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The Birth and Youth of Jesus – Luke 1 - 2

Dedication – Luke 1:1-4

The Jews got straight to the point in their writings. Instead, Luke, in true Greek style, began his book with a preface. These four verses are just one sentence in Greek. The language is the best Greek in the New Testament and shows that the writer was educated.

Who is the recipient of the letter, Theophilus? The name means “friend of God,” and so some think that it is actually a group whose pseudonym is Theophilus. However, verse 4 proves that Theophilus was one person. Whether the name was a pseudonym or a real one is up to speculation. In any case, we do not know the recipient. Whether Theophilus was the distributor, the “publisher,” or a high-ranking Roman official, or perhaps both, is uncertain. Luke uses the Greek word for him, "honored," which is used only three times elsewhere in the New Testament: Acts 23:26 and Acts 24:3 about Governor Felix, and Acts 26:25 about Governor Festus.

The opening verses of Luke remind us that Christianity is a historical faith: it is based on facts that have happened. It is not a question of what we know or have experienced, but of what God has done in history. Faith is not only a matter of reason and understanding, but it is also that.

Luke wrote to second-generation Christians – for those who had not seen Jesus themselves. Through his writings, we too receive eyewitness testimony about Jesus (verse 2).

The announcement of the birth of John the Baptist – Luke 1:5-25

Luke's account of Jesus' birth is written from Mary's point of view, Matthew's Gospel from Joseph's point of view. It is not certain whether Mary was still alive in the 50s when Luke came to Jerusalem with Paul, but at least Luke met James, the brother of Jesus (Acts 21:18).

The description of events from Jesus' childhood shows the influence of Aramaic language. There are a lot of expressions that are unique to the Semitic language family to which Aramaic language belongs. Although this is not clearly seen in the modern translations, examples include verse 8 of chapter 1 (the Greek word "egeneto" means "it happened"), and verse 20 of chapter 1 (the Greek word "kai idou" means "And behold").

This shows that Luke's information about the birth of Jesus comes from Palestine and not from pagan religions, which also include stories about the children of gods and humans. So it is not a made-up story to make Jesus' background fit the style of the time, but events that were history during the time of Herod the Great. Herod ruled from 37 to 4 BC, so our chronology, defined in the 6th century, is 6-7 years off.

Although Luke specifically wants to emphasize that the events in the Gospels really happened in history, he also highlights that God's work also involves supernatural events. Without the supernatural, there is no Gospel!

At that time, there were about 20,000 priests in the temple in Jerusalem. The priests were divided into 24 divisions, of which Abijah's division was the eighth (verse 5, 1 Chronicles 24:10). Each division served once a week for half a year. Burning incense was a great honor, which fell to the lot of a priest perhaps only once in his life. The function of burning incense was to raise the prayers of the people before God (compare Ps 141:2, Rev 5:8).

The altar of incense was located in the holy place of the temple, where the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah. Only two angels are mentioned by name in the Bible:
- Michael (Dan 10:13,21, Jude 9, Rev 12:7)
- Gabriel (Dan 8:16, 9:21)

Gabriel's name means "The Lord is a hero" or "Great man of God." Zechariah means "God remembers," Elizabeth means "God has spoken," and John means "God is gracious."

Angel Gabriel said that the 400 years of silence was about to end: Zechariah and Elizabeth would have a son who would be both a prophet and a Nazirite (compare Book of Numbers 6:1-12). The most famous Nazirites in the Old Testament were Samson, Judges 13:4-7 and Samuel, 1 Sam 1:11.

Gabriel began his speech by saying, “Do not be afraid.” The presence of a holy God is frightening, but essential to salvation. Those who drift away from God will perish. John’s mission was to call the people back to God and prepare the way for the Messiah (verse 17).

But even the priests at that time were unbelievers. We get more evidence of this later in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Zacharias received the sign he asked for: he became mute. He could not read the Lord’s blessing to the people gathered in the temple, as he should have done.

Elizabeth only appeared when the pregnancy was already evident (verse 25): before that she would not have been believed.

Announcement of the Savior's birth – Luke 1:26-38

Jewish girls were engaged at a young age, starting at the age of 12. The engagement was legally equivalent to marriage, even though the bride and groom lived separately.

The angel's greeting becomes the Ave Maria greeting/prayer of the Roman Catholic Church (verse 28).

Mary was also astonished by Gabriel's arrival and message, but she did not doubt (compare verse 45) but rather wondered. To consent to God’s will (verse 38) meant to consent under the threat of ridicule (compare John 8:41) and even the death penalty. The position of a child born outside of marriage and its mother was very difficult at that time.

