Introduction
Luke begins by declaring that he had decided to compile a gospel for Theophilus from the eyewitness accounts that he had available to him concerning the life of Christ [Luke 1:1-4]. He expressly says that he is choosing to include those events that were believed to be accurate among the church leaders of his time. He declares that he was in a position to write, having had a clear and perfect understanding of those events.
Luke is therefore writing as a historian, but also with the direction of the Holy Spirit, as we believe all of the Bible writers were doing. Clearly, history records that there were more records written that could have qualified as gospels.
Early church fathers elected to include the four references, nominally written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I think this decision was made to eliminate questions about the two or three witnesses rule [Deuteronomy 19:15], since the gospel topic was so important, but also because hand copying scripture and even early printing was labor intensive and expensive.
There are many events in history that it would be awesome to have a time machine drone to send back and record. The life of Christ would be one, as well as His death and resurrection. Other contentious events like Noah, Adam and Eve, the time the Jewish people were slaves to the Egyptians, creation, angels vs. bad guys, and a host of other events would be worth recording. Sadly, you still have to have faith as I'd bet even the most high-res images wouldn't convince many alive in the world today.
Regardless, the book of Luke is his attempt at recording what he felt led to write. As Pentecostal believers, we believe that not only does God speak with His church today, but He can and does speak with individual believers. Many doubt details that weren't first hand knowledge of the writer. But they fail to understand that God's forces see everything that goes on in the world. Nothing escapes His notice. And He is perfectly capable of giving that information directly or providing a witness or two who can confirm the events.
The gospels, like everything else in the Bible, require you to believe in God. The New Testament church had lots of miracles and healing, words of knowledge and wisdom and other works of the Holy Spirit where they had no doubts about God. Even some of the high priests, I think, believed in their hearts, at least at the end. Christians need to work to be more acceptable to be used by God like the early church. The world still needs to see evidence with their own eyes. Let us pray.
Zacharias and Elisabeth
Their History and Work
Zacharias was a priest whose duties at that time were to burn incense when he went into God's temple [Luke 1:5-10]. He was married, but Elisabeth and he had no children and were "well stricken in years". That's a fancy way of saying they were old - kind of like me. Maybe I should start using that - "I'm well stricken in years" gets your attention better than "I'm old".
Both had lived righteous lives before God and were called blameless in all the Lord's commandments and ordinances. So right there, they've got me beat, and probably a lot of other people who are Christian. It's only the blood of Jesus that will make me clean. Nobody would ever call me blameless.
As he went about his duties, a large number of people were outside praying. While I don't think the people praying would have made an iota of difference in Gabriel doing his work, I think it would be safe to say that the prayerful attitude of the people around the temple was conducive.
God and His workers aren't going to be stopped by human interference in what they plan to do. Just look at what the wicked neighbors of Lot experienced [Genesis 19:1-29]. But if you're having trouble hearing from God, find a quiet place where you can be undisturbed. If you can do it when a prayer meeting is going on nearby, so much the better.
I can only speculate what was going on in Zacharias mind as he went about his business. The Bible points out that he and his wife were childless. In those days, that was a hard thing to be. I suspect, that just as I pray for things that are seemingly out of reach for me, they were praying often for their state. We might not be able to pray literally continually. But there is much of any day when we have things that we can do on auto-pilot when we could pray instead of whatever else we choose to occupy our minds. Zacharias may have been doing a lot of praying himself while he worked, probably not expecting any answer because they were "well stricken in years". But that doesn't slow down or keep God from answering - ever.
The Appearance of Gabriel
As he was dealing with the incense, Gabriel appeared standing beside the altar of incense [Luke 1:11-17]. Zacharias was afraid and troubled. I suspect that's putting it mildly. If Zacharias saw the angel appear right in front of him, he'd be more than troubled if he was anything like me. It might be a little different if he wasn't looking right there and turned back to see someone standing there. He might wonder where the person had come from, since he probably wasn't dressed like a priest. But even then, if he had an angelic countenance, it would get your attention.
Gabriel tells Zacharias not to be afraid because his prayer had been answered. If Zacharias was like me, he would have probably thought oh know, God knows I was praying instead of concentrating on His duties. But Zacharias isn't left to wonder which of the many prayers he had probably been praying was answered. Gabriel tells him that he will have a son and is to call his name John.
Gabriel doesn't just leave it at that though. He goes on to prophesy that many would rejoice because John was born, and would be great in the sight of God. He told Zacharias that John was to live the life of one who had taken the Nazarite vow, at least according to the consumption of wine and strong drink. He would be filled with the Holy Ghost from his beginning. He would be instrumental in leading many children in Israel to the Lord. He would, through the Holy Spirit, work in the spirit and power of Elijah, bringing a revival like result to the Jewish people.
