Luke 1:1-25

Wednesday Evening Bible Study

April 5, 2000

Introduction

Author – Luke

Luke was a close friend and companion to Paul. He wrote the book of Acts after he wrote this gospel. Luke is the only Gentile to write a portion of the New Testament. He was a physician by profession. He accompanied Paul in some of his missionary work, as well as being present when Paul was killed (2Tim. 4:11).

Date written – about 60 AD, possibly while Paul was sitting in prison in Caesarea.

Uniqueness of the book:

The gospel definitely has a slant towards Gentiles, taking time to explain Jewish customs.

The author displays interest in medical matters (4:38; 7:15; 8:55; 14:2; 18:15; 22:50)

Luke gives the most detail to the events surrounding Jesus’ birth.

There are some stories and parables unique to Luke, including –

Zaccheus (19:1-10); the thief on the cross (23:39-43); the prodigal son (15:11-32) and the penitent publican (18:9-14), the good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), and the one thankful ex-leper (Luke 17:11-19).

There is a special emphasis on prayer throughout the book (3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, 28-29; 10:21; 11:1; 22:39-46; 23:34, 46)

Luke records four songs – Mary’s song (1:46-55), Zacharias’ song (1:67-79), the angels’ song (“Gloria in Excelsis”, 2:14), Simeon’s song (2:29-32).

:1-4 Luke’s Introduction

:2 which from the beginning were eyewitnesses

eyewitnesses – autoptes (“autopsy”) – seeing with one's own eye, an eye-witness; a medical term: autopsy, a detailed examination. This is a word that a doctor would use.

:3 to write unto thee in order

Luke is giving us an idea of how he’s put this book together.

He’s been doing a lot of research and has accumulated a wealth of eyewitness accounts (vs.2) of the things of Jesus’ life. As you read through the first chapter, you get the idea that he must have interviewed Mary.

He’s taken the time to put it all together into a clear order.

:3 most excellent Theophilus,

This is the person to whom Luke is writing to.

It may be a real person named Theophilus. Some have suggested that this was Luke’s “boss”. In those days, physicians were slaves, owned by a wealthy person.

Some have suggested that it is written to all of us. “Theophilus” means “lover of God”.

:5-25 Zacharias’ visitation

:5 in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea

There were several Herod’s in New Testament times, this was the man known as “Herod the Great”. He ruled from 37BC to 4AD. He was the man who did a major remodeling of the temple that had been built by Zerubbabel, as well as many other huge construction projects.

:5 a certain priest named Zacharias

This is John’s father. This means that John was also of the priestly line, a descendant of Aaron.

:5 of the course of Abia

When King David was getting the nation ready for Solomon to build the temple, he organized the Levitical priests into 24 groups, or, “courses” (1Chron. 24).

Each group of priests would come to the temple twice each year and serve the Lord for one week at a time, doing the various functions of a priest in the temple, then go back home and do their regular job.

In Zacharias’ day, there were about 20,000 priests in Israel. This was how they would all take turns getting to do their calling.

Zacharias is simply taking his turn at being one of the priests in the temple.

John the Baptist had good parents.

:7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren

Lesson

Bad things happen to good people.

I’m sure there were people who wondered why Zacharias and Elizabeth weren’t having children.

I’m sure there were people who wondered if there wasn’t some secret sin in their family that had resulted in them being childless.

The truth is, not every bad thing that happens to us is a result of sin.

Sometimes God is in the process of working things in us that simply require that we go through what we’ve gone through.

For Zack and Betty, God was going to give them a child who would be one of the great men of the Bible. And God desired to draw attention to this child’s birth by giving this child to a couple who were beyond their childbearing years.

:9 his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord

There were lots of duties for the priests to perform while they took their “tour of duty” in the temple. They would “cast lots” to determine who got which job. With there being 20,000 priests in Israel at this time, this particular assignment was a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity.

There would be three priests at a time that would be involved in the burning of the incense. The first priest would go in and clean out the ashes in the golden altar. The second priest would then go in carrying live coals from the bronze altar outside, placing the coals on the golden altar. The third priest, which was Zacharias, would then go in and place incense on top of the coals, burning the incense to represent the prayers of the people.

As the smoke of the incense would make it’s way into the Holy of Holies, the incense was meant to be a picture of the prayers of God’s people, rising up before His throne in heaven as a sweet fragrance.

There was a daily hour of prayer, about 3:00 p.m., when this was performed.

:10 the whole multitude of the people were praying without

without – outside in the courtyard.

:13 for thy prayer is heard

We aren’t told this, but apparently Zacharias had been praying for a child.

Lesson

Keep praying

I know this is an assumption on my part, but if Zacharias and Elizabeth were getting pretty old and they still had no children, I’m sure they had been praying for children for quite some time.

I believe that sometimes as we continue to pray for something, there may be times when we get a clear response from God telling us to stop praying for that request.

But if God doesn’t tell us to stop, maybe we shouldn’t be stopping.

Isaac too prayed for his wife to get pregnant.

(Gen 25:20-21 KJV) And Isaac was forty (40) years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. {21} And Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

(Gen 25:26b KJV) …and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.

