11-2Dear friend who loves God:[a]
Several biographies of Christ have already been written using as their source material the reports circulating among us from the early disciples and other eyewitnesses. 3However, it occurred to me that it would be well to recheck all these accounts from first to last and after thorough investigation to pass this summary on to you,[b] 4to reassure you of the truth of all you were taught.
5My story begins with a Jewish priest, Zacharias, who lived when Herod was king of Judea. Zacharias was a member of the Abijah division of the Temple service corps. (His wife, Elizabeth, was, like himself, a member of the priest tribe of the Jews, a descendant of Aaron.) 6Zacharias and Elizabeth were godly folk, careful to obey all of God’s laws in spirit as well as in letter. 7But they had no children, for Elizabeth was barren; and now they were both very old.
8-9One day as Zacharias was going about his work in the Temple—for his division was on duty that week—the honor fell to him by lot[c] to enter the inner sanctuary and burn incense before the Lord. 10Meanwhile, a great crowd stood outside in the Temple court, praying as they always did during that part of the service when the incense was being burned.
11-12Zacharias was in the sanctuary when suddenly an angel appeared, standing to the right of the altar of incense! Zacharias was startled and terrified.
13But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias! For I have come to tell you that God has heard your prayer, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son! And you are to name him John. 14You will both have great joy and gladness at his birth, and many will rejoice with you. 15For he will be one of the Lord’s great men. He must never touch wine or hard liquor—and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from before his birth! 16And he will persuade many a Jew to turn to the Lord his God. 17He will be a man of rugged[d] spirit and power like Elijah, the prophet of old; and he will precede the coming of the Messiah, preparing the people for his arrival. He will soften adult hearts to become like little children’s, and will change disobedient minds to the wisdom of faith.”
18Zacharias said to the angel, “But this is impossible! I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”
19Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to you with this good news! 20And now, because you haven’t believed me, you are to be stricken silent, unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly come true at the proper time.”
21Meanwhile the crowds outside were waiting for Zacharias to appear and wondered why he was taking so long. 22When he finally came out, he couldn’t speak to them, and they realized from his gestures that he must have seen a vision in the Temple. 23He stayed on at the Temple for the remaining days of his Temple duties and then returned home. 24Soon afterwards Elizabeth his wife became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months.
25“How kind the Lord is,” she exclaimed, “to take away my disgrace of having no children!”
26The following month God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27to a virgin, Mary, engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
28Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Congratulations, favored lady! The Lord is with you!”[e]
29Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.
30“Don’t be frightened, Mary,” the angel told her, “for God has decided to wonderfully bless you! 31Very soon now, you will become pregnant and have a baby boy, and you are to name him ‘Jesus.’ 32He shall be very great and shall be called the Son of God. And the Lord God shall give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33And he shall reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom shall never end!”
34Mary asked the angel, “But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin.”
35The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of God shall overshadow you; so the baby born to you will be utterly holy—the Son of God. 36Furthermore, six months ago your Aunt[f] Elizabeth—‘the barren one,’ they called her—became pregnant in her old age! 37For every promise from God shall surely come true.”
38Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to do whatever he wants. May everything you said come true.” And then the angel disappeared.
39-40A few days later Mary hurried to the highlands of Judea to the town where Zacharias lived, to visit Elizabeth.
41At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42She gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “You are favored by God above all other women, and your child is destined for God’s mightiest praise. 43What an honor this is, that the mother of my Lord should visit me! 44When you came in and greeted me, the instant I heard your voice, my baby moved in me for joy! 45You believed that God would do what he said; that is why he has given you this wonderful blessing.”
46Mary responded, “Oh, how I praise the Lord. 47How I rejoice in God my Savior! 48For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and now generation after generation forever shall call me blest of God. 49For he, the mighty Holy One, has done great things to me. 50His mercy goes on from generation to generation, to all who reverence him.
51“How powerful is his mighty arm! How he scatters the proud and haughty ones! 52He has torn princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 53He has satisfied the hungry hearts and sent the rich away with empty hands. 54And how he has helped his servant Israel! He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful. 55For he promised our fathers—Abraham and his children—to be merciful to them forever.”
56Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.
57By now Elizabeth’s waiting was over, for the time had come for the baby to be born—and it was a boy. 58The word spread quickly to her neighbors and relatives of how kind the Lord had been to her, and everyone rejoiced.
59When the baby was eight days old, all the relatives and friends came for the circumcision ceremony. They all assumed the baby’s name would be Zacharias, after his father.
60But Elizabeth said, “No! He must be named John!”
61“What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” 62So they asked the baby’s father, talking to him by gestures.[g]
63He motioned for a piece of paper and to everyone’s surprise wrote, “His name is John!” 64Instantly Zacharias could speak again, and he began praising God.
65Wonder fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread through the Judean hills. 66And everyone who heard about it thought long thoughts and asked, “I wonder what this child will turn out to be? For the hand of the Lord is surely upon him in some special way.”
67Then his father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:
68“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to visit his people and has redeemed them. 69He is sending us a Mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, 70just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago— 71someone to save us from our enemies, from all who hate us.
72-73“He has been merciful to our ancestors, yes, to Abraham himself, by remembering his sacred promise to him, 74and by granting us the privilege of serving God fearlessly, freed from our enemies, 75and by making us holy and acceptable, ready to stand in his presence forever.
76“And you, my little son, shall be called the prophet of the glorious God, for you will prepare the way for the Messiah. 77You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. 78All this will be because the mercy of our God is very tender, and heaven’s dawn is about to break upon us, 79to give light to those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow, and to guide us to the path of peace.”
80The little boy greatly loved God[h] and when he grew up he lived out in the lonely wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.
Footnotes
- Luke 1:1 Dear friend who loves God. From v. 3. Literally, “Most excellent Theophilus.” The name means “one who loves God.”
- Luke 1:3 to pass this summary on to you, literally, “an account of the things accomplished among us.”
- Luke 1:8 by lot. Probably by throwing dice or something similar—“drawing straws” would be a modern equivalent.
- Luke 1:17 rugged, implied. and will change disobedient minds to the wisdom of faith, literally, “to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.”
- Luke 1:28 The Lord is with you. Some ancient versions add, “Blessed are you among women,” as in v. 42, which appears in all manuscripts.
- Luke 1:36 Aunt, literally, “relative.”
- Luke 1:62 talking to him by gestures. Zacharias was apparently stone deaf as well as speechless, and had not heard what his wife had said.
- Luke 1:80 greatly loved God, “became strong in spirit.”
