2  God’s Revelation  to Zacharias  (Luke 1:5–14, 18–25)

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years. Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.” … Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.” The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute. When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home. After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.” (1:5–14, 18–25)

The opening of Luke’s narrative finds Israel in the midst of a long night of spiritual darkness. The nation’s history had been marked by blessing and cursing, faithfulness and apostasy, obedience and rebellion. But all through the centuries—from the call of Abraham, the father of the nation, to the 400 years of bondage in Egypt, the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the conquest and occupation of Canaan, the chaotic days of the judges, the zenith of Israel’s power and glory under David and Solomon, the captivity and dissolution of the northern kingdom, the seventy-year exile and subsequent return of the southern kingdom, and the period of Gentile domination culminating with the nation’s subjugation to Rome—what sustained the faithful, believing remnant was the hope that one day light would break through the darkness. In Luke 1:78–79 Zacharias expressed the fervent desire of those who feared God that the “Sunrise from on high” (the Messiah) would come and dispel the spiritual darkness that had held the nation in its grip for so long.

Zacharias undoubtedly had in mind the promise God had made four centuries earlier through the prophet Malachi: “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall” (4:2). The prophecy looks forward to the coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will deliver all who savingly believe in Him from the darkness of sin (cf. Isa. 9:2; Matt. 4:16; Luke 2:25–32; John 1:5; 8:12; 12:35–36, 46; Acts 26:18; Eph. 5:8; Col. 1:13; 1 Thess. 5:4–5; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 John 1:6–7). Further, the Savior and Deliverer who was to come would be God Himself; according to Malachi’s prophecy it would be “the Lord, whom you seek, [who] will suddenly come to His temple” (3:1).

The Old Testament, then, ended with the most positive, hopeful promise. The sun of righteousness would arise, and His glorious light would dispel the spiritual darkness that engulfed the people. But just as the darkness is deepest just before dawn, so also the four centuries since Malachi’s day had been the darkest time of all for Israel. The Jewish people had sunk deeper and deeper into apostasy. The nation had abandoned the Old Testament truth that salvation is by faith alone (Gen. 15:6; cf. Rom. 4:3, 9, 20–22; Gal. 3:6) in favor of salvation by legalism, self-righteous ness, and meritorious works. Their religion consisted of empty, self-serving (cf. Matt. 23:5–7) ritual that could not save (Rom. 3:20) and drew the Lord’s scathing rebuke (cf. Deut. 9:4; Isa. 29:13; 64:6; Jer. 12:2; Matt. 23:27–28; Mark 7:6–7; Luke 16:15). As the apostle Paul sorrowfully concluded, “For I testify about them [the unbelieving Jews] that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:2–3). In the face of such hypocrisy, God had remained silent; He had not communicated with His people through prophet, revelation, or miracle during the four hundred years since Malachi’s day.

Malachi’s prophecy had included God’s pledge to send a “messenger” (“herald;” “forerunner”) before the coming of the Messiah (3:1). The arrival of that messenger would signal the breaking of God’s long silence toward His people. His preaching would be a beacon of light in Israel’s spiritual darkness; he would proclaim the long-awaited news of “the true Light” (John 1:9), Messiah’s imminent arrival (Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:2–3; Luke 3:4–6; John 1:23), and call the people to prepare their hearts to receive Him (Mark 1:4; Luke 1:16–17, 76–77; cf. Isa. 40:3; Mal. 3:1).

It was essential that Luke begin the saga of salvation with the story of that forerunner, John the Baptist, for several reasons. First, doing so connected the Old and New Testaments. They do not teach two different religions or propose two different ways of salvation. Rather, they are one unified revelation from God, offering the hope of redemption through faith in the true and living God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Second, John the Baptist was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. That fulfillment demonstrates the accuracy of those predictions, further linking the Old and New Testaments, and placing the New Testament as Scripture on a par with the Old.

