CRITICAL NOTES
Luke 1:5. Herod, the king of Judæa.—He also ruled over Galilee, Samaria, and the greater part of Peræa. He was the son of Antipater, an Edomite, and had been imposed upon the Jewish nation by the Romans. The sovereignty of Herod and the enrolment under Cæsar Augustus (Luke 2:1) are indications of the fact that the sceptre had departed from Judah (Genesis 49:10), and that the appearance of the Messiah might now be looked for. A certain priest.—Not the high priest. Of the course of Abia.—The priests descended from Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, were divided by David into twenty-four courses, each of which ministered in the Temple for one week (1 Chronicles 24:1-19). Only four of the twenty-four returned from exile in Babylon; these were again divided into twenty-four classes, and the original names were assigned to them. This is alluded to in Nehemiah 13:30. Course.—Ἐφημερία is properly a daily service, but came to denote the class which served in the Temple for a week.
Luke 1:6. Commandments and ordinances.—It seems arbitrary to distinguish between these as some do, and to understand them to denote moral and ceremonial precepts respectively,
Luke 1:7.—Childlessness was regarded among the Jews as a great misfortune. It is several times spoken of in the Old Testament as a punishment for sin (see Luke 1:25).
Luke 1:9. His lot.—The various offices were distributed among the priests by lot: the most honourable was this of burning incense, the act being a symbol of acceptable prayer rising to God, no priest was allowed to perform it more than once. This day, therefore, would have been a most memorable one in the life of Zacharias, even apart from the vision. The temple.—I.e. the sanctuary, in which was the altar of incense, as distinguished from the outer court, in which the people were praying.
Luke 1:10. The time of incense.—Probably at the time of the morning sacrifice.
Luke 1:11. An angel.—St. Luke both in this Gospel and in the Acts dwells frequently on the ministry of angels. The right side.—A circumstance which seems to have no more significance than as marking the definiteness of the vision.
Luke 1:13. Thy prayer.—For a son; a prayer formerly offered, but to which he had now ceased to expect an answer. John.—Jehochanan—“the favour of Jehovah.”
Luke 1:15. Shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.—He shall be a Nazarite (Numbers 6:3), separate from the world to God like Samson and Samuel. Cf. Ephesians 5:18 for a similar contrast between the false excitement of drunkenness and spiritual fervour.
Luke 1:17. Before Him.—I.e. before the Lord their God, manifest in the flesh. A very clear testimony to the divinity of Christ. “The angel making no express mention of Christ in this passage, but declaring John to be the usher or standard-bearer of the eternal God, we learn from it the eternal divinity of Christ” (Calvin). Spirit.—Disposition. Power.—Zeal and energy, or mighty endowments. There is one point of difference between Elijah and John Baptist—John did no miracle.
Luke 1:18.—“Grotius here remarks on the difference in the cases of Abraham (Genesis 15:8) and Zacharias, as to the same action. The former did not ask for a sign from distrust in the promise of God, but for confirmation of his faith; whereas the latter had no true faith at all, and did not as the former turn from natural causes to the great First Cause. Hence, though a sign was given to him, it was a judicial infliction likewise, for not believing; though wisely ordained to be such as should fix the attention of the Jews on the promised child” (Bloomfield).
Luke 1:19. Gabriel.—Name means “man of God”; appeared to Daniel (Daniel 8:16; Daniel 9:21), and to the blessed Virgin (Luke 1:26). Only two angels are mentioned by name in Scripture: Gabriel and Michael (Daniel 9:21; Jude 1:9)—the one announces God’s purposes, the other executes God’s decrees. Stand in the presence of God.—I.e. in attendance, or ministering to: a figure derived from the customs of Oriental courts. He says this to accredit himself as a Divine messenger, and to assure Zacharias that the promise would be performed. To shew glad tidings.—Or, “to preach the gospel.” St. Luke uses the word more than twenty times in his Gospel and in the Acts, and it is common in the Pauline writings; but it is only found elsewhere in the New Testament in 1 Peter 1:12; Matthew 11:5.
Luke 1:21. He tarried so long.—It was customary for the priest at the time of prayer not to remain long in the holy place, for fear the people who were without might imagine that any vengeance had been inflicted on him for some informality, as he was considered the representative of the people.