That means that Isaac prayed for 20 years before his wife got pregnant!

Perhaps you have been wondering if God could ever answer your prayer. Keep praying. Keep asking. Keep seeking.

:13 thou shalt call his name John.

The boy’s name is given to Zacharias by the angel.

John = “Jehovah is a gracious giver”

:15 shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and

This leads us to believe that John was a Nazirite.

A “Nazirite” (Num. 6) was a person who had dedicated themselves to God in a very special way. The requirements of a Nazirite were that as long as you wished to stay in this “dedicated” state, you had to

1) Abstain from wine or even anything that was made by grapes

2) Never cut your hair (perhaps John’s hair was quite long!)

3) Never touch a dead person

Only Samson (Jud 13:7), Samuel (1Sa 1:11), and John were Nazirites from their mother’s womb.

:15 he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

I think we tend to think of the Holy Spirit as being an “adult” type of thing. Not so.

:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias

John will be compared to Elijah several times.

Malachi prophesied that Elijah would come back before the coming of the Lord.

(Mal 4:5 KJV) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

Jesus said that John the Baptist fulfilled this prophesy about Elijah (Mat. 17:10-13), yet John the Baptist denied that he was actually Elijah (John 1:21).

Who could these things be?

Jesus would come twice. Elijah will come in some form each time. Before Jesus’ first coming, John the Baptist came in the “spirit and power” of Elijah. Before Jesus’ Second Coming, Elijah will also make another appearance, possibly as one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11.

:17 to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children

This is Malachi’s description of Elijah’s ministry, from –

Mal 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

This was part of what John the Baptist was supposed to do to help people get ready for the coming of the Lord.

Lesson

Be a good dad.

We can understand that people would need to get ready for the Lord’s coming by stopping their disobedience (Luke 1:17). But what’s this “dad” stuff?

I think that a father’s role in society is one of the crucial elements of people knowing their God.

I don’t want to overplay this, but I think that people can find themselves seeing to God in a way that is very parallel to how they see their fathers. When a person has had a neglectful or abusive father, it’s not uncommon for them to at least at first have a rough time relating to God the Father.

I don’t want to oversimplify things, but the greater majority of people who fill our prisons are those who have had bad or absent fathers

Isn’t it interesting that in our society where we are seeing such an incredible breakdown of moral values, that we are also seeing a great number of fathers neglecting their God-given responsibilities? I think that now, more than probably any other time in history, dads aren’t being good dads.

The message of turning the hearts of dads to their kids is to be a message of Elijah before the coming of the Lord. Don’t you think it’s a message for today? Could we be close to the end?

Note: We often think of leading others to Jesus as being the thing that will “hasten” the coming of the Lord. I wonder if being a good dad isn’t another thing that God is looking for?

:18 for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

Zacharias is telling Gabriel that he doesn’t believe it. He doesn’t see how it would be possible.

:20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb …

Zacharias would be unable to speak until the child was born for two reasons –

1) As a type of chastisement on him for not believing what the angel was telling him

2) As further proof that these things would come true.

Lesson

Unbelief robs us of joy

Sometimes the things we’re looking for God to do are somehow tied to our faith to be able to receive it.

But sometimes God just intends on doing what He wants to do, whether we believe Him or not.

God was going to give Zacharias and Elizabeth a son whether Zack believed or not.

And in those cases, we will see God do His work, but we’re going to miss out on a lot of joy along the way.

(Psa 34:8 KJV) O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

“blessed” = “happy” ('esher)

:21 marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.

The people would be waiting for the priest to come out because after he had offered the incense which represented their prayers, he would come back outside and give a blessing to the people that were there. I think it was kind of like reminding the people that the prayers were delivered and God had heard them.

:24 hid herself five months, saying,

hid – perikrupto – to conceal on all sides or entirely, to hide, seclude. She probably hid herself until it was totally obvious to everyone that she was indeed pregnant and wasn’t just making up stories.

:25 to take away my reproach among men.

In those days, it was considered a curse from God if a gal couldn’t become pregnant. A great deal of her sense of self worth was tied to whether she was able to have children or not.

Introduction

Author – Luke

Date written – about 60 AD, possibly while Paul was sitting in prison in Caesarea.

Uniqueness of the book:

The gospel definitely has a slant towards Gentiles, taking time to explain Jewish customs.

The author displays interest in medical matters (4:38; 7:15; 8:55; 14:2; 18:15; 22:50)

Luke gives the most detail to the events surrounding Jesus’ birth.

There are some stories and parables unique to Luke, including –

Zaccheus (19:1-10); the thief on the cross (23:39-43); the prodigal son (15:11-32) and the penitent publican (18:9-14), the good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), and the one thankful ex-leper (Luke 17:11-19).

There is a special emphasis on prayer throughout the book (3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, 28-29; 10:21; 11:1; 22:39-46; 23:34, 46)

Luke records four songs – Mary’s song (1:46-55), Zacharias’ song (1:67-79), the angels’ song (“Gloria in Excelsis”, 2:14), Simeon’s song (2:29-32).