Third, as noted above, it was through John the Baptist that God broke His centuries-long silence. Gabriel’s appearance was the first supernatural communication and John was the first prophet in 400 years.

Fourth, John’s birth was miraculous, in that his parents (like Abraham and Sarah) were beyond child-bearing age. That foreshadowed the even more miraculous virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Finally, and most significantly, the story of John the Baptist establishes that he was the divinely prophesied forerunner of the Messiah. Therefore, his testimony concerning Jesus (cf. John 1:29) verifies that Jesus was the Messiah.

Like any competent historian, Luke knew the importance of placing his narrative in its proper context. Therefore, he began his account with a brief description of the historical setting before relating the amazing story of Gabriel’s announcement to Zacharias regarding John.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, (1:5a)

Herod (Herod I or the Great) is the first and best known of the Herod family mentioned in the New Testament (the others are Antipas [Luke 3:1; cf. Matt. 14:1–12; Luke 23:7–12], Philip [Luke 3:1], Archelaus [Matt. 2:22], Agrippa I [Acts 12], and Agrippa II [Acts 25:13; 26:1ff.]). Though the gospels mention him only here and in Matthew 2:1–22, Herod played a major role in the events surrounding the birth of Christ.

Herod’s father, Antipater, had supported Julius Caesar, even risking his life for him during the latter’s war with Pompey. In gratitude, Caesar made Antipater procurator (governor) of Judea. Antipater in turn appointed Herod (then only twenty-five years old) governor of Galilee. Herod immediately gained favor with both the Galilean Jews and the Roman officials by killing a notorious bandit leader and many of his followers. After his father’s death Herod, having fled to Rome to escape a Parthian invasion of Palestine, was declared king of Judea by Octavian and Antony (with the Senate’s confirmation) in 40 B.C. With the aid of the Romans, Herod drove the Parthians out of Palestine and established his kingdom, becoming undisputed ruler in 37 B.C.

Herod was not a Jew, but an Idumean (Edomite). Since the Edomites (descendants of Esau) were traditional enemies of Israel (Num. 20:14–21; 1 Kings 11:14–22; 2 Kings 14:7; 2 Chron. 25:5–16; Ps. 137:7; cf. Jer. 49:7–22; Ezek. 25:12–14; 35:15; Amos 1:11–12; Obad. 1–21), Herod felt the need to ingratiate himself with the Jewish people. He married Mariamne, a member of the prestigious and wealthy Jewish Hasmonean family, which had ruled Israel during much of the intertestamental period. He also utilized all of his considerable diplomatic, oratorical, and administrative skills to increase his standing with the Jews. Herod conducted a vast public works program, highlighted by the rebuilding of the temple (still ongoing during Jesus’ ministry), and the construction of the port city of Caesarea. He also revived the city of Samaria and built the remarkable and virtually impregnable fortress of Masada. He showed favor toward the people by twice lowering their taxes, and during the severe famine of 25 B.C. Herod even melted down gold objects from his palace to buy food for the poor. He was so popular with some Jews that they formed the pro-Herod party called the Herodians (Matt. 22:16; Mark 3:6; 12:13). Like the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the Herodians were enemies of Jesus (Mark 12:13).

But in spite of those positive achievements, there was a dark side to Herod. He could be ruthless, vicious, and merciless, and was incredibly jealous and paranoid, constantly afraid that someone would usurp his power. Herod’s cruelty and bloodthirstiness manifested itself, among other things, in the murder of his wife, her brother, her mother, and several of his own sons. His barbaric savagery reached a horrifying low point in the slaughter of the innocents (Matt. 2:16–18), which was motivated by his fear that the one “born King of the Jews” (Matt. 2:2) would supplant him. As Luke’s narrative opened, Herod’s long reign was drawing to a close.

Having laid out the historical background, Luke turned his attention to Zacharias. He portrayed his personal righteousness, his priestly responsibility, his faithless response to prophetic revelation, and the divine reproof for his unbelieving response.

