Another look at Luke: What's unique?

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My view on Luke 1:5-25

So in Luke 1 verses 5-25 we see some amazing things happening for Elizabeth and to Zechariah----Elizabeth was unable to bear children ---her husband Zechariah must have prayed for his wife to have a child because the angel says God heard his prayer -----so we see answered prayer here -----

Question here ----
So what was it about Elizabeth and Zechariah that prompted God to answer his prayer -?What made them special ?

So then we see as Zechariah is in the temple the angel appears and tells him that his wife will bear a son and he is to call him John ------and then we see Doubt and Unbelief creep in and even after he is told God heard his prayer and is answering it --which should have made him believe but it didn't as he Questions God ? ----- and says -------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.”


So the upright sheep becomes a cast down sheep with his doubt and unbelief -----which is when a sheep gets on his back he can't get back up and eventually the cast down sheep gets very unwell and can die if left on his back -----and Zechariah has a drastic curse put on him for not believing in what he has been told ---he looses his speech until the appointed time ----

So the cast down sheep needs a good Shepard to up right him again and get him off this troubled time of flailing to get up right again -----and finally that happens and Elizabeth said ------ 5 “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.”


Todays reflection verse say a lot in the Spiritual side of it ----

Joy and gladness will come to you and many will rejoice at his birth. (Luke 1:14 NET)


my view on this reflection verse ------This is saying to me ---that many who wish to receive their first step of the later redemption that John The Baptise is offering Joy and gladness will come you in its fullness to all who takes John Baptism of water repentance which will change the hearts and minds of many to come to the future Salvation -----

This is the rest of the scripture for this verse

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.”
 
unsafe said:
Question here ----
So what was it about Elizabeth and Zechariah that prompted God to answer his prayer -?What made them special ?
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A combination of their ancestry and their character/ behaviour, it seems to me.

They are both of priestly descent. And they have been living righteously, following all God's commandments and ordinances.
 
Is it significant that they are infertile and not expecting to ever have children? I mean, it gives them a reason to welcome the news with joy but is there more? The Abraham connection I mentioned comes to mind.
 
Mendalla ---you said ----The Abraham connection I mentioned comes to mind.------

My view
Goes to show us ---Nothing is impossible when God is at the Helm ---Our Doubt and Unbelief blocks God's works in our lives -----when we let go of the doubt and unbelief only then can God work in and through us to bring the impossible to us - -
 
Something to think about ----

-When we are working to bring things in our lives God is Resting from us -----Abraham and Sarah worked to have a Child their way first ---God left them to it ---

When we are resting from bringing things into our lives God is working for us ----Elizabeth and Zechariah let God do His work the first time ----
 
Well, there's Hannah, Samuel's mother, who seems to have been an older mother
 
Luke 1: 26-56 Mary's Story

The angel Gabriel makes another appearance with a similar announcement. This time he approaches the woman directly. He goes to Nazareth and tells Mary she will give birth to a son, whom she will name Jesus. Mary is incredulous because she has not been intimate with a man.

The Holy Spirit will come upon her, she is told, and the child will be holy. He will be called the son of God. Mary accepts this surprising news.

Mary's relative, Elizabeth, is now in the sixth month of her pregnancy and Mary goes for an extended visit. When Mary arrives, the baby in Elizabeth's womb leaps for joy. Elizabeth recognizes Mary as the mother of the Lord and utters words of blessing for her. Mary replies with the hymn of praise we have come to know as the Magnificat. (My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has begun to rejoice in God my Savior . . . )

Mary stays with Elizabeth for about three months and then returns home.

For reflection:

For the instant the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. (Luke 1: 44 NET)
 
For the instant the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

This probably brings back memories for anyone who has ever been pregnant! One of my babies turned around from a breech position when I was about 32 weeks pregnant. I am not even sure how to describe that sensation . . . "leaped" doesn't begin to cover it. But I digress.

Luke creates a very close association between John and Jesus, with John recognizing Him before they were born. Their mothers are kinswomen and apparently they have a close relationship. Were the two women cousins? With the age difference between them, aunt and niece seems more likely.

It is unclear if Mary remained for the birth of the baby.

