Luke 1, Part 1

Luke 1

King James Version (KJV)

Part 1

Luke chapter one is the longest chapter in the New Testament.  It is broken down into 80 verses and describes the new beginning of our life in Christ Jesus.  Paul in Colossians 4:14 described Luke as the ‘beloved physician.’  Some scholars believe that Luke wrote his gospel AND the book of acts as book one and two of required trial documents to follow Paul to Rome for his meeting with Caesar.  If this is true, then these must be the first trial documents that have also won souls and helped thousands over the centuries be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, ² Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; ³ It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴ That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

The name Theophilus to whom this book and Acts was written may have been someone’s name or the title of an office.  The name means ‘Friend of God.’  The name was also used as an honorary title for scholars and academics during this time by Romans and Jews.  It is quite possible that Luke used this name as an honorary title for the recipient.  Even today in many churches we use the honorific ‘doc’ or ‘doctor’ to refer to a respected pastor or church leader. 

The book was written in refined Koine Greek as befitted someone trained as a physician.  It is believed that Luke traveled with Paul as his personal physician and as a fellow laborer in the gospel.  Remember as you read the account of Zacharias that it is never as easy to obey God after a period of disobedience or doubt as it is from the start.  Saul of Tarsus tried to destroy the church until Jesus arrested him on the road to Damascus.  For this disobedience God smote him with blindness for a season and some believe his eyesight was never quite the same afterwards.  Paul called his affliction a ‘thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan’ and sought God three times to deliver him from it (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).  Rather than healing him, Jesus informed him that HIS strength is made perfect in man’s weakness and that HIS grace was sufficient.  This revelation caused Paul to rejoice in his affliction.

Consider this if you are afraid to press forward in Christ or obey His calling; Paul rejoiced in his infirmities after this and gloried in the very weaknesses he endured before with frustration and grief.  A man who is strong in his own abilities has no strength at all, but a man called of God who is only strong in Christ cannot be stopped.  You can then run through a troop and leap over walls; you are MORE than a conqueror (Romans 8:37-39).

⁵ There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

Herod the Great was not Jewish but rather an Idumean.  He was an appointee of Rome and would stop at nothing to prop up his shaky throne.  He killed many rabbis because he felt they might stir up the people.  He also murdered many of his own wives and sons to protect the throne and tried to kill the baby Jesus.  After Jesus’ birth Herod killed every male child in Bethlehem under the age of two.  Joseph had been warned in a dream and hid his family in Egypt until after Herod’s death in 4AD.  Herod also built the great temple in Jerusalem which was in use throughout the life of Christ and ultimately destroyed in 70AD.

To understand Zacharias you must understand that there are Levitical Priests and there are Levites.  Levites served the priests.  The priests are all sons of Aaron.  Levites are all descended from Jacob’s son Levi but not Aaron the brother of Moses.  Zacharias the ‘priest’ was a descendant of Aaron.  The course of Abia was the eighth course of twenty four courses that King David established to allow the priesthood to function more efficiently and serve God more diligently.  Keep in mind that any children they had would be Priests, not merely Levites since they were both descended from Aaron.  John the Baptist was a priest by birth and a prophet by God’s calling.

One interesting bit of information is that a persons Jewish roots come from their mother while their tribal affiliation comes from the father.  If a man who is not a Jew marries a Jewish woman, their children are Jewish though not specifically of any particular tribe.  If a man who is Jewish marries a Gentile woman their children are not Jewish unless they convert and even if they do convert they will not inherit the tribal affiliation of their father.  God was quite serious when he said believers and unbelievers were not to marry (1 Corinthians 6:14-16).

In Ezra following the rebuilding of the Temple, Ezra was very hard on the Israelites who had married Gentile women.  Those who were Priests or Levites were not allowed to minister before the Lord until they had put away their wives and offered sacrifices for trespass against God’s Word.  Some Christian teachers say this was not required since in the New Testament we are commanded to keep our unsaved mates if we were married before we came to Christ.  I do not agree.  The relationship between God and Israel is much different than between God and Christian believers.  The Jews had many hard rules and repairing breaches in those laws was often costly as well.

Today a Priest or Levite who marries a Gentile woman is forbidden to minister while he is married to the woman and any children he has with her are not Levites, Priests or even Jews.  Even if the mother has converted or later the children convert they are not considered Levites.  The office of Priest or Levite is a genetic office passed from father to child but only if the child is a natural Jew through the mother.  It takes this double ‘witness’ to fulfill the requirements.

⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. ⁷ And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

Every patriarch of Israel and almost every hero or heroine of scripture involved difficulty in child bearing.  Abraham (Genesis 17) and Isaac both wrestled with God for children.  Jacob’s wife Rachel’s womb was shut up because Jacob loved her but not her sister Leah (Genesis 29:31).  It took years for her to bear a child.  Mary bore a child without a man because God willed it and Elisabeth, like Rachel and even Hannah the mother of Samuel the priest prophet (1 Samuel 1) wrestled with God to procure faith for His service. 

⁸ And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, ⁹ According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

King David arranged the priesthood into courses so they might do their work more efficiently.  Within each course there were daily duties to perform, one of which was burning incense upon the golden altar in the Holy Place just outside of the Holy of Holies.  This responsibility was vital and if your heart was not right or the incense not properly produced, extremely dangerous.  Two of Aaron’s sons were killed by God for using incense improperly.  Burning incense before the Holy of Holies was a great honor and a great responsibility.  It represented the prayers of the people day and night.