ZACHARIAS’S PERSONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS

there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years. (1:5b–7)

Luke’s cast of characters abruptly transitions from the proud king Herod to the humble priest named Zacharias. Zacharias, or Zechariah, (“Yahweh has remembered”), was a common name in Scripture, and this particular Zacharias was just one of thousands of priests in Israel, carrying out his duties in obscurity in a remote village in Judea.

To be a priest was to represent God to the people; it was a sacred and respected position (cf. Ex. 29:8–9, 44; Num. 18:7). The priests were the agents of God’s rule in Israel’s theocracy. They brought God to the people as they taught and interpreted Scripture and counseled and judged them (Num. 5:14–15; Deut. 17:8–13; 21:5; 33:8, 10; Mal. 2:7). It was also the priests’ sacred duty to bring the people to God by offering sacrifices in the temple for their sins (Ex. 29:10–19; Lev. 4:13–20; 2 Chron. 29:34; 35:11). During the course of a year, each priest would leave his local duties to serve in the Jerusalem temple twice for one week. The beginning of Luke’s narrative finds Zacharias in the temple for one of his semiannual weeks of service.

Luke’s note that Zacharias was part of the division of Abijah does not necessarily indicate that he was a descendant of Abijah. David, Zadok, and Ahimelech had organized the priesthood into twenty-four divisions (cf. 1 Chron. 24:4–19), the eighth of which was that of Abijah (v. 10). But after the Babylonian captivity, only four of the twenty-four priestly divisions returned to Judah (Ezra 2:36–38). For the sake of tradition, however, the Jews wanted twenty-four divisions, so the leaders divided the remaining four divisions into twenty-four and restored the former names to them. So Zacharias, while probably not in the family line of Abijah (Abijah was not one of the divisions that returned after the exile), nevertheless served in the division that bore his name.

Priests were expected to marry an Israelite woman who was a virgin (cf. Lev. 21:7, 14; Ezek. 44:22). Zacharias went beyond that, however, and chose his wife from the daughters of Aaron. She was named Elizabeth, after Aaron’s wife, a name that means “My God is an oath” and celebrates the faithfulness of God. Since all qualified male descendants of Aaron were priests (Ex. 29:9; 40:13–15; Lev. 21:17–23; Num. 3:3; 18:7), she was familiar with the priesthood; most of the men in her family would have been priests.

Zacharias and Elizabeth were a remarkable pair, well suited to be the parents of Messiah’s forerunner. In a bleak period of hypocrisy, legal-ism, and defection from the true worship of God, they were both righteous. And unlike the self-righteous hypocrites whom Jesus excoriated (cf. Matt. 6:2, 5, 16; 23:13–29; John 5:44), Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous not in the sight of men, but in the sight of God. God justified them the way He has always justified the redeemed: by faith. As Moses wrote of Abraham, “Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). Zacharias and Elizabeth believed in the true and living God and the revelation of His Word in the Old Testament (cf. Acts 24:14). They also believed that God’s law was right and true (cf. Ps. 19:7–8; Rom. 7:12) but knew that they could not keep it (cf. Acts 15:10; Rom. 3:20; 8:7; Gal. 2:16; 3:11, 24). Because Zacharias and Elizabeth realized that they fell short of the law’s standards of righteousness, they also knew that they needed to turn in repentance and faith (cf. Hab. 2:4; Luke 18:13–14) to a merciful, gracious, and loving God. He would then grant them forgiveness (Ps. 130:3–4; Isa. 1:18; Dan. 9:9; Mic. 7:18–19; Acts 10:43) and not impute their sins to them (Ps. 32:1–2; Rom. 8:33–34; cf. Rom. 3:25–26; 4:3, 9). The basis for that forgiveness was Messiah’s sacrificial death on behalf of all who believe (Isa. 53:5–6, 10–12). Thus God covers the penitent sinner with His righteousness, as Isaiah wrote centuries earlier: “I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness” (Isa. 61:10; cf. 53:4–6). Zacharias and Elizabeth were shining examples of the godly remnant of believing Jews in the midst of an apostate nation. They were declared righteous by grace through faith according to the new covenant promise to be ratified in the death of Christ.

