*1:1 Upon reflection it seems obvious that anyone who knew how to write would likely jot down salient points about Jesus, but Luke affirms that there were ‘many’ who attempted a serious account. Such records may well have furnished material, presumably factual, for spurious ‘improvements’ added to the four inspired accounts in the early decades of copying.
†1:2 Luke insists that his information comes from responsible eyewitnesses, who were there all the time.
‡1:3 ‘Theophilus’ means ‘God-lover’; although Luke is evidently addressing a specific person, I would like to think that the account is also addressed to all lovers of God.
§1:3 The normal meaning of the Greek word here, ανωθεν, is precisely ‘from above’, and I see no reason to reject that meaning (although the secondary meaning ‘from the beginning’ is possible). The more so since in the prior verse he already used the normal phrase, απ αρχη, that means ‘from the beginning’. I take it that Luke is claiming divine inspiration, up front.
*1:3 In fact, with a few exceptions Luke's narrative is in chronological sequence, and as a physician he doubtless valued precision.
†1:4 Given Luke's stated purpose in writing, his account needs to be historically accurate. Note that Theophilus had already received some instruction.
‡1:5 See 1 Chronicles 24:10. There were 24 divisions, so each division could only serve for two weeks in a year. The members of a division would take turns.
§1:13 Given his expression of doubt this evidently was not a recent prayer. Zacharias had given up hope (since having a child was now a physical impossibility), and may well have been unhappy with God for not having answered. He was not even impressed with the tremendous things the angel said, but continued to doubt.
*1:15 This sounds like a Nazirite—Numbers 6:3.
†1:15 Since ‘Holy Spirit’ occurs without a definite article, I take the phrase as a proper name.
‡1:17 The antecedent of “Him” is “the Lord their God”; in effect Gabriel is affirming that the Messiah, Jesus, is God—since he was speaking Hebrew, he may well have said ‘Jehovah their God’.
§1:17 See Malachi 4:5-6.
*1:17 The righteous have one mindset; the disobedient have a different one. To change someone's conduct you need to change his mindset.
†1:18 Does it occur to you to wonder why God would choose such an old couple for a job like this? Perhaps because they would no longer be sidetracked by personal ambitions and would dedicate their energies to preparing John.
‡1:19 Gabriel is no ordinary angel, possibly one of the cherubim; he is probably not far below Michael in rank. He imposes his authority on the priest.
§1:23 We know the time frame when it was the division of Abijah's turn to serve (for only two weeks). Assuming that Elizabeth became pregnant as soon as Zacharias got home, we may deduce that Jesus was born in September/October (six months after John).
*1:24 Which ones? Presumably “the days of his service” in verse 23.
†1:24 Her menopause was ancient history, so what was happening was ‘impossible’; besides, even if she was pregnant the likelihood of a miscarriage would be high; so she kept quiet. But after five months she would begin to ‘show’, and the prospect of success was good.
‡1:25 A pregnancy involves a fair number of days, and divine intervention was necessary all the time to enable her to carry the baby to term.
§1:25 At that time people looked down on a married woman who had no children.
*1:26 Of Elizabeth's pregnancy.
†1:26 For an explanation of this spelling, and its importance, please see the note at Matthew 2:23.
‡1:27 This involved a signed legal document, so much so that the couple were then called husband and wife, so ‘engaged’ (at least in contemporary society) is not an adequate rendering.
*1:28 To be the mother of the Messiah was a blessing granted to only one woman in the whole history of this world (see Genesis 3:15). Less than 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘blessed are you among women’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).
†1:29 In Zacharias the angel inspired fear, but Mary sensed immediately that the angel did not represent a menace or threat and concentrated on his astounding words. In typical female fashion, she was trying to figure out the hidden agenda.
‡1:30 He is not telling her not to be afraid of himself, because she wasn't; I take it that he is telling her not to fear the future and the implications of his message.
§1:31 Although the angel presumably addressed Mary in Hebrew, when it came to pronouncing the name, he may well have used the Greek name as we know it. The precise sequence of sounds can be written and pronounced in Hebrew.