Luke 1:22. He beckoned unto them.—R.V. “he continued making signs unto them.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Luke 1:5-25
Human Life at its best.—We see here—
I. Human life at its best.—
1. A devout and blameless course of conduct.
2. Honourable descent.
3. Sacred calling.
4. The enjoyment of high privilege—that of being chosen to offer the incense which symbolised the prayers of the nation.
II. Yet at its best human life is compassed about with sorrows and weaknesses.—Sorrows:
1. The heart of the man is troubled by his own personal affliction, especially as childlessness was regarded in Israel as an indication of Divine displeasure.
2. The heart of the priest could not but be wrung by the sinful state of the nation of whom he was the representative before God. Weaknesses:
1. He is overcome by fear at the sight of a messenger from the God whom he served so zealously.
2. He is slow of heart to believe the promise made to him, though it was but the fulfilment of his own prayers.
III. The Divine compassion.—
1. Towards this lonely pair in filling their hearts with joy and gladness.
2. Towards the nation in sending one who would prepare them to receive their Redeemer.
3. In inflicting merely a transitory punishment for unbelief.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luke 1:5-25
Luke 1:5. “A certain priest.”—One of the special purposes of St. Luke’s Gospel is to display the sacerdotal office and sacrificial efficacy of Christ, the true priest, and victim of the whole human race; and he aptly begins his Gospel by showing that the Levitical priesthood and sacrifices were imperfect and transitory, but had a sacred purpose as preparatory and ministerial to the priesthood and sacrifice of Christ.—Wordsworth.
“In the days of Herod.”—It makes a great deal of difference in what times and amid what circumstances and influences a man lives. In godly days it is not remarkable that one should live righteously; but when the prevailing spirit is unrighteous, the life that is holy and devout shines with rare splendour, like a lamp in the darkness. Such were the times and the spirit of “the days of Herod,” and such were the lives of the blameless old pair here mentioned. Amid almost universal corruption, they lived in piety and godly simplicity. The lesson is, that it is not necessary for us to be like other people, if other people are not what they ought to be. The darker the night of sin about us, the clearer should be the light that streams from our life and conduct.—Miller.
Luke 1:6. A Definition of a Holy Character and Life.—
1. Piety towards God: it is a real and not an apparent goodness, for it is an omniscient Judge who here pronounces sentence of approval: it is manifested in a habitual obedience to all the various commandments and ordinances of God (walking describes habitual action).
2. Good repute with men: irreproachable or blameless. Both elements are essential to a perfect character, and it is to be noted that righteousness towards God will always, where it is genuine, include blamelessness towards men. A man may win the approval of his fellows, and yet be neglectful of his duties towards God; but no one can be approved of God, and yet fail to deserve the respect of all who know him.
“Both righteous.”—The peaceful, pious home of the old priest is beautifully outlined. Somewhere in the hill country, in quiet seclusion, the priestly pair lived in cheerful godliness, and their content marred only by the absence of child voices in their quiet house. They presented a lovely example of Old Testament piety in a time of declension. Inwardly, they were “righteous before God”; outwardly, their lives were blamelessly conformed to His “commandments and ordinances,” not in absolute sinless perfection, but in the true spirit of Old Testament religion. Earth shows no fairer sight than where husband and wife dwell as heirs together of the grace of life and fellow-helpers to the truth. The salt of a nation is in its pious home life.—Maclaren.
“Before God.”—It is not enough to have human commendation. How do we stand before God? How does our life appear to Him? No matter how men praise and commend, if as God sees us we are wrong. We are in reality just what we are “before God”—nothing less, nothing more. The question always to be asked is, “What will God think of this?”—Miller.
A Righteous Life.—Zacharias is the first man of whom the Gospels tell us. He was “righteous before God.” This was shown by—
1. His blameless life.
2. His faithful service as God’s priest.
3. His prayerful spirit.
4. His heartfelt praise.
Luke 1:8. “While he executed the priest’s office.”—How solemnly, how divinely, the holy drama of a new revelation opens! An angel from heaven, a man on earth,—these are invariably the two chief characters in the sacred story; heaven acting upon earth, man brought into contact with the beings of the invisible world. On one hand, an Israelite,—one of the peculiar people to whom the promises belong; more, one of its priests appointed to plead for God to man, and for man to God; one specially chosen out of the chosen nation. On the other, “I, Gabriel, that stand before the presence of God.” The scene is the most sacred spot of the whole earth, of the Land of Promise, of the city of the great King—namely, the sanctuary of God’s house; and here, in the most holy retirement, an announcement is made, a dialogue held between the two by the altar of incense—type of the worship of the saints—in the hour of public prayer, while Israel is imploring the blessing of Jehovah. Could the opening of the Divine New Testament drama be more solemn, more appropriate, more Israelitish, more sacred, either as regards person, place, time, or action?—Pfenninger.