Zacharias and Elizabeth were not merely justified, however; they were also being sanctified, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. When God imputes righteousness to believers, He also sanctifies them (1 Cor. 1:30; 6:11). Justification and sanctification are inseparably linked, since “Christ … justifies no man without also sanctifying him” (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, III, 16, 1). That Zacharias and Elizabeth lived blamelessly before the Lord does not mean they were sinless, but rather that their lives were characterized by obedience to God’s law (cf. Deut. 30:8–10; Josh. 1:8). They were like Job, who “was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:1).

Ironically, though God viewed Zacharias and Elizabeth as righteous many of those who knew them did not. The sad truth was that they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren. Many in that culture would have wondered whether sin in their lives had caused God to withhold children, which were recognized as His gift (cf. Gen. 33:5; Pss. 113:9; 127:3). Childlessness was an extremely difficult burden for women (and their husbands) to bear in Jewish society, as the Old Testament illustrates (see, for example, the stories of Rachel [Gen. 30:1–2, 23], and Hannah [1 Sam. 1:4–11]).

Humanly speaking, the situation for Zacharias and Elizabeth appeared hopeless, since they were both advanced in years. Despite being righteous in God’s sight, they had lived all their married lives bearing the stigma of childlessness. But those who viewed Elizabeth’s barrenness as God’s punishment for her or her husband’s sin (cf. John 9:1–3) were wrong; hence Luke’s emphasis on the couple’s righteousness. Their circumstances were sovereignly ordained by God, and they would be vindicated when God gave them a son—and not just any son, but the forerunner to the Messiah, John the Baptist, the first prophet in 400 years, the final prophet of the Old Testament era, and the greatest man who had ever lived up until that time (Matt. 11:11).

ZACHARIAS’S PRIESTLY RESPONSIBILITY

Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. (1:8–10)

This event marked the pinnacle of Zacharias’s priestly service before God. He was on duty for one of his two weeks of service in the temple, in the appointed order of his division, according to the custom of the priestly office. Luke’s understated, matter-of-fact wording does not convey to modern readers how thrilled and excited Zacharias would have been for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

To be chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense was the highest honor for a priest. Because of the large number of priests, many would never have the privilege of performing this sacred rite. The priests kept the incense in the temple burning perpetually (cf. Ex. 30:7–8; Lev. 16:12–13; 2 Chron. 29:11) in front of the veil that separated the holy place from the most holy place (the Holy of Holies; cf. Ex. 26:31–33). The incense altar, though located outside the most holy place, was closely associated with it (Heb. 9:1–5; cf. Ex. 30:1–10; 40:5, 22–27; Lev. 16:12–13). One priest offered incense each morning and evening while the other priests and the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside the holy place. Luke’s reference to a large multitude of people suggests that this incident took place during the evening offering, when there would have been a larger crowd.

The priest would normally perform his duties as quickly as possible because he feared ministering so near to the most Holy Place. He was afraid he might do something—even something seemingly trivial—that might be blasphemous or dishonoring to God. The High Priest on the Day of Atonement had bells on his robe so that those outside could hear him moving around inside the most Holy Place and know that he was still alive.

The ascending, aromatic cloud of incense smoke symbolized the people’s prayers of repentance, of confession and thanksgiving, for the coming of Messiah, the peace of Jerusalem, the nation, the family, salvation, and for the coming kingdom. Thus the incense represented the people’s dependence on God (cf. 1 Chron. 29:12), their submission to Him (cf. Deut. 27:10; 1 Sam. 15:22–23), and acknowledged His sovereignty over them (cf. Ps. 103:19).