:1-4 Luke’s Introduction

:2 which from the beginning were eyewitnesses

eyewitnesses – autoptes (“autopsy”) – seeing with one's own eye, an eye-witness; a medical term: autopsy, a detailed examination. This is a word that a doctor would use.

:3 to write unto thee in order

Luke is giving us an idea of how he’s put this book together.

He’s been doing a lot of research and has accumulated a wealth of eyewitness accounts (vs.2) of the things of Jesus’ life. As you read through the first chapter, you get the idea that he must have interviewed Mary.

He’s taken the time to put it all together into a clear order.

:3 most excellent Theophilus,

This is the person to whom Luke is writing to.

It may be a real person named Theophilus. Some have suggested that this was Luke’s “boss”. In those days, physicians were slaves, owned by a wealthy person.

Some have suggested that it is written to all of us. “Theophilus” means “lover of God”.

:5-25 Zacharias’ visitation

:5 in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea

There were several Herod’s in New Testament times, this was the man known as “Herod the Great”. He ruled from 37BC to 4AD. He was the man who did a major remodeling of the temple that had been built by Zerubbabel, as well as many other huge construction projects.

:5 a certain priest named Zacharias

This is John’s father. This means that John was also of the priestly line, a descendant of Aaron.

:5 of the course of Abia

When King David was getting the nation ready for Solomon to build the temple, he organized the Levitical priests into 24 groups, or, “courses” (1Chron. 24).

Each group of priests would come to the temple twice each year and serve the Lord for one week at a time, doing the various functions of a priest in the temple, then go back home and do their regular job.

In Zacharias’ day, there were about 20,000 priests in Israel. This was how they would all take turns getting to do their calling.

Zacharias is simply taking his turn at being one of the priests in the temple.

:5 his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth

Elizabeth was also from the priestly line, meaning that she too was from the tribe of Levi. Somehow, Elizabeth was also related to Mary, who was of the tribe of Judah. How could this be?

It’s possible that Mary’s dad, being of the tribe of Judah, had a sister who married a guy from the tribe of Levi. They had a daughter named Elizabeth. Just a suggestion.

:6 And they were both righteous before God

John the Baptist had good parents.

:7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren

Lesson

Bad things happen to good people.

I’m sure there were people who wondered why Zacharias and Elizabeth weren’t having children.

I’m sure there were people who wondered if there wasn’t some secret sin in their family that had resulted in them being childless.

The truth is, not every bad thing that happens to us is a result of sin.

Sometimes God is in the process of working things in us that simply require that we go through what we’ve gone through.

For Zack and Betty, God was going to give them a child who would be one of the great men of the Bible. And God desired to draw attention to this child’s birth by giving this child to a couple who were beyond their childbearing years.

:9 his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord

There were lots of duties for the priests to perform while they took their “tour of duty” in the temple. They would “cast lots” to determine who got which job. With there being 20,000 priests in Israel at this time, this particular assignment was a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity.

As the smoke of the incense would make it’s way into the Holy of Holies, the incense was meant to be a picture of the prayers of God’s people, rising up before His throne in heaven as a sweet fragrance.

There was a daily hour of prayer, about 3:00 p.m., when this was performed.

:10 the whole multitude of the people were praying without

without – outside in the courtyard.

:13 for thy prayer is heard

We aren’t told this, but apparently Zacharias had been praying for a child.

Lesson

Keep praying

I know this is an assumption on my part, but if Zacharias and Elizabeth were getting pretty old and they still had no children, I’m sure they had been praying for children for quite some time.

I believe that sometimes as we continue to pray for something, there may be times when we get a clear response from God telling us to stop praying for that request.

But if God doesn’t tell us to stop, maybe we shouldn’t be stopping.

Isaac too prayed for his wife to get pregnant.

(Gen 25:26b KJV) …and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.

Perhaps you have been wondering if God could ever answer your prayer. Keep praying. Keep asking. Keep seeking.

:13 thou shalt call his name John.

The boy’s name is given to Zacharias by the angel.

John = “Jehovah is a gracious giver”

:15 shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and

This leads us to believe that John was a Nazirite.

A “Nazirite” (Num. 6) was a person who had dedicated themselves to God in a very special way. The requirements of a Nazirite were that as long as you wished to stay in this “dedicated” state, you had to

1) Abstain from wine or even anything that was made by grapes

2) Never cut your hair (perhaps John’s hair was quite long!)

3) Never touch a dead person

Only Samson (Jud 13:7), Samuel (1Sa 1:11), and John were Nazirites from their mother’s womb.

:15 he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

I think we tend to think of the Holy Spirit as being an “adult” type of thing. Not so.

:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias

John will be compared to Elijah several times.

Malachi prophesied that Elijah would come back before the coming of the Lord.

(Mal 4:5 KJV) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

Jesus said that John the Baptist fulfilled this prophesy about Elijah (Mat. 17:10-13), yet John the Baptist denied that he was actually Elijah (John 1:21).

Who could these things be?

Jesus would come twice. Elijah will come in some form each time. Before Jesus’ first coming, John the Baptist came in the “spirit and power” of Elijah. Before Jesus’ Second Coming, Elijah will also make another appearance, possibly as one of the two witnesses of Revelation 11.