Luke 1:10. “At the time of incense.”—The offering of incense was simultaneous with the prayer of the people assembled in the court of the Temple. There was a close relation between these two actions. The one was symbolical, ideal, and therefore perfectly holy in its character: the real prayer offered by the people was of necessity imperfect and tainted by sin. The former covered the latter with its holiness: the latter communicated to the former reality and life. The one was, therefore, complementary to the other.—Godet.
Luke 1:11-79. The Last Messianic Prophecies.—The last of the long series of prophecies that foreannounced the Redeemer were in their substance and form unlike any that had preceded, thus marking the advent of a new order of things. St. Luke presents them to us in three most vivid groups, ascending in their gradation of tribute offered to the dignity of Christ.
I. An angel breaks the silence of ages by predicting the birth of the forerunner, but in such a manner as to make the coming of the Lord Himself the burden of his prophecy (Luke 1:11-20).
II. Then follows the central announcement by an angel to the virgin mother, in which the supremacy of the Saviour’s personal dignity and kingly rule is testified in terms that are never surpassed in Holy Scripture (Luke 1:26-38).
III. Finally, the Holy Ghost Himself, taking the angel’s place, proclaims by Zacharias, the last of the prophets, the future and eternal dominion of the Christ (Luke 1:67-79).—Pope.
Luke 1:11. “An angel.”—The third Gospel is throughout a gospel of the holy angels, i.e. we read more of their ministry in connection with Jesus than elsewhere. This is especially marked at the outset (Luke 1:11-26; Luke 1:35; Luke 2:9-16). Our most complete revelations, whether of the functions of the holy angels towards the Saviour during His life-walk on earth, or of their relation to us, are to be found in St. Luke. His narrative shows us in detail the living and continuous realisation of the most beautiful vision of the Hebrew story—“the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”—Alexander.
“On the right side of the altar.”—The Temple from which the prayers of the people ascended to God is the place where the first sign is given of the coming fulfilment of the national desire and hope of a Deliverer: here in the presence and message of the angel the first rays of light begin to break through the darkness.
Luke 1:12. “He was troubled.”—Yet the angel had come on an errand of love. All through the Bible we find that people were afraid of God’s angels. Their very glory startled and terrified those to whom they appeared. It is ofttimes the same with us. When God’s messengers come to us on errands of grace and peace we are terrified, as if they were messengers of wrath. The things which we call trials and adversities are really God’s angels, though they seem terrible to us; and if we will only quiet our hearts and wait, we shall find that they are messengers from heaven, and that they have brought blessings to us from God.—Miller.
“Fear fell upon him.”—He that had wont to live and serve in presence of the Master was now astonished at the presence of the servant. So much difference is there betwixt our faith and our senses, that the apprehension of the presence of the God of spirits by faith goes down sweetly with us, whereas the sensible apprehension of an angel dismays us. Holy Zachary, that had wont to live by faith, thought he should die when his sense began to be set on work. It was the weakness of him that served at the altar without horror to be daunted with the face of his fellow-servant.—Hall.
Luke 1:13. “Fear not.”—The first recorded words are thus those that banish fear—an appropriate prelude to the gospel of peace. St. Luke’s last sentence tells of the apostle’s “blessing and praising God” (Luke 24:53).
Soothing Words.—The angel’s message begins, as heaven’s messages to devout souls ever do, with soothing words—the very signature of Divine appearances both in Old and New Testaments. It is like a mother’s whisper to a terrified child, and is made still more caressing and assuring by the use of the name “Zacharias,” and by the assurance that his prayer is heard. Note how the names of the whole future family are in this verse, as token of the intimate and loving knowledge which God has of each.—Maclaren.
“Thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son.”—What other home in Israel could have been the training-ground of the prophet? What more fitting nursery for a personal force, inspired by and steeped in the Scriptures, unindebted and indeed hostile to contemporary urban authority and petrified traditionalism? The prophet did not owe all his originality and unique moral force to himself. His character owed its primary development to the home of a devout priest, blessed by an immediate Divine revelation, and living in the light of a recognised Divine purpose.—Vallings.
