Luke 1: 1-26

(Luke 1: 1-26) Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless. And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men. And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth.

 The New Testament consists of Gospels (4 volumes), History (1 volume, Acts), Epistles (21 volumes), and Prophecy (1 volume, Revelation). The Gospel of Mark and Luke is called the Gospel of Synopticism because they were written from a common point of view. 

4 In the Gospels, four authors each introduce Jesus from their own unique perspectives and perspectives. Matthew is Jesus as King, Mark is Jesus as servant, Luke is Jesus as Son of Man, and John is Son of God. It describes the image of Jesus as The reason why each one of Jesus was described differently is also because the targets of each ministry were different. In other words, Matthew emphasized Jesus as the king because he worked for the Jews, and Mark emphasized Jesus as a servant who came to serve humans because he targeted Romans who were ruling classes. Because Luke was targeting the Greeks, he emphasized the humanity of Jesus from a philosophical point of view. 

Luke did not reveal the author. However, looking at Luke 1:1-4 and Acts 1:1-3, it is clear that the same author wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts, since both designate "Sir Theophilus," who was a Roman high official. According to tradition from the early days of the church, it is known that Luke, a physician and close companion of the apostle Paul, wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. In Colossians 4:14, ``Luke the beloved doctor and Dema greet you.'' In 2 Timothy 4:11, ``Only Luke is with me. When you come, bring Mark, and he is good for my work. 』Indicates that Luke is a co-worker of the Apostle Paul.

 In one word, what Luke wrote, it is "What was done in Luke's time." Here, the word “has been accomplished” means that it has been fulfilled. To be accomplished means that someone has done it. The fulfillment is well expressed in Luke 24:44-48.『 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. 』 

God said that everything Jesus would do was written in the Old Testament, and it would be done. And indeed, it was all done through Jesus. The disciples became witnesses of everything Jesus did. Luke wrote on the basis of the testimony of the disciples, who saw Jesus' work on earth as a page of a plan that God had planned from before the creation of the world, rather than as an isolated history. That is why the Gospel of Luke begins at the point where the Old Testament ends. 

 The last words of the Old Testament are Malachi 4:5-6.『 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. 』 This is the last word of the Old Testament. God said that Elijah would come first before the Messiah came as King of this world. And in Luke 1 of the New Testament there is such a statement. In 1:17, "And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. This John the Baptist, whom the angel spoke about, is Elijah, who was prophesied in the Old Testament.

 “There was a priest in the class of Abijah in the days of Herod, king of Judea.” At that time, there were about 20,000 priests. All the priests were divided into 24 classes, and each class took turns serving in the temple. Thus, each class served twice a week for a week. Zechariah followed his eighth Abijah class and went to the temple to serve. Zacharias was not a man of special status. Among the 800-900 priests, he was an ordinary priest. Zechariah's wife, Elizabeth, was infertile, and because they were old, it was difficult to expect children. 

As a priest, Zechariah went to the temple twice a year to serve. Because there were so many priests, burning incense was something that only those who were chosen by the lot could do, and once they did, there was no chance again. Zechariah, who had not been able to burn incense to God after entering the sanctuary even though he had lived as a priest for sixty lifetimes, took the opportunity now. It was something I could only do once in my life. When the priest enters the sanctuary, there is an altar that burns incense. 

The smoke of that incense is a symbol of our prayers going up to God. Suddenly an angel appeared and told her that Elizabeth would have a son.『 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 』 And the angel continued, ``And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 』 The angel revealed who he was: Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. 』Gabriel was an angel who appeared to Daniel in the Old Testament and unfolded the history of mankind. 

The incense wasn't going to take too long, but those waiting outside wondered about Zachariah's delay. The people who later saw Zacharias coming out of the temple thought he had seen a vision inside. Not only was he unable to speak, but he was unable to hear, so when people talked, he had to speak with gestures and people also speak with gestures. After that, Elizabeth conceived a baby according to the angel's words, and Zacharias was able to speak only after the prophecy was fulfilled.