SECTION 1. THE BIRTH AND GROWTH TO MATURITY OF JOHN AND JESUS (LUKE 1-2). This first section of Luke's Gospel can be analysed as below. It will be noted that the analysis, as we would expect, centres on the birth of Jesus. This is what all in the section is preparing for and leading up to, and wha... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as they delivered them to us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,' These first four verses are presented in classical Greek, in contrast with... [ Continue Reading ]
INTRODUCTION (1:1-4). In approaching this introduction we should recognise that it conforms with literary practise in the world of Luke's day. Josephus in ‘Against Appion' opens his writings similarly. In his opening to book 1 he says, “In my history of our Antiquities, most excellent Epaphroditus... [ Continue Reading ]
‘It seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus, that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.' So Luke tells us that, unsatisfied with other writings, he went ba... [ Continue Reading ]
‘There was in the days of Herod, king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.' Herod,... [ Continue Reading ]
ZACHARIAS GOES UP TO THE TEMPLE AND IS PROMISED A SON WHO WILL PREPARE THE WAY FOR GOD'S MESSIAH, AND HE IS MADE DUMB IN GOD'S PRESENCE (1:5-25). From this point on until the end of chapter 2 all is written in Aramaic Greek in vivid contrast to the classical Greek of Luke 1:1, and the more general... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.' But there was one respect in which they were not seen as the salt of the earth. For Elizabeth was barren, and they had grown old together childless. This would have seemed to many a contradicti... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now it came about that, while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.' Zacharias had been ‘on duty' in the Temple all week, but on this day he had ‘won... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense.' Meanwhile at that hour of incense a fairly large crowd of worshippers would gather in the Temple courtyards so that as the incense fumes arose they might all worship God together. Such crowds gathered three times a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of altar of incense.' And then suddenly, alone in the semi-darkness, there in that outer sanctuary lit only by the seven-branched lampstand, Zacharias received a terrible shock. For it was obligatory for the sanctuary to be... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell on him.' Fear and horror gripped his heart. What was this man doing in the sanctuary? The ‘fear' and ‘trouble' might have arisen at the thought that this man was defiling the sanctuary by his presence, or it may have been because something... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias: because your supplication is heard, and your wife Elisabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John.” ' During his offering of the incense Zacharias would have prayed on behalf of all the people, a prayer for the deliverance of... [ Continue Reading ]
“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 gladne... [ Continue Reading ]
“And many of the children of Israel will he turn to the Lord their God.” Such will be the inspiration of which he partakes that he will turn many in Israel to the Lord their God (bring them to repentance). For this is why he is being sent. He is coming in order to bring God's people back to Himself... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he will go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.” For Zacharias' promised son John is to be the Elijah who was promised by... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Zacharias said to the angel, “By what means will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.” ' But this was all too much for Zacharias. As he thought back on those long years of childlessness, how could he now expect a son to be born to him, and especially one in who... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the angel answering said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you these good tidings.” ' The answer comes. He can know that a son will be born to him because of the authority and position of the one who speaks. ‘I AM Gabriel, wh... [ Continue Reading ]