Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: LUKE #3 - 1:57-80)
C. 1:57-79 BIRTH AND MINISTRY OF JOHN
1. 1:57-66 UNUSUAL EVENTS IN NAMING OF JOHN
a. 1:57 Now :Elisabeth's time was fulfilled that she should be delivered; and she gave birth to a son.
Tede E-leiSAbet ePLESthe[4130]ho CHROnos tou teKEIN [