precise nature of Doctor Luke to provide a precise understanding of His life and ministry. Luke assures that he has followed all things; that is, he does not include anything that he has not traced back to a reliable source. He has followed all things accurately; his work has not been careless but painstaking. He has followed all things accurately for a long time. He has not been hasty in his work. And, as a result, his work is trustworthy.

In v.1 Luke uses the word fulfilled. This word is sneaky because it references the work the Lord Jesus accomplished to provide you and me with a personal relationship with God. In order for us to have a relationship with God, the Lord Jesus had to sustain or fulfill in every way the truth. Having done so, He made it possible for us to be forgiven and thus be born again. Our born again status enables us to have this personal relationship with God.

In addition, in v.1, Luke guards us against two errors in studying the Gospels. One is the error that our belief in the inspiration of the Bible implies that each writer got all of his narrative directly from God by dictation. Luke shows clearly that he wrote his Gospel on the basis of sources and research. So inspiration means that God chose Luke and guided him in his writing so that it would all be true and powerful. 

The other error that v.1 guards us against is the claim that until the writing of the four gospels, Jesus' teaching and works were only passed down orally. If, as Luke says, many had earlier written down accounts of Jesus' sayings and deeds, then there is no reason to think people had not done this from the beginning. So the first thing Luke stresses is the number of his sources: there are many, including Mary the mother of the Lord Jesus.

We read in v.2, "just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word." Luke's writings of what the Lord Jesus said and did were quality resources because eyewitnesses were involved. Luke includes himself among those who received reports directly from the eyewitnesses. So not only are there many sources which he can use to corroborate each other, but even better, he has had direct access to the eyewitnesses themselves.

The eyewitnesses were the apostles and Mary. We can see this from the way Luke describes the work of the apostles in Acts, who had the task of bearing witness to what they had seen and of ministering the word, which probably means preserving the sayings and deeds of the Lord Jesus, and teaching it to the churches.

The third Gospel presents the Lord Jesus as the Son of man which was the Lord's favorite title for Himself, one He used more frequently than any other name. In Matthew the emphasis is upon the Lord Jesus as king. In Mark we see Him as the servant of God. Here, in Luke, He is the Son of Man.

The thesis to the Gospel, which forms a brief outline of the book, is found in Luke 19:10, where we read, "The Son of man came to seek and to save the lost."  

In this one verse we have the divisions of this Gospel. First, the Son of man came, and, in the beginning of this Gospel, Luke tells us how He came to earth as a man. Then, He came to seek. The first part of His ministry consists of seeking man out. Finally, He moves on to save by means of His cross and resurrection.

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