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| The Annunciation, Leonardo da Vinci |
The Birth Narrative (1:5-2:52)
Announcement of John the Baptist (1:5-25)
5. And there came to be in the days of Herod, king of Judea, a certain priest by [the] name of Zechariah, from the order of Abijah, and his wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name [was] Elizabeth.
1. The first two chapters of Luke present the story of the birth of both Jesus and John the Baptist. Mark does not say anything about Jesus' birth, nor does it indicate any familial connection between Jesus and John the Baptist. Matthew also adds the story of Jesus' birth to its source material in Mark, but its presentation is quite different from that of Luke. Our Christmas plays would be interestingly different if we were lacking either one.
The birth and childhood of a person were viewed differently in the Greco-Roman world than we view them today. We have learned from Freud and modern psychology that childhood is a highly formative time, where a person is formed. If a person is somehow separated from parents or a context of love and nurture, it will be almost impossible for them to grow up and have normal loving relationships. [1] If their parents have certain unique or emphatic characteristics, those can have a major impact on the habits and patterns of later life.
By contrast, the ancient Mediterraneans viewed childhood not as formative but as indicative. If a person became great, they must have always been destined for greatness. Therefore, there would have been signs of greatness as a child, omens and hints. Identity was something that was generally considered fixed throughout one's life rather than something formed. [2]
When God reveals Godself, when God speaks and inspires, God does it within the categories of our understanding. This is the principle of incarnation in revelation--God "takes on the flesh" of those to whom he is speaking. Otherwise we either would not understand or we would not understand nearly as well. God does not expect us to come up to his level--we cannot! God "stoops to our weakness." God comes down on our level and speaks in terms we can comprehend, because God is actually trying to communicate with us. God wants us to understand. [3]
So the function of the childhood narratives in Luke and Matthew are to foreshadow who Jesus and John the Baptist will become. Their births came with dramatic omens that point to the greatness we will later seen in their lives and indeed, in eternity. There are signs beyond anything anyone has ever or will ever experience again.
2. Luke 1 gives us the announcements of their births, focusing on their mothers. This focus on women in the story is highly unusual in the ancient world and is a signature of Luke. When revelation fits neatly within its world, that is not usually a main take-away. When revelation is unusual or unique for its world, that is usually a key point of revelation.
One also wonders if somewhere close to Luke is an influential woman speaking into his narrative. Some have even suggested that Mary herself could have been a major source for Luke at this point. It is of course hard to say, but there are traditions that Mary came to Ephesus in later life. For the story of John the Baptist, we know that there were followers of him at Ephesus in the late first century. They would no doubt have inherited traditions about his origins. [4]
In Luke-Acts, the attention to the women of the story suggests that part of the new covenant and a distinctive feature of the good news is the elevation of women. In Acts 2:17, Luke will indicate that the Day of Pentecost brought a day when "daughters will prophesy." The elevation of women to equal status with men is a key part of the good news. In Christ, the curse of Genesis 3:16 is undone and the complete equality of women with men in every way is made possible, including leadership and ministry.
3. The Herod in question is of course Herod the Great. He does not feature in Luke's story but, if the Gospel of Matthew is also in the background of Luke, people would know of his cruelty from Matthew 2 where he kills the infants in Bethlehem. Since Luke is writing to a Roman official, it is perhaps not surprising that he does not highlight Herod's cruelty as a Roman proxy.
It is a little surprising that Luke calls Herod the king of Judea, since he ruled a much larger area than just Judea. Herod also ruled Samaria and Galilee, as well as Idumea and Peraea. But perhaps at the time of writing, Luke believed it would be communicative to speak of the focal area.
In addition to the main priests like the high priest, there were many other priests and Levites throughout the land. Zechariah is a lower level priest who probably did not even live in Jerusalem. There were fifty-two orders of these lower level priests, and they served two weeks out of the year in the temple. Of course only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place of the temple and even then only once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). His order is identified as the order of Abijah.
Both Zechariah and Elizabeth are from priestly lines. They are descendants of Aaron in the Old Testament, the first high priest. The fact that Elizabeth is of a priestly lineage may suggest that Mary also had some priestly blood in her background. If so, it would suggest that Jesus was not only of royal blood but also priestly in lineage. It would corroborate the sense that he was a king-priest (cf. Heb. 7).
6. But they were both righteous before God, going in all the commandments and righteous requirements of the Lord blameless.
