5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. 8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” 19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” 21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. 23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
Luke’s gospel begins with two parallel annunciations, and the first is that of John the Baptist. Notice how Luke, a Gentile, imitates the style of the Old Testament for “in the days of King so-and-so” is a standard formula there. Luke’s point is that God’s actions follow scripture so that people can more easily realize what is happening. For this reason, the gospel begins in Jerusalem for the world’s salvation comes from the Jewish people – and the center of Jerusalem was the temple where the action takes place here. Zechariah and Elizabeth are an older couple who had never had children but Zechariah also comes from the hereditary line of priests.
Only men who could trace their descent back to Aaron could perform temple rituals. After the return from Exile, 24 families could show such a distinction and they each formed a different clan in a different part of Judea or Galilee. Twice a year, each clan was responsible for worship at the temple for one week, and they drew lots to see what each person’s job would be. Here we learn that Zechariah, who descended from Aaron’s grandson Abijah, got the greatest job, being able to enter the Sanctuary of the Holy of Holies (where God was said to dwell) and offer incense. A priest could do this only once in his life and many never even had the chance. The Sanctuary was separated from the Holy of Holies by a veil, and only the High Priest could actually go past that veil. Still, the Sanctuary was considered a mystical place where visions could happen.
Indeed, after Zechariah enters it, the angel Gabriel appears and, in typical biblical fashion, greets him with the words “Do not be afraid.” Gabriel then tells Zechariah that he and Elizabeth will have a son who will never drink wine which resembles the vow that the Nazirites (the most famous example being Samson) took. This son would lead many people to repentance. More importantly, he will be the heir of Elijah and announce the Messiah. This will fulfil the prophecy of Malachi 3:24-25: “Look, I shall send you the prophet Elijah before the great and awesome Day of Yahweh comes. He will reconcile parents to their children and children to their parents.”
Zechariah finds all this information difficult to accept. His elderly wife will have a child? That child will be the forerunner who will prepare the “Day of the Lord,” the arrival of the Messiah? He therefore questions the angel in verse 18, echoing Abraham’s questioning in Genesis when he received a similar type of prophecy. Gabriel then explains who he is: ““I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.” Note that this is first time in Luke’s gospel that the frequently recurring term “good news” appears. Then Gabriel punishes Zechariah for doubting, announcing that the latter will be unable to speak until after the baby’s birth. Zechariah was a priest who had long studied scripture – he should know that God has done similar things in the past. But, of course, like so many of us, he sees miracles as being part of history and not something that can happen today. The passage then ends with Zechariah leaving the Sanctuary, unable to speak, and returning home where John is conceived. The climax of the story of human salvation has begun
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