“And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.”
And through the birth of this son he will have joy and gladness. But that joy and gladness will not be for him alone. It will be for many. For many will rejoice at his birth. And that will be because of what his son will be. For his son will be great in the eyes of the Lord, and will not need to be fortified by wine and strong drink. For from his mother's womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Thus both for his strength, and for his joy and satisfaction, he will look only to the Holy Spirit of God. He will turn his back on wine and strong drink and rely only on God for his greatness, which will be a greatness as seen in God's eyes, and from God's point of view. He will not require the pleasures of life, or the wine that the world takes in order to fortify itself. Instead his heart will be taken up with God.
He will be ‘filled (pimplemi) with the Holy Spirit' even from before his birth. This phrase has special significance in Luke. ‘Filling (pimplemi) with the Holy Spirit' is always in Luke's writings (where it only appears) a filling that produces inspired words. In almost all cases it is a temporary experience. But for John (and later for Paul - Acts 9:17) it will be permanent. So John will be a permanently inspired man, right from his very birth. In other words from the very womb he is called to be a prophet of God. (We must distinguish being filled (pimplemi) with the Holy Spirit, from being filled (pleroo) with the Holy Spirit and being full (pleres) of the Holy Spirit. It is the latter two which are for all Christians and have some permanence).
Drinking wine and strong drink has always been the way in which man fortifies himself for what he has to face. By it man dulls his senses. And it was seen as indicating worldly sophistication as against natural purity, and as the main source of man's happiness. It was the sign of those who dwelt in large houses or cities, or who enjoyed worldly pleasures and aims. Thus John was to abstain from all forms of ‘worldliness', and from any need to ‘fortify' himself. He would need neither the one nor the other. God would be both his joy and his strength. To the pure soul who lived in the wilderness, away from the world and alone with God, such things would not be available, nor would they be desired. Rather he would become strong in God.
He was not being called on to be a permanent Nazirite, for no mention is made of growing his hair, but all would recognise that this signified that he was called to a special dedication. Priests on duty were also expected to abstain from wine and strong drink (Leviticus 10:9). The idea may be that as the son of a priest he was to see himself as always on duty. However, there is nothing about his ministry that suggests that he saw himself as involved in priestly action. Thus he would be distinct both from Nazirites and priests and would be a mixture of the best in both, and he was being paralleled with those who had been set apart by God in the past (Judges 13:7). To abstain from wine and strong drink was a sign of special separation to holiness (Numbers 6:3, contrast Amos 2:12).