Luke 1 - John The Baptist's Parents

John The Baptist's Parents

Luke begins to show what he thinks of as the fulfillment of God's promises. He gives us a description of John the Baptist's parents, who he claims were Zechariah, an Abijah Priest, and Elizabeth, a descendant of Aaron. They are both getting old and have no children. Luke says this all occurs during the reign of "Herod king of Judea" (5), who almost certainly is Herod the Great.

Zechariah is on duty one day and goes into the Temple to light incense. During this time, priests served in the temple once a week twice a year, there being twenty four divisions of priests. Luke says "...it so happened...", kai egeneto, that he was on duty at the time. Some scholars see this as Luke imitating the style of the Septuagint in order to make his book sound like the Jewish scriptures. The majority of modern English translations choose not to include this phrase. (Miller 118)

The Angel Gabriel appears to him and tells him he will soon have a son, to name him John, and to not allow him any alcoholic drinks, and that "he will be great in the sight of the Lord." (15) Numbers 6:3 has obstaining from alcohol as a requirement to be a nazarite. Zechariah doubts Gabriel and Gabriel takes away his power of speech until this happens. Zechariah leaves the temple, unable to speak, and goes home. Elizabeth is soon pregnant. She says "...he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people. (25)" as infertility was often believed to be proof of disfavor with God. (Miller 119)

Luke thus starts with the Temple and then ends the book at the Temple in Luke 24:53 Zechariah not being able to speak and so complete his liturgy is contrasted with the "good news" brought by Jesus. (Brown et al. 680)

There is much debate on the historicity of this information, as skeptics would reject appearances by angels and God's intervention in history in this manner. Whether one believes in such things or not, it is entirely possible that John's parents were childless throughout most of their life until John's birth. Some see Luke as taking a historical event or tradition he received and interpreting it in terms of events in the Old Testament. Luke seems to follow an Old Testament pattern in the sequence of his information here, specifically an announcement of impending birth, the child being given a name, and then discussion of their destiny. (Brown et al. 679) This pattern can be seen in Genesis with Ishmael in 16:11-12 and Isaac in 17:19. Abraham and Sarah were also childless well into their old age. Josiah is announced this way in 1 Kings 13:2, King Solomon in 1 Chronicles 22:9-10, and the Immanuel prediction, used in Matthew 1:23, from Isaiah 7:14-17. Others see a five step pattern, with two extra steps of objections and confirmatory signs. (Brown et al. 680) Gabriel appeared to Daniel in the Book of Daniel 9:21.