The New Testament knows nothing of the sense that "I'm not perfect, just forgiven." The New Testament authors expect that actual, lived-out righteousness will be true of God's people. There is no "legal fiction" about Zechariah and Elizabeth having some righteousness on paper that they do not actually live out. They are actually righteous.
They obey the commandments of God, period. They keep the righteous expectations of the Jewish Law. Indeed, they are blameless in their keeping of the Law. Paul will say the same thing of himself in Philippians 3:6. He realizes that, while God expects righteous behavior, this is not how God has chosen to justify us, to declare us right with him. Only Christ is the way to that.
7. And there was not to them a child because Elizabeth was barren, and both had advanced in their days.
There was of course a huge stigma on a woman who did not bear a child. In their world, they assumed the woman was always the cause. A woman's womb was viewed as something like an oven in which the seed from the man was cooked. Any failure of the system was attributed to her.
We now know, of course, that this is not always the case. The man is just as likely to be the reason why pregnancy does not occur. And of course we know that the man and woman both contribute equally to the genetic material of the child.
The barrenness of Elizabeth invokes the stories of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis, as well as Hannah in 1 Samuel 1-2. We find echoes of both those stories in the birth story of John the Baptist. Elizabeth would have had difficulty ever being valued as a woman in that world. God is about to take away her stigma.
Indeed, this is one of the key messages of Luke-Acts. God lifts the status of the marginalized. God takes those who are shamed in their world. He lifts them and gives them places of great honor.
8. And it happened while he was serving in the order of his division before God, 9. according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him [by lot] to offer incense, having entered into the temple of the Lord. 10. And all the multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of the incense.
1. A team of five priests served each day in the outer room of the temple, the "Holies" or "Holy Place." This is a great honor, usually a once in a lifetime honor. In their worldview, God chose by the casting of lots who was supposed to do it. We can assume that, in this instance, God did indeed choose Zechariah.
Christians debate whether God micromanages the world on this level all the time, with some believing God determines every last event. The Wesleyan tradition of which I am a part believes that God also empowers humans to make at least some decisions, particularly those relating to salvation. I personally believe that God has built freedom into the creation on the quantum level. You might say that God has given the universe some degree of "free will."
So this was likely the first time that Zechariah had ever offered incense in the temple. This took place twice a day, in the morning at dawn and in the evening at dusk. Perhaps we should picture evening prayer here because there seem to be more people present than we might expect at dawn. They are praying, waiting on a blessing after the crew of priests is finished.
In Revelation 8:4, we get the sense that incense was associated with the prayers of the people. It was not an animal sacrifice but generating special smells that likely symbolized originally God smelling something good. God inhaled, as it were, the prayers of the people, and he smiled with a delight like we have when we smell our favorite foods. Incense is thus like a symbolic catalyst to carry our prayers up to God.
2. A couple key features of Luke-Acts again linger in the background here. First, Luke-Acts both emphasize the importance of prayer even more than the other Gospels. These first two chapters of Luke, unique to his Gospel, are full of prayers.
We also see the centrality of the temple within the "map" of Luke-Acts. The story begins in the temple, and Paul will visit the temple in Acts 21 at the end of the storyline as well. Jerusalem is the center of Luke's universe. Jesus will ascend to heaven from Jerusalem in Acts 1, and it will be from Jerusalem that the witness to Jesus begins in Acts 1:8.
11. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him on the right hand of the altar of incense. 12. and Zechariah was terrified when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
No doubt the appearance of an angel would be terrifying. Fear is the universal reaction in Scripture and Jewish literature at the appearance of an angel. The response of the angel in the next verse is also common, "Fear not."
Who knows what picture of an angel is in Luke's mind here. Does Zechariah see a humongous figure, an other-dimensional figure? We will soon find out that the angel in question is none other than the Gabriel of Daniel 8-9. The right side was understood in that culture to be a favored side and would be perceived as befitting a messenger from God. The word angel means "messenger."
The altar of incense was located in the outer room of the two-part sanctuary. In the book of Revelation, it symbolizes the prayers of God's people (Rev. 5:8). Perhaps it is no coincidence that Zechariah is assigned to the altar of incense at the very time that the long term prayers of him and his wife Elizabeth are about to be answered.
13. But the angel said to him, "Do not fear, Zechariah, because your petition was heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will give birth to a son, and you will call his name 'John.'"