ZACHARIAS’S RESPONSE TO PROPHETIC REVELATION

And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.” (1:11–14)

At this crucial moment in redemptive history, God miraculously intervened once again in the affairs of His people. Simply, and without fanfare, Luke records the startling truth that an angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias. This was something totally unexpected; the last appearance of an angel had been to the prophet Zechariah nearly five centuries earlier. But while that Zechariah saw the angel in a series of visions (Zech. 1:9; 2:3; 4:1; cf. Dan. 7:15–16), this Zacharias actually saw this angel with his own eyes. That the heavenly messenger was visible, standing to the right of the altar of incense, shows that he was really there; he was not some vague apparition or figment of Zacharias’s imagination.

Zacharias’s immediate response to this incredible sight was understandable: [he] was troubled … and fear gripped him. Troubled translates a form of the verb tarassō, which literally means, “shaken,” or “stirred up” (John 5:7); figuratively, it means, “terrified” (Matt. 14:26), “troubled” (Matt. 2:3), or “agitated” (Acts 17:8). Zacharias’s fearful reaction was typical of those visited by angels (cf. Judg. 6:22–23; 13:15–22; Dan. 8:15–18; Rev. 19:10; 22:8–9); the presence of such perfectly holy beings made people acutely aware of their sin and God’s judgment of it (Gen. 2:17; 6:5–7; 19:24; Ex. 20:5; Num. 11:1; 32:23; Deut. 29:20; Ps. 98:9; Isa. 13:11; Jer. 32:19; Ezek. 18:4). In light of his obvious terror the angel replied comfortingly, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias” (cf. Dan. 10:12, 19; Luke 1:30; 2:10).

The angel had not come with a message of judgment, so Zacharias had nothing to fear. On the contrary, the angel delivered a message of blessing, informing him, Your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. The petition that God would grant them a child was undoubtedly one that Zacharias and Elizabeth had made through the years and maybe abandoned in the past. They might have lost hope that God would answer, in light of their advanced age. But now at last, when all hope, humanly speaking, was gone, God, in accord with His divine purpose, graciously granted their request. Zacharias’s wife would bear him a son, and they would give him the name John, the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Johanan” (“God is gracious”). The choice of that name for the Messiah’s forerunner symbolized the turning point in redemptive history. God was about to pour out His grace through the gift of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. John 1:14, 17).

The news that they were to have a son naturally brought great joy and gladness to Zacharias and Elizabeth. But many others would share their joy and rejoice at his birth, because John would “turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God” (Luke 1:16) in preparation for Messiah’s imminent arrival.

THE DIVINE REPROOF FOR
ZACHARIAS’S UNBELIEVING RESPONSE

Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.” The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute. When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home. After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.” (1:18–25)

Incredibly, Zacharias’s initial fear at seeing the angel soon turned to unbelief. Instead of being grateful, Zacharias reacted with skepticism. Expressing doubt and faithless distrust, he asked incredulously, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.” Much like those praying for Peter’s release from prison (Acts 12:12–16), Zacharias refused to believe even when given the answer he had requested. So like all believers, he was righteous before God, but not sinless.

To doubt the certainty of the word of God and the reliability of His promises (cf. Josh. 23:14; 1 Kings 8:56; 2 Cor. 1:20; Titus 1:2; Heb. 10:23) is to deny His truthfulness. Thus Zacharias’s unbelief drew the angel’s stern rebuke. “I am Gabriel,” he declared, “who stands in the presence of God.” The phrase translated I am Gabriel is emphatic, indicating that this was no ordinary angel. One of only two angels named in Scripture (the other is Michael [Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9; Rev. 12:7]), Gabriel was God’s primary messenger, sent to communicate some of the most monumental announcements in redemptive history (Dan. 8:16–26; 9:21–27; Luke 1:26–38).