John and Jesus have both been conceived for God's purpose.
 
Interesting that when Mary raises the question of 'How?' the angel reassures her. When Zechariah raises the question of 'How?' earlier, he is struck speechless. I wonder what this difference means?
 
paradox3 said:
or the instant the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

This probably brings back memories for anyone who has ever been pregnant
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Babies are remarkably sensitive to what happens outside the womb.

One of our favorite stories about Little M happened in utero. Mrs. M was in late second or third trimester and was going to red cook (a style of Chinese cooking) a large fish but couldn't really get close enough to the countertop to cut and clean it (she got really big towards the end). So, she had me do it.

So I am standing over this fish (a whitefish I think) with our Chinese cleaver. I raise the knife to take off the head or tail or something and ... he jumps and kicks her. All we can figure is that she was nervous about me doing it and that somehow carried through to him.

More later, but I thought this anecdote kind of fit here.
 
Redbaron said:
Interesting that when Mary raises the question of 'How?' the angel reassures her. When Zechariah raises the question of 'How?' earlier, he is struck speechless. I wonder what this difference means?
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Zechariah asks "How can I be sure?" and Mary asks, "How can this be?"

Some commentators see a big difference in the nature of these questions but I think this is splitting hairs, myself.

A great deal is being asked of everyone here but maybe Gabriel is willing to cut Mary a little extra slack. Unlike Zechariah, she is the one who will have the profound experience of pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. John the Baptist will play a very important role as the story unfolds, but Mary will be responsible for the Son of God. This has got to count for something.
 
What I find remarkable is that the whole story hangs together so well even though no other canonical source that I can think of provides support for the idea that John and Jesus were related by blood or marriage. It seems to be clearly a story to further build and foreshadow John's role in Jesus' story but the scene between Mary and Elizabeth does feel "right" in some ways, including John reacting to his mother's emotions on hearing Mary's news.

The Magnificat, OTOH, seems a little too composed to be spontaneous. Someone may have put words in her mouth here. At the very least, one suspects that some refinement happened or, as @paradox3's comment about Hannah suggests, she was remembering words from another source.

Interesting that in Matthew, we only get the story of Joseph receiving the news but here we get the arguably more important story of Mary receiving it. Wonder why each gives a different perspective on this.
 
Mendalla said:
Interesting that in Matthew, we only get the story of Joseph receiving the news but here we get the arguably more important story of Mary receiving it. Wonder why each gives a different perspective on this.
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And Luke tells us nothing of Joseph's character. Matthew describes him as a righteous man even before the visit of the angel (unnamed in this gospel).

In Matthew's version of the story, Mary is already expecting a baby when the angel appears. In Luke's more comprehensive narrative, the angel advises Mary she will become pregnant. I am noting this difference for the first time . . . How could I have missed it until now? :unsure:
 
My view is that------- Zechariah doubted the angels words ----he said ==How can I be sure as I am old -----He allowed his age to block his belief and trust in God ----- Zechariah was a priest and should not have doubted what God is capable of as he was a teacher of the law ----and knew scripture ----he would have had known what God had done in the past for His people -----and trust should have been the order of the day


Mary on the other hand said ---How can this be seeing a man is not involved ----she was asking a proper question and got her answer from the angel and then received what the angel said to her right away -----so there was no doubting there---she received the angels words and trusting that God's will would come to pass ----
 
"How can I be sure of this?" strikes me as a reasonable question for Zechariah to ask. He may have been seeking reassurance rather than expressing doubt in God.
 
unsafe said:
My view is that------- Zechariah doubted the angels words ----he said ==How can I be sure as I am old -----He allowed his age to block his belief and trust in God ----- Zechariah was a priest and should not have doubted what God is capable of as he was a teacher of the law ----and knew scripture ----he would have had known what God had done in the past for His people -----and trust should have been the order of the day


Mary on the other hand said ---How can this be seeing a man is not involved ----she was asking a proper question and got her answer from the angel and then received what the angel said to her right away -----so there was no doubting there---she received the angels words and trusting that God's will would come to pass ----
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This might well be the case; however, there is no solid foundation in the text of Luke's Gospel to make such a firm distinction.
 
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