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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 1:11 - 1:17
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The angel messenger:
v. 11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
v. 12. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
v. 13. 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.
v. 14. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
v. 15. 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.
v. 16. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord, their God.
v. 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.
While Zacharias was engaged in the work of his ministry, while the fumes of the incense in the censer were being wafted upward before the veil of the Most Holy Place,, there suddenly appeared to him an angel of the Lord. It was not a revelation in a dream or in an unconscious state, but an actual appearance, about whose definiteness there could be no doubt. On the right side, that is, on the south side of the altar of incense, the heavenly visitor stood. Zacharias was not in an ecstatic state, his mind was perfectly clear, he noted every detail. But he was deeply moved at the sight, greatly perturbed, as might be expected under the circumstances. And this perturbation took the form of fear, which fell upon him. Well might a sinful man be filled with fear in the presence of a sinless messenger from the holy God. But the angel made haste to reassure him, to tell him there was no need of fear and disturbance. It is a message of joy that he is bringing. It was not only on this day that the thoughts of Zacharias in his prayer had dwelt upon the cross that he was bearing, but it seems that this calamity was a cause of constant supplication to God. Note: When God gives His children a cross to bear, He tests their fortitude and patience, their faith and trust in Him. Even if all experience of man is against a Christian in his prayer, he trusts in the merciful Father for help and, in childlike faith, brings his petition before the throne of God again and again. God will hear at His time and in His way. Thus the angel here announced to Zacharias the fulfillment of his prayer. His wife Elisabeth would bear him a son, and he should call the name of this son John, which Luther renders: the Lord's favor or mercy. This happening, the angel says, will be the occasion for joy and exultation on the part of the father. But other people also would rejoice with the parents on account of this son. The angel does not merely mean the relatives, who, indeed, did not disappoint them at the time appointed, but there is here a hint also of the joy which the true Jews, the believers, would feel at this indication of the consummation of their hopes, for some surely would recognize in John the forerunner of the Lord, the Messiah. The cause for this joy in the highest degree will not merely be parenthood realized, but the fact that this son would be great before the Lord, in the sight of God. He shall be esteemed highly in the sight of God, but shall also receive such regard for service in the field of religion. One of his characteristics would be that of the Nazarites of old: he would drink neither wine nor strong drink, any intoxicating beverage made from fruit outside of grapes, Num_6:3. But his greatest distinction would be this, that he would be filled with the Holy Ghost, not only from the hour of his birth, but before he would have seen the light, from his earliest origin. And a great and wonderful work will be his: Many of the children of Israel will he turn, convert, to the Lord, their God. Repentance and conversion will be his great aim and watchword. Such a spiritual renewal or Revival was badly needed in Palestine at this time, since there was too much dead orthodoxy and not enough living faith among the people. In performing this work, John would be fulfilling the prophecy spoken of him, Mal_4:5-6. The spirit and power of Elijah would be living in him, to turn the heart of the parents to the children, to make them realize the responsibility that rests upon them in the bringing up of the little ones in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, to make them realize that a supplying of the physical needs of the children is not sufficient to meet the demands of the Lord, to make them understand that their duty is not fulfilled when they go through the perfunctory, prescribed formula for teaching their children the outward observances of religion. And incidentally, John's work would consist in turning the disobedient, the faithless, in, or by means of, the sound common sense of the righteous. To wander away from the Lord and follow the bent and inclination of one's own evil heart, is, in the last analysis, the height of foolishness. The only true common sense is that found in those that live their life, with God's help, in accordance with the rules of God's holy Word. By such means, and in this way, John would prepare for the Lord a ready, instructed, adapted people. That is the order in the kingdom of Christ: by the preaching of repentance the way is prepared for Christ and for the Gospel of the mercy of God in Christ. Only where the hearts are previously influenced properly by such preaching, can sound Christian character grow out of the love of Christ.