The cloud (verse 35) already in the Old Testament meant the presence of God (Exodus 13:20-22). The birth of Jesus is a miracle that we cannot explain or understand. The only example in the Old Testament is the creation of Adam (compare 1 Cor 15:20-24).

The name Jesus (Yehoshua = Joshua) means "Yahweh is help", "Yahweh is Savior".

Mary was a relative of Elizabeth (verse 36), and thus of the Levitical priestly lineage. Thus Jesus was of both royal and priestly lineage. Jesus (Yehoshua) is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means 'The Lord saves'.

Mary was a relative of Elizabeth (verse 36), and thus of the Levitical priestly lineage. Thus, Jesus was of both royal and priestly descent.

Those who wish to deny that Jesus was born of a virgin must answer the question: "When did Jesus become God?" If he was not God from conception, when did he become God? The Church has long condemned various "adoption Christologies" as heretical.

Mary’s Visit to Elizabeth – Luke 1:39-45

The journey from Galilee to Judea took about three days. The Bible does not say where Elizabeth lived. A fairly late Christian tradition says that the place was En Karim, 6 kilometers west of Jerusalem. Luke 1:23 confirms what we know from the history of the time: most priests lived outside Jerusalem and came to the city only twice a year for a week-long service.

Note also Elizabeth’s confession: Mary was the mother of God (=my Lord) (verse 43). Jesus was God from the moment he was conceived. Mary is the most blessed of women (verse 42).

Mary's Hymn of Thanksgiving – Luke 1:46-56

Mary's hymn of thanksgiving has inspired many hymn writers. It is the first of the four hymns of Jesus' childhood stories in the Gospel of Luke:
1:68-79 Zechariah's Hymn of Praise
2:14 Hymn of the Angels 2:29-32 Simeon's Hymn of Praise

All four quickly found their way into the Christian devotional life:
- Maria's thanksgiving hymn for evening prayer
- Zakaria's hymn of thanksgiving for morning prayer
- Simeon's hymn of thanks for the moment of prayer at the end of the day
- The Hymn of the Angels in the liturgy of the service

Mary's hymn of thanksgiving represents the "piety of the poor" typical of Luke: God has chosen the poor and lowly, the rich have been rejected (compare Matt 5:3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven").

In verses 51-53, it is amazing how God is praised for the salvation as if it had already happened. The fulfillment of God's plans is so certain that they can be spoken of as facts that have already happened.

Abraham (verse 55) is mentioned a total of 22 times in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. This is not surprising, since he was the spiritual father of the Jews (compare John 8:39 and Romans 4:1-12). Of the Old Testament hymns, the one that most closely resembles Mary’s praise is Hannah’s praise, 1 Sam 2:1-10.

The Birth of John – Luke 1:57-66

Luke does not actually tell of John’s birth, but of his circumcision and naming. Earlier, the Jews gave their children names immediately after birth, but later it became customary to give names at the time of circumcision, or on the eighth day (Lev. 12:3). In fact, Luke’s mentions (vv. 59 and 2:21) are the first mentions of this change in custom.

Usually a boy was given the name of his grandfather, not his father. But now Gabriel had already given the child the name John (v. 13). The fact that the people pointed to Zacharias (verse 62) may mean that Zacharias was deaf and mute (the expression in verse 22 may also mean that) or that people - as we often do - think that a mute is also deaf. The board was a wax board that was written on with a stick. The writing could be removed by smoothing the wax again.

Zechariah's Hymn of Praise – Luke 1:67-80

One thing Luke emphasizes a lot is the work of the Holy Spirit, as is also the case here, verse 67.

Again, we notice that from the beginning Jesus was considered God: "You will go before the Lord (=Jesus)..." (verse 76)

We often understand prophecy (verse 67) only as predicting the future, but biblical prophecy is "three-dimensional", it involves:
1. the past
2. the present
3. the future

This is also the case in Zechariah's hymn of thanksgiving. The hymn is also a reminder that the Bible of the first Christians was the Old Testament (2 Peter 1:19-21) and the Christian faith is built on the foundation revealed in the Old Testament.

Apparently, Zechariah and Elizabeth died soon after John's birth. It has been theorized that the Essenes adopted the orphaned boy - they are known to have had such a custom. But the wilderness in verse 80 (compare also Luke 3:2) can also refer to the "school of God" in solitude.