Presumably, the petitions in question are the prayers for a child because of their inability to have a son. At this stage of their life, those prayers were probably long in the past. Clearly, even when God answers prayers, he does not always do so on our preferred time schedule. The prediction is made, and the name of John is instructed.
14. And joy will be to you, and rejoicing, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15. For he will be great before the Lord. And wine and strong drink he will never drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. [5]
Joy is of course one of the themes of Christmas, and the joy of the birth narrative starts with the promise of children. There will of course be puzzlement as well. Zechariah will not likely be the only one to question whether this is really going to happen, and Elizabeth will not publicize her blessing immediately. But there will be great rejoicing at the birth to be sure.
There is also the foreshadowing of the great role John the Baptist will play. We know of John the Baptist even today, after all. But we have reason to believe that there were followers of John the Baptist who did not believe in Jesus even in the late first century. [6] His role will be as the forerunner of the Messiah, the one who prepares the way of the Lord (Luke 3:4; Mal. 3:1; 4:5).
John the Baptist would apparently be a Nazirite. Nazirites did not drink any form of alcohol and did not cut their hair as an indication of sanctification to God (cf. Num. 6:1-6). Most Israelites were not Nazirites, including Jesus himself.
Interestingly, John would be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he was born. This is an indication that Luke does not think that being filled with the Holy Spirit requires the conscious involvement of a person. This observation is often used as an argument in support of infant baptism, since John is "in" the people of God even before he can consciously choose God.
16-17. And he will turn many of the sons [and daughters] of Israel to the Lord their God. And he himself will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers [and mothers] to [their] children and disobedient [ones] with the prudence of the righteous, to prepare for the Lord a people having been equipped.
While we are prone to spiritualize the mission of Jesus and John the Baptist, it had a clear political and "real world" overtone for Jesus' day. In the minds of those who heard the message of Jesus and John the Baptist, the restoration of Israel as a free, political entity on the earth was a central point. They did not hear the message in terms of their individual relationships with God but in terms of Israel's corporate relationship with God.
John the Baptist would turn Israel as a people back to God. His mission was to prepare the way for the Messiah to rule a restored people and a restored "nation." He was to get everything ready for the restored kingdom. This task required turning the allegiance of the Jews back to God.
Parents needed to resume teaching their children to serve the Lord. Those who have strayed from the covenant of God with Israel needed to learn from the "prudence," from the practical wisdom of the righteous. The righteous are those who have kept the covenant, who have followed the Jewish Law. The people of God need to be "reconstructed," "equipped," "furnished" with the tools needed for the re-auguration of the kingdom.
You generally do not move into a house until it is built. You do not sleep in a structure without a roof. You do not move in until there is a front door to close. John the Baptist was Elijah, whose task was to get the building in order before the king would move in for good.
The mention of Elijah is again an allusion to the words of Malachi, especially 4:5-6. [7] There, God speaks of sending Elijah before the Day of the Lord. Malachi speaks of Elijah turning the hearts of the children to their parents to save Israel from judgment. Gabriel thus connects the prediction of Malachi with John the Baptist.
18. And Zechariah said to the angel, "In what way am I to know this, for I am an old man, and my wife having been advanced in her days?"
Zechariah seems to doubt the message. Certainly he is given the mild chastisement of silence as a reminder of the need for faith. As I have heard said, Mary questions the "how" it will happen, Zechariah questions "if" it will happen.
From a human perspective, his doubt is not unreasonable. However, the appearance of an angel in the Holy Place suggests that he should have suspended his sense of the normal. From a human perspective, the birth is impossible. She is too old; he is less than likely. This will be a true miracle because it will contravene the laws of nature.
19. And answering, the angel said to him, "I myself am Gabriel, the one who has stood before God, and I was sent to speak to you and to announce the good news of these things to you...
We now find out the name of the angel. This is Gabriel, the messenger angel, whom we know from Daniel 8 and 9. Perhaps we are meant to see a connection between the prophecy of Daniel and the births of Jesus and John the Baptist. Although in general Luke is less apocalyptic, less oriented around cataclysmic events of the second coming than Matthew and Mark, the presence of Gabriel may allude to the arrival of John the Baptist and Jesus as the beginning of the end.
Gabriel proclaims good news (euangelizomai). In the first instance, the good news would seem to be the birth of John the Baptist. The birth of a son after barrenness is good news. The birth of a son at such an age is a miracle. The birth of a son in that world is good news period.