Zacharias' Doubt
Zacharias can't wrap his head around what the angel is saying. I'd like to think that if an angel came and told me that some of my prayers were going to be answered, I'd believe the angel. But I might be just as bad as Zacharias and point out the problems that I see in God fulfilling His plans for me [Luke 1:18]. In his case, he fell back on being old. I guess seeing an angel made him forget about Abraham and Sarah [Genesis 18:9-15].
At any rate, we all have occasions of doubt or lack of faith that we must deal with. The more little things that God can answer prayers in our life, the easier it is when He says He's going to answer a big one. All too often today, with modern medicine and all, we don't bother God with the little things so when a big thing looms, we don't have the basis of faith that we need.
The Consequence of Doubt
Because he doubted, the angel identified himself as Gabriel who went on to say that he stands in the presence of God [Luke 1:19-23]. God sent him to Zacharias to give him the good news. Because he doubted Gabriel's word, literally the word of God, God struck him dumb so he couldn't speak until John was born.
The people who were gathered praying round about were surprised that he was taking so long in the temple - just how long does it take to deal with the incense anyway... where is he? They were even more surprised when he came out and couldn't speak. This continued from that point until his time of designated ministry was complete (and then some). When his temple duties were completed, he returned home.
The people were really wondering what vision he might have seen. Keep in mind that there hadn't been any prophets in the land for centuries, and the people were expecting a Messiah, so they probably really were interested in his unusual state.
The Results for Elisabeth
He couldn't speak to his wife either when he went home. Gossip being what it is, I suspect she had heard all about his being struck dumb. There were probably many questions he was hit with when he walked in and had to resort to writing to communicate. Imagine how happy Elisabeth would have been when she heard she was going to have a child [Luke 1:24-25].
She soon conceived and the account says she hid herself away for five months with gladness in her heart, but perhaps also some worry if she had suffered miscarriages earlier in her life. Somehow I don't think Zacharias would have told the people around the temple about what Gabriel had said before letting Elisabeth know. And at her age, she also probably didn't want to deal with people with Zacharias unable to speak. She also probably didn't want to be jostled if she was worrying about a miscarriage after all this time.
She had joy in her heart, but perhaps had some of the same issues of faith in God that her husband had. Faith is a challenge for many. Christ himself asked if he would find faith when He returned [Luke 18:8]. We all need to pray for renewed faith. It is so important it is listed both in the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit [1 Corinthians 12:9, 13:2, 13:13; Galatians 5:22-23].
Mary and Gabriel
When Elisabeth was six months along, Gabriel went to visit Mary at Nazareth [Luke 1:26-38]. Mary was espoused to Joseph, which in those days was a far more formal and tighter bonding that becoming engaged is today at least in American culture. She is also declared to be a virgin as prophecy required. Joseph was of the house of David, fulfilling another prophecy.
The angel's greeting gave her pause. "Hail, thou who art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women" is a far cry from "Hey, Mary" that she was probably used to hearing. So she was not only shook up by seeing an angel, but the words of the angel probably really threw her off balance. I suspect that any engaged person feels a bit on cloud nine, at least if it's a good engagement. But even that feeling probably wouldn't warrant the type of greeting she just received.
As with Zacharias, Gabriel tells her not to be afraid, and that she was going to conceive a son who would be called Jesus (the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic Yeshua or Joshua meaning Yahweh saves or the Lord is salvation according to Google's scraped sources.
Gabriel goes on to describe the characteristics Jesus would have, listing many items from prophecy in the Old Testament. He would be great, literally the Son of the Highest God, and would receive the throne of His ancestor David. Eventually He will take up rule and will rule forever.
Mary's only question was how it would be possible since she was a virgin and would be until she was married to Joseph if her life proceeded normally. Gabriel replies that the power of God and the Holy Ghost would create the child so that the child she bore would be called the Son of God. Gabriel concludes that just as Mary's cousin who was barren was now six months along in her pregnancy, with God nothing is impossible.
If the church today would do a better job of seeking the will of God so we weren't asking amiss and then accepting that with God all things are indeed possible, the world would be a much different place than it is today. Mary accepts what Gabriel has told her, which in itself was a tremendous step of faith in so many ways. In that culture, an engaged woman who was found to be pregnant could have well been killed. We need to appreciate just how much faith Mary had to accept that all would be well if the angel told her it was going to happen.
Mary and Elisabeth
Mary's Acceptance Speech
Yes, I know that it is traditionally known as her Magnificat or the Hymn of Mary, but I decided to put it in modern terms for the title.