LUKE 1:5-25
NASB
5In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named [a]Zacharias, of the division of [b]Abijah; and he had a wife [c]from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was
Elizabeth. 6They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. 7But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in [a]years.
8Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, 9according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear [a]gripped him. 13But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will [a]give him the name John. 14You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit [a]while yet in his mother’s womb. 16And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.
17It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in [a]years.” 19The angel answered and said to him, “I am
Gabriel, who [a]stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”
21The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept [a]making signs to them, and remained mute.
23When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.
24After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she [a]kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, 25“This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.”
1:5 [a]I.e. Zechariah [b]Gr Abia [c]I.e. of priestly descent 1:7 [a]Lit days 1:12 [a]Or fell upon 1:13 [a]Lit call his name 1:15 [a]Lit from 1:18 [a]Lit days 1:19 [a]Lit stand beside 1:22 [a]Or beckoning to or nodding to 1:24 [a]Lit was hidden
NLT
5When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. 6Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. 7They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.
8One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week. 9As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 10While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying.
11While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. 12Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.
14You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.[*] 16And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. 17He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,[*] and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”
18Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”
19Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! 20But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”
21Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out of the sanctuary, wondering why he was taking so long. 22When he finally did come out, he couldn’t speak to them. Then they realized from his gestures and his silence that he must have seen a vision in the sanctuary.
23When Zechariah’s week of service in the Temple was over, he returned home.
24Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. 25“How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”
[1:15] Or even from birth. [1:17] See Mal 4:5-6.
God is full of surprises. He delights in turning impossible situations into opportunities to show His steadfast love for people. He fulfills His promises in His own way and according to His own timetable, which can be
frustrating at times, but He never goes back on His word. He is always faithful to do as He has said. And when He fulfills His promises, He always exceeds our expectations.
Luke’s story of Christ actually begins before the singing of angels and the arrival of shepherds, before innkeepers, or manger beds, or “peace among men.” In fact, it begins more than four hundred years earlier with a mostly forgotten promise:
Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse. (Mal.
4:5-6)
These are the final words of the Hebrew prophets. Four hundred years passed without another word from heaven. God’s official spokesmen laid down their pens and ceased their prophetic utterance, for they had no message to report.
That’s not to say the Lord turned His back on the world. He did not forsake His people. He continued to safeguard His promises to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3), to David (2 Sam. 7:16), to Israel (Deut. 30:1, 5), and to all people (Gen. 3:15). Still, nothing was ever quite the same after Israel had
returned to the Land of Promise from her exile in Babylon. The blazing light of God’s presence, His shekinah, had left the temple before foreign invaders sacked Jerusalem and carried the people away (Ezek. 10:18). And though God’s people had returned, His shekinah had not. Subsequently, the Hebrews rebuilt the city against all hope and despite constant opposition (Ezra—Nehemiah). Mighty men, raised up and empowered by God, led Israel to expel foreign invaders and to rededicate His desecrated temple (1 Macc. 4:36-61).
Soon they were replaced by lesser men, however, and these
compromising leaders held onto the Land of Promise, not by trusting God to protect and provide for them, but through political maneuvering and backroom deals. They accepted the help of Rome to keep other invaders out. Unfortunately, their politicking left them with the mere illusion of autonomy. Like accepting favors from the mafia, the help of Rome came with strings attached. Those strings became ropes, which the Romans replaced with chains.
After the Lord had restored the Hebrews to their Promised Land and reaffirmed His commitment to protect them and to provide for their every need, they had again turned away from Him (Mal. 3:14-15). Like a vineyard of sour grapes, choked with weeds (Isa. 5:1-6), Israel produced nothing good. So it was that despite prophecies like Malachi 1:2-3, Rome had come to rule Jerusalem through a puppet leader, a descendant of Esau, who sat on the throne God had promised to the descendants of Jacob. This usurper, Herod, jealously guarded his ill-gotten title, “King of the Jews,” and killed anyone who threatened to take it away, including members of his own family. Meanwhile, the priesthood had become a corrupt crime syndicate and the temple a funnel for their money.
Those who loved God and cherished His Law lacked the power to
change Israel’s future. The rich and powerful saw no reason to trust God for anything. Understandably, those who hoped for the coming of the Messiah and the restoration of Israel finally lost all hope. Theirs had become an impossible situation.
Against this dreary backdrop, Luke zeroes in on the personal tragedy of one priest and his wife—they were childless. They sincerely served God and sought to live blameless lives, yet this hope had remained unfulfilled for decades, and with increasing age came the abandonment of any
aspiration for a child.
Fortunately, God is full of surprises, and his surprise for them would impact their entire nation.
— 1:5-7 —
Luke begins the story of Christ with what appears at first glance to be a mundane historical reference. His original readers, however, understood the gravity of the phrase “in the days of Herod, king of Judea.” It referred to none other than Herod the Great and the dark times he brought upon Israel.
In the same way, if a present-day author were to begin his narrative with “In the days of Al Capone . . .” we would brace ourselves for a grim story.
The qualifier “king of Judea” distinguishes this Herod from his sons, who ruled smaller regions and never received the official title of “king”
from Rome. Herod’s family had converted to Judaism before he was born, and though he dressed like a Jew and observed many Jewish dietary laws, he didn’t possess a single cell of Jewish blood. He was an Idumean who married into the Hasmonean “royal family” in order to legitimize his
wearing the crown. Ironically, though, the Hasmoneans descended from the priestly line of Levi, not the kingly line of Judah. Therefore, none of the men in the “royal family” could legitimately call themselves “King of the Jews.”
While this convoluted, impossible set of circumstances kept Israel on edge, it seemed to many that God had forsaken Israel. But as He often does, the Lord began working with a single individual, one ordinary person
among the many Jews of his day. God broke His four-hundred-year silence with an aging priest who had no special political or social significance. His name was Zacharias, which means “YHWH has remembered again.”