But of course we must suspect that the good news is even greater. The good news is that God is going to restore his people. The good news is that God is sending the Messiah. God is sending Israel its king.
20. "... And behold, you will be silent and not able to speak until the day these things come to be, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." [8]
Zechariah did not respond in faith, so his mouth is sealed. It is a mild punishment but also a sign to those around him. They will know that something significant has happened and is happening. It builds suspends for the arrival of John the Baptist.
21. And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they marveled at him delaying in the temple. [9] 22. And having come out, he was not able to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he himself was signaling to them and was remaining unable to speak.
It was conventional for a priest to give a blessing to the people after the service in the temple was complete. But Zechariah cannot speak when he emerges. Not only is he unable to give the blessing, but he is delayed in coming outside. The task presumably would not have taken too long normally. All these factors again indicate that something different and striking has happened and is about to happen.
Zechariah motions and presumably would like to share what has happened with the people, but he is unable. He motions with his hands but cannot communicate it. They realize that he has had a vision in the place where God touches the earth. This is the nexus of God's communication with the earth at this time in history, and God has presumably spoken.
23. And it came to pass, as the days of his ministry were fulfilled, he went away into his house.
The work that Zechariah is doing is "leitourgia." It is not just ministry but a ministry of worship that is done in relation to God rather than humanity. The English word liturgy is derived from this Greek word. It is service to God rather than service toward others. Zechariah has had the job of a lifetime, and it is now fulfilled. He returns to whatever village outside of Jerusalem he may be from.
24. And after these days, Elizabeth his wife conceived and was hiding herself for five months, saying, 25. "For thus the Lord has done for me in the days that he looked on to take away my reproach among people."
One of the special themes of Luke-Acts is its attention to the role women played in the story of the gospel. Elizabeth is the first of these women. Whereas Matthew's birth story focuses on the royalty of Jesus and features kings and wise men, Luke's birth story has a lowly priest and his wife, a lowly virgin from Galilee, and hardly noticeable elderly people who come regularly to the temple.
These "nobodies" fit with Luke's teaching that Jesus came to reclaim the marginal rather than the powerful and central. He came for the lowly, not the exalted. He came for the sick and not the healthy.
Elizabeth apparently does not let anyone know that she is pregnant for five months. People would probably have doubted her if she had said, but at five months it will become clear. Those who have had miscarriages in the past are also sometimes more cautious about sharing their pregnancies because of their past experiences.
Barrenness was a matter of reproach in that world. Elizabeth's central identity as a woman in that world was the production of a male heir. Although we know that Zechariah may actually have been the cause, they did not. They blamed the woman, viewing her as a sort of incubator of the man's seed. A woman's womb was like an oven in which the seed was cooked. If there was a problem, they thought it was the wife's fault.
She would have lived her whole married life with this social stigma. No matter how much love Zechariah might have given her, she would have inevitably experienced social shame. His family may even have treated her with some contempt. She had failed at the very reason for her existence in the family. God was now taking all of that shame away, as he did with Sarah and Hannah in the Scriptures.
[1] This was seen in the Romanian orphans under the communist regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu, where babies were not held as infants. Even the best developed of these children have difficulty today relating to other people. We can hope that the intentional policy of separating children from parents at the southern US border under the Trump administration will not have such long-lasting effects on those children.
[2] Of course we also believe that "nature" plays a role in our personalities in addition to "nurture." It is a both/and--genetics and environment.
[3] Even referring to God as "he" is a tool to help the patriarchal worlds of the Bible understand. God has no genitalia and in fact also uses feminine imagery in the Bible to reveal "herself" to the world (e.g., Isa 49:15). There is a significant implication--to take the Bible too "literally" is to tie God down to ancient worldviews, the parts of the Bible that were the ancient clothing rather than the message.
[4] For followers of John the Baptist at Ephesus around the year AD58, see Acts 19:3. Many think the de-emphasis of John the Baptist in the Gospel of John may reflect that followers of John the Baptist who did not accept Jesus as the Messiah may have continued in Ephesus until the 90s.
[5] I have decided to record grammar of interest as it appears. This verse has a subjunctive of emphatic negation.
[6] Acts hints at this in 19:3-4, and the way the Gospel of John presents John the Baptist may imply the situation at Ephesus in the late first century.
[7] Malachi 2:6-7; 3:1, 18; 4:5-6.
[8] This verse has a future periphrastic construction.
[9] This verse has a temporal infinitive construction and an imperfect periphrastic.
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