LUKE 1

Luke wrote "an orderly account...that [we] may know the certainty of those things in which [we are] instructed.

Back in the days of King Herod (of Judea), there was a priest of the Levitical order, Zacharias. He and his wife Elizabeth were righteous people, but old and childless. Nonetheless, they prayed for a son. 

When an angel of the Lord appeared to Him during his service in the temple, he was afraid. The angel told him not to be afraid, that his prayer had been heard, and that he and his wife would bear a son and his name would be John. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit and turn many children of Israel to the Lord their God. "He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah...to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

However, Zacharias doubted; therefore, the angel, Gabriel, who "stands in the presence of God...sent to speak to" Zacharias, told him he would be made mute until the birth of his son. 

After those days, Elizabeth conceived, knowing the Lord remembered her and answered her prayers for a son. 

In the sixth month of her pregnancy, Gabriel visited Mary, a young virgin betrothed to Joseph, a man of the house of David. He said to her: "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"

She was troubled, but he told her not to be afraid because she had found favor with God. He told her she would conceive a Son and His name would be Jesus. "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

Mary asked how this could happen since she had not been with a man ;and the angel said the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of God will overshadow her: "...and the One who is to be born will be called the Son of God." Gabriel also told her about her cousin Elizabeth and that she had conceived in her old age because "For with God nothing will be impossible." Then Mary yielded to God: "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word."

Mary then visited Elizabeth and upon meeting, Elizabeth's baby "leaped in her womb, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit." She said: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord."

Then Mary sang her song, magnifying and rejoicing in the Lord, proclaiming mercy on those who fear Him. She acknowledged God's strength, scattering the proud, putting down the mighty, exalting the lowly, filling the hungry, and sending the rich away empty, and remembering His promises to Abraham and Israel forever. 

When Elizabeth gave birth to her son, the people expected that they would name him Zacharias, after his father. Zacharias asked for a tablet to write: His name is John, and immediately he was able to speak, and he praised God. All those who heard were amazed and pondered these events in their heart.

Now Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and he prophesied:

Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David, as He spoke...of His holy prophets...that we should be saved from our enemies and...[those] who hate us, to perform mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant...which He swore to...Abraham:...that we might serve Him without fear...all the days of our life.

And about John the Baptist, he prophesied:

...you, child, will be called prophet of the Highest...to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God...to give light to those who sit in darkness...to guide our feet into the way of peace. 

COMMENTARY

 Before these events, God had been silent for 400 years. Then His angel appeared before Zacharias, who had been praying for a son. The reason we know his prayer is because the angel told him: Your prayers have been heard. You will have a son. 

The reason Zacharias was struck dumb is because he did not believe the message, which was delivered by Gabriel, an angel who stood in the presence of God! When we pray, we must pray with faith, knowing that if God wills to answer our prayer, He will and He can. If we pray with doubt, we are double-minded. The Lord knew Zacharias and Elizabeth were old, but He also choose them to have a son. Elizabeth never doubted that God was able, if He was willing, to give them a son. 

Note that God chose Mary because she was "highly favored." She was to be blessed AMONG women, not above anyone. She is not lifted up, but lifted up womanhood. When the angel, Gabriel, the same angel who had visited Zacharias, told her she would have a baby, she asked how it was possible since she had not been with a man. She was not doubting; she understood science. When explained that it would be by the Holy Spirit, she submitted to His revelation. That was good enough. 

In both the birth of John the Baptist and the virgin birth of Jesus, nothing shall be impossible with God, so long as He wills it to be. Both Mary and Elizabeth were filled with the Holy Spirit through their faith in God, and they both praised Him and gave Him glory. Elizabeth was able to recognize that Mary was the mother of her Savior, when her son lept in her womb at her arrival. And Mary sang a song about redemption, recalling her need for a Savior; of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; that God has shown His strength and power and mercy; and also she sang of Abraham, that God had  remembered His promises.

When Elizabeth gave birth to John, Zacharias was then filled with the Holy Spirit, and he, too, recalled the promises God made to Abraham, and he believed. He also received his voice again when he obeyed the Lord and called his son, John. 

credit: Bible.com