*1:32 Through Mary, Jesus received some of David's genes; David was literally His ancestor (see Mary's genealogy in Luke 3:23-38).
†1:33 The ‘house of Jacob’ is not the Church, but the unending Kingdom will include much more than just that ‘house’.
‡1:33 This world will come to an end, but not Christ's Kingdom. What the angel said to Mary was even more tremendous than what he said to Zacharias.
§1:34 Zacharias expressed doubt, but Mary simply requests some necessary information. She has understood that God wants her to be the Messiah's mother—she was doubtless highly intelligent and perceptive. (In the Bible the verb ‘to know’ is used to refer to sexual intercourse.).
*1:35 The Text does not have a definite article with ‘Holy Spirit’.
†1:35 Literally so—the Holy Spirit supplied the genes that normally are supplied by a human father.
‡1:38 Mary had to understand the proposal and be in full agreement, or she would not have been a good mother.
§1:40 I take it that Mary understood that the angel's reference to Elizabeth was relevant to her.
*1:42 To cry or call out suggests unusual volume by itself, so why add ‘with a great/loud voice’? Since she spoke under the Holy Spirit's control, there was probably an unusual quality to the voice, and the neighbors heard it.
†1:43 What Elizabeth is saying, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is that the Messiah is already in Mary's womb, as witnessed by baby John's reaction. There was no human way that Elizabeth could know of the angel's conversation with Mary. Her prophecy served as a tremendous confirmation and encouragement to Mary—I imagine that the Holy Spirit had fertilized her as soon as she said, “Yes”.
‡1:44 The clear implication is that baby John was aware, was already a person in the womb.
§1:45 She is stating that Mary had heard from God through the angel, although she had no human way of knowing anything about it.
*1:47 Mary declares her own need of a Savior.
†1:48 So it has been for 2000 years; in every generation there have been those who called her ‘blessed’.
‡1:53 This sounds like social justice.
§1:55 I follow the best line of transmission, as I believe, albeit representing only 35% of the Greek manuscripts, in this case. I take the point to be that the things mentioned are pertinent to this world, not the next.
*1:56 Those three months in the home of a priest were doubtless filled with relevant instruction from the Scriptures (of course Zacharias was mute, so he would have to write everything), part of Mary's preparation for her role. Note that Mary evidently took off before John was born [I wonder why]. On the other hand, being three months pregnant it was high time that she go home and face the situation that awaited her. Although Joseph evidently took her to his house immediately, at God's direction, after only six months a full size baby would be born.
†1:59 ‘The eighth day’—two different blood clotting agents, vitamin K and prothrombin, are at their highest level (110% of normal) on the eighth day of a person's life, so it is the best of all days for minor surgery. Who but the Creator knew that 4000 years ago, when He told Abraham to do it?
‡1:60 She was emphatic!
§1:66 The material within parentheses is an historical aside, after the fact. Presumably Zacharias started right in with his prophecy.
*1:68 They spoke Hebrew in Judea, and Zacharias probably said “Jehovah”.
†1:71 Zacharias knew that the Messiah would soon be born, but was evidently expecting a physical, political kingdom that would deliver them from Roman domination. For that matter, Jesus' own disciples evidently shared the same expectation.
‡1:75 ‘To serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness’—that is what life is supposed to be about, but is only possible because the Messiah came.
§1:76 Zacharias is affirming that Jesus is ‘the Lord’ and ‘the Most High’!
*1:77 In this paragraph Zacharias emphasizes the spiritual benefits of Messiah's coming.
†1:78 Without doubt, the coming of the Messiah, with all that involved, represented the dawning of a new Day for this world. Instead of “has contemplated us”, less than 0.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have “will contemplate us” (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). The difference may appear to be small, but I take the point to be that the Messiah was already in the virgin Mary's womb—the incarnation was irreversibly underway.
‡1:80 The verb ‘strengthen’ is in the passive voice, so John had outside help—just like Gabriel said.
§1:80 Because of their advanced age, his parents may well have died by the time he was a teenager. Although as Zacharias' son he was in line to become a priest, he could not begin to serve until he was thirty, which was when he began his public ministry. He evidently spent the interval as a recluse.