Luke is probably my favorite gospel writer because he is such a detail man. After 20 years of marriage, my husband has come to realize that my love language is details. When he shares details of his day with me, I feel totally connected and completely loved. Drives him nuts! ha! Anyway, Luke was a medical doctor by profession, and he knew how to research the facts. In chapter 1 Luke admits that others had already written accounts of the life of Jesus, but Luke thought it worth his time to interview eyewitnesses and draw up a detailed, orderly account. Why? So that we "may know the certainty of the things we have been taught." (v. 4) I am so glad he did, aren't you?
Since we have begun our chronological study of the New Testament, I have been really struck by how all the puzzle pieces fit together. The story of Zechariah in Luke 1 is just one more example of God planning ahead to cause things to come together at just the right time. Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for a son for years. God chose to answer their prayer according to His time table. He arranged to share the news with Zechariah during his once-in-a-lifetime duty of offering incense to God in the temple. That is terrific!
Luke is very careful to point out that Zechariah and Elizabeth both were upright and blameless in God's sight. This is critical information because in their day, infertility was seen as a sign of God's judgment for sin. Do you think we still look at it like that today as well? We have ministered to several families dealing with infertility. In fact, I had two miscarriages myself. It is very typical for people to question God when they feel He is withholding the blessing of a child for their family. It is not unusual for people to ask what they have done wrong. Unfortunately, others are not very helpful or supportive of families longing for a child either. I can imagine that Elizabeth felt very ostracized from her community. After all, she was a preacher's wife and a barren wife--what a double whammy! We can be assured she was ecstatic when she found out she would have a son, because God had "shown his favor and taken away her disgrace among the people!" (v. 25)
I really like the words of encouragement the angel gave Zechariah when he told him about John. "He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord." (v. 14-15) I don't think I had ever noticed the end of verse 15, "and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth." That had never happened before! In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would fill people from time to time, but not continually, and never from birth. Way cool! And then in verse 40, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit when she greeted Mary. A woman filled with the Holy Spirit? That never happened before either!
I am so glad that God promised John would be a joy to his parents, because verse 80 says he lived in the desert. We also know that John suffered imprisonment and a tragic death. I pray he was a joy to raise, because his parents would have endured much heartache because of their son as well. Luke leaves out the details of whether or not John's parents were still living when he moved to the desert. However, if they were alive, you know they experienced judgment from the community for having a "wayward" son. Oh girls, let's be very cautious when we are tempted to judge people when we do not know their circumstances.
There are so many more things I want to write about this first chapter of Luke. I think I will save it for another post. You can blame it on Dr. Luke. He's the one who wrote 80 verses in one chapter!!!
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