The people gathered twice a day in the temple if they could, to pray while the priest burned incense.  You can imagine how holy this was just outside the veil separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place.  It says Zacharias was chosen by lot for this honor, either by actual lot or because it was his turn on a schedule.  There is some question about this although it hardly matters.  Scripture says the lot is in God’s lap.  He controls the outcome.  God’s timing is flawless.  Everything He does is exact and to the moment that He has ordained.

¹¹ And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

You can almost imagine Zacharias walking into the Holy Place with his vessel of incense.  He was getting older and walked carefully, possibly looking downward to be sure of his footing.  As he approached the golden altar used for burning incense he might have looked up startled to see someone standing to the right of the altar.  You have to understand that there was no playing around in the temple.  Directly behind the altar of incense was the veil that separated him from the Holy of Holies and the ark of God.  Service to God is a serious business.  Zacharias knew he was the only one in that special room.  To see someone as imposing as Archangel Gabriel must have looked might have startled him into dropping the incense.

¹³ But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. ¹⁴ And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

Luke 12:32 says, “Fear not little flock for it is your father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  In this case the angel informs him that his prayer has been heard.  How long do you suppose this godly man prayed for children?  It is likely that he and his wife were in their fifties.  They probably married in their late teens.  How many nights did Elisabeth cry herself to sleep over her barren womb?  He obviously loved her very much so that sound would have been a knife in his own heart.  You never know what God might require of you in life, what sacrifices or what trials of patience and faith. 

I had a few friends in High School but when I became a Christian later I would pray for them each day.  Two of them know the Lord now and one does not.  There are two others I haven’t heard from in almost forty years but I still pray for them.  You never know when your prayers will bear fruit.  It says in Romans 5:3-5, “… we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” 

I have three children and I couldn’t imagine life without out any one of them.  My eldest is handicapped following an injury but the love he shares and the joy he brings to others is wonderful.  The middle child is smart, talented and more like me than he knows.  He’s a good husband and great father and I am very proud of him.  My baby girl is wrapped around my heart in every way possible.  She is a fierce warrior for the Lord in her own special way.  God looks upon each and every one of us exactly the same way.  We each succeed and fail in our own special ways and He is there for us all uniquely and individually.  My God shall supply all our needs individually and specifically.  He is not limited. 

¹⁵ For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶ And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

John was ordained before the Earth was created to be great in the sight of the Lord.  Scripture says he was a fiery prophet wearing camel skins and eating locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:3-4).  He was a man’s man but never drank strong drink in his life.  Some may have wondered about his sanity or wisdom but he was clear headed and full of God’s wisdom from birth.  Because of his passion and clarity of purpose many Jewish hearts were turned back to God.  Secularism is not a new thing in Israel.  John attacked it head on with God’s power and made a real difference.

¹⁷ And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

The Jewish people had waited centuries for the Messiah, the deliverer to come.  Everyone knew He would come one day.  John was the herald of this great deliverer.  His purpose was to make the path straight for the one (Jesus) who would follow (Isaiah 42:16).  Elijah was taken up into heaven without dying.  Many Jews believed he would return again one day.  In truth he did, but through the ministry of John and not his own.  John’s ministry was filled with hidden purpose.  Even though he knew his purpose from his father’s knee and the Spirit within, he wished to know if Jesus was truly the one who followed (Matthew 11:3-5, Luke 7:19-23).

The reason for John’s doubts (while sitting in prison awaiting death), was that Jesus did not come as a conquering hero in the national sense.  He came to conquer sin and disobedience in the hearts of God’s people.  He came to heal the sick and lame and cleanse lepers.  They were looking for a king who would destroy their enemies.  Jesus came to every man, woman and child on the earth.  He came to love them.  He came to save them.  He was not there for Israel alone and they did not like that fact.  Shortly after hearing Jesus’ response of whether He was the sent one, John faced his greatest test and was beheaded.  His greatest statement of understanding came when he said of Christ, “He must increase and I must decrease (John 3:23-36).”

¹⁸ And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

It does not appear that Zacharias’ question is much different than Mary’s.  Her question was, “How can I have a child without a man?”  His question was, “How can I have a child when I am old?”  In her case it was a question borne of curiosity and wonder.  In his it was borne of many years of apparently failed prayers and sorrow.  She genuinely wanted to know how God would do it.  He appears to be asking, “If my prayers didn’t work when I was strong and virile and my wife in the flower of her youth, how can they now?”  I can imagine that this is quite offensive to the God who said, “…My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

¹⁹ And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

“I am Gabriel who can do what you cannot and stand in the very presence of God.  I am the messenger of God and He has sent me to speak to you and show you the things to come.”  I don’t believe Gabriel looked like some ordinary guy when God sent him to Zacharias.  Just hearing the name of the Cherub who spoke to Daniel (Daniel 8:16, 9:21) should have sent a thrill through Zacharias’ body.  Only two books in the Bible even mention him.  He is extremely high up in the angelic hierarchy.

²⁰ And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

Why this particular form of chastening?  I believe it is because when someone is in position as a pastor or leader of God’s people they are held to a high standard in teaching.  I also believe it is so he would not be able to speak against the word of God through doubt.  God would allow no interference to hamper the arrival of His Son Jesus.  God, for reasons known only to Him, has chosen to work through flawed human beings.  His decision to use an elder cousin of Mary to bring Christ’s herald necessitated extraordinary measures with Zachariah.  The last portion is a bold pronouncement of faith on the part of Gabriel.