Further, he had been sent to speak to Zacharias and to bring him this good news from God Himself. God is sovereign over the holy angels, and they always do His bidding (cf. Ex. 23:20, 23; 33:2; Num. 20:16; 1 Chron. 21:15; 2 Chron. 32:21; Ps. 103:21; Dan. 3:28; 6:22). Good news translates a form of the verb euangelizō (“to announce good news”). This word was familiar to Gentiles, since it was used to express joyous news, especially related to the accession of the Caesars to the throne, thus noting the inauguration of a new era. The word appears eleven times in the gospels, ten of them in Luke. It refers elsewhere to proclaiming the good news that God sent His Son to die for the sins of all who believe in Him.

As chastisement for his sinful unbelief, Gabriel declared that Zacharias would be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things took place. When John was circumcised eight days after his birth, Zacharias “asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, ‘His name is John.’ … And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God” (1:63–64). But until then he would be unable to describe to others his supernatural experience in the temple, or relate the wonderful, unbelievable news that he and Elizabeth were to have a son. He also would be unable to perform his priestly duty to teach the people in his village. Zacharias would bear the shame of God’s judgment because [he] did not believe [God’s] words, which would be fulfilled in their proper time.

Gabriel’s closing words highlight Zacharias’s lack of faith, but they also emphasize God’s sovereignty. God’s plans and purposes, established in eternity past, will infallibly come to pass. However, the blessedness and reward saints enjoy from participating in those realities can be forfeited through unbelief, and replaced by chastening.

Meanwhile, as this conversation was going on, the people were waiting outside for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. The priest was only supposed to offer the incense and then exit to pronounce the familiar benediction (Num. 6:23–27). But Zacharias, delayed by his conversation with Gabriel, failed to come out on time. That led the people to wonder if he had done something wrong and been judged by God. Leviticus 10:1–7 describes the dire consequences that could ensue when priests were careless or disobedient:

God, however, had not taken Zacharias’s life, but rather temporarily eliminated his ability to speak. Exactly as Gabriel had said, when he finally came out, he was unable to speak to them. As a result, the people realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. Zacharias’s facial expression and body language made it obvious to the onlookers that something traumatic and extraordinary had taken place. Trying to communicate what had just happened, he kept making signs to them, and remained mute. The text does not refer to a formal sign language—neither Zacharias nor the people would have known one. He just sought, in the best way that he could, to communicate with gestures what had occurred.

Giving a rather anticlimactic conclusion to what had been a phenomenal week for Zacharias, Luke noted that when the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home. The narrative gives no details about his reception by his wife, nor her reaction to the incredible news he bore.

Again simply, and without fanfare, Luke related the fulfillment of God’s promise to Zacharias: After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant. Luke wanted to make it clear that she did not become pregnant until after Zacharias returned home, lest false accusations of infidelity be made against her.

The New Testament story of redemption began with this miracle of an older couple having a child. It was the first of many miracles that would characterize the era of Jesus and the apostles. And as was typical of those miracles, it was not only a spectacular display of supernatural power, but also met a real human need.

After Elizabeth realized she was pregnant she kept herself in seclusion for five months. Because of her age and barrenness, no one would have believed she was pregnant until she was far enough along that it was obvious. When it was visible she finally did speak of her pregnancy, and it was to praise God, as her exclamation, “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men,” indicates. Like Hannah centuries earlier (1 Sam. 1:19–2:10), Elizabeth was profoundly grateful that the Lord had miraculously removed the stigma of her childlessness.

The portrait Luke paints of Zacharias and Elizabeth is one of flawed, but genuine, believers. They were humble, righteous, obedient, prayerful, and served the Lord; at the same time, they were doubting, fearful, and even chastened by Him. God is the God of humble beginnings and humble people, and He used Zacharias and Elizabeth because of their faithfulness and in spite of their shortcomings. He gave them a son who would have the highest privilege of all—to be the greatest prophet because he was the forerunner of the Messiah. Though today is no longer the age of miracles, God still uses common people to faithfully proclaim the good news of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:19–20; 1 Peter 2:9; 3:15)—the story that began with God’s miraculous intervention in the lives of two humble, righteous people.