Prayer granted at last.—“Thy prayer is heard.” That this prayer was not one which Zacharias had offered that day is quite evident; for when the angel told him that it was to be granted to him he was surprised, and doubted as to the possibility of its being granted. It was, therefore, a prayer which he had offered years before, and which now perhaps he had forgotten, until the angel brought it to his remembrance. At any rate, for some time, perhaps for a long time past, he had given up all thoughts of receiving an answer. Yet though he may have forgotten it, God had it in remembrance. In a general way we all believe and admit that the omniscient God is acquainted with all our thoughts, and with the circumstances of our lives; but we can scarcely help being surprised at every new proof we receive of the fact that God knows our individual desires, and the trials and difficulties of our individual lot. Such wonderful acquaintance and sympathy with the sorrow that lay beneath the surface of Zacharias’ life is now shown in the message sent to him. From it he might learn, and we may learn, three great lessons:—
I. That delay is not necessarily refusal.—There may be delay in answering prayer, which simply means that God is postponing, and not refusing, the gift of those things which we ask from Him. We should, indeed, be prepared for this; but in our actual experience we are often surprised and perplexed by it. The spiritual blessings of pardon and of help in time of need are, we believe, instantly given. God would no more delay giving them than a parent would delay giving food to his hungry child. But other things—things which we believe would be for our present advantage and comfort—His higher wisdom may lead Him to withhold, or to delay giving.
II. That God is not strict to punish our loss of faith.—Our ceasing to offer the prayer which has not been granted, and even our becoming incredulous as to the possibility of receiving it, do not necessarily preclude our getting the benefit we desire. God does, indeed, require us to manifest faith in order that we may receive; but He is merciful towards our spiritual infirmities, and is not strict to withhold what we may have become unworthy to receive. The strong faith we once had may receive its reward—a reward which rebukes the unbelief into which we may have fallen, and arouses us out of it.
III. That the purpose of the delay may have been to give a fuller and more satisfying answer to our prayer.—Thus was it in the case of Zacharias. The son for whose birth he had longed was predestined to be the forerunner of Christ. It was only now, when the angel appeared to him, that the fulness of time was drawing near for the incarnation of the Son of God, and with this great event the birth of John the Baptist was associated in the counsels of God. Zacharias and Elisabeth were not only blessed with a son, but with a son who was to be the herald of the great King. In this way both the prayer which Zacharias offered this day on behalf to the people that God would hasten the coming of the Messiah, and that which in former years he had offered for himself, were simultaneously granted: both found their fulfilment in what was communicated by the angel. St. Luke elsewhere, in the parables of the selfish neighbour and of the unjust judge, commends importunate prayer, as having power to prevail with God. The example of the fulfilment of Zacharias’ prayer is full of encouragement for those who cannot, by reason of spiritual infirmity, manifest heroic faith, and take the gate of heaven by storm.
Luke 1:15. “Great in the sight of the Lord.”—How true this prediction is Christ’s eulogium witnesses, who declared that no greater had been born of women. Greatness, prophesied by an angel, and attested by Jesus, is greatness indeed. Greatness “in the sight of the Lord” is measured by very different standards from the world’s. It does not lie in the qualities that make the thinker, the artist, or the poet, but such as make the prophet and the saint. The true ambition is to be great after this pattern—great in dauntless witness for God, in self-suppression, in yearning towards the Christ, in pointing to Him, and in lowly contentment to fade in His light, and decrease that He may increase.—Maclaren.
“Great in the sight of the Lord.”—The annunciation of the forerunner by an angel, an honour which he shares with other elect servants of God’s will, derived all its meaning from the glory of the Being whose herald he was. The greatest of the children of men was raised up in this preternatural way, and amidst these circumstantials of dignity, not for His own sake, but that His whole life and mission might proclaim to Israel, “Thy King cometh!”—Pope.
“Great in the sight of the Lord.”—Truly great, then; for just what a man is in God’s eyes that is he indeed, neither more nor less. A silent hint also that no earthly greatness is to be expected; for that which is highly esteemed before men is an abomination in the sight of the Lord.—Lange.
“He shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.”—The strongly marked features in the habits of the Nazarite should be viewed as typically teaching that not only the ministers, but all the people of God, should abstain from sin, be temperate in all things, be superior to earthly pleasures and cares, and be altogether a peculiar people, distinguished from men of the world.—Foote.
“Filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.”—As the more plentiful influence of the Spirit was in John an extraordinary gift of God, it ought to be observed that the Spirit is not bestowed on all from their very infancy, but only when it pleases God. John bore from the womb a token of future rank. Saul, while tending the herd, remained long without any mark of royalty, and when at length chosen to be king was suddenly turned into another man (1 Samuel 10:6). Let us learn from this example that, from the earliest infancy to the latest old age, the operation of the Spirit in men is free.—Calvin.
Luke 1:16. “Many shall he turn to the Lord their God.”—The word of John was one of preparation and turning men’s hearts towards God. It was a concentration of the spirit of the law, whose office it was to convince of sin, and he eminently represented the law and the prophets in their work of preparing the way for Christ.—Alford.
Luke 1:17. “The spirit and power of Elias.”—I.e. after the model of that distinguished reformer, and with like success in turning hearts. “Strikingly, indeed, did John resemble Elias: both fell on evil times, both witnessed fearlessly for God; neither was much seen, save in the direct exercise of their ministry; both were at the head of schools of disciples; the result of the ministry of both might be expressed in the same terms—‘many of the children of Israel did they turn to the Lord their God’ ” (Brown).
“Turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.”—The true sense of these words seems to me to be indicated by other prophetic passages, such as Isaiah 29:22, “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale, when he seeth his children [become] the work of Mine hands”; Isaiah 63:16, “Though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not, thou, O Lord, art our father.” Abraham and Jacob, in the place of their rest, blushed at the sight of their guilty descendants, and turned away their faces from them; but now they will return with satisfaction towards them, in consequence of the change produced by the ministry of John. The words of Jesus, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56), prove that there is some reality beneath these poetic images. In this sense we can easily explain the modification introduced into the latter part of the passage: the children who return to their fathers are the Jews of the time of the Messiah—the children of the obedient, who return to the wisdom of the holy patriarchs.—Godet.
“And the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.”—The very substitution of this clause for the original of Malachi, “and the hearts of the children to their fathers,” seems suggestive at least of the connection between filial estrangement and a general ungodliness—between a heart undutiful and a heart irreverent, a son alienated from his father and a man alienated from his God. “He shall turn the hearts of the children to their fathers” is, in other words, “he shall turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.” It is remarkable, in this connection, that we do not find any express mention, in the Baptist’s ministry, of a special appeal to parents and children, such as he addressed to the soldiers, the publicans, the Pharisees, or the people at large. Parental and filial discord was not so much one single example, it was a general description rather, of the dislocation and disorganisation of society which the Baptist was sent to remonstrate with and to heal.—Vaughan.
Luke 1:19-20. “I am Gabriel … thou shalt be mute.”—In comparison with the angels man in his present state seems but a feeble creature. He is subject for the time being to their control, and they rule over him. In all their communications with men they show that they mean to be believed and obeyed. They are not to be trifled with, any more than physical nature itself, and cannot leave the authoritative station in which the eternal Word has ranged them.—Mason.
Luke 1:20. “Thou believest not.”—In the words actually employed by Zacharias, and the blessed Virgin Mary, respectively (see Luke 1:34), there does not seem to be much difference; but the speakers were very diversely affected. While hers was the hesitation of faith (see Luke 1:45), which timidly asked for explanation, his was the reluctance of unbelief, which required a sign. Hence her doubt was solved, his punished.—Burgon.
Luke 1:22. “Remained speechless.”—Origen, Ambrose, and Isidore see in the speechless priest vainly endeavouring to bless the people a fine image of the law reduced to silence before the first announcement of the gospel.—Farrar.
“Beckoned unto them.”—The sign given to Zacharias was one that both chastised and humbled him. His infirmity becomes a sign to him of the power of God. In like manner Jacob was lame after he had wrestled with the angel and prevailed: Saul was blind after he had been overcome by the Lord Jesus on the way to Damascus (Luke 1:24-25).
Luke 1:24. “Hid herself.”—The reason for Elisabeth’s seclusion is doubtless that given by Godet. From the fifth month the fact of a woman’s pregnancy can be recognised. She will remain in seclusion until it becomes evident that God has indeed taken away the reproach of childlessness. As he points out, the combination of womanly pride and of humble gratitude to God is a very natural trait of character, and one not likely to occur to a forger of a later age, who might be supposed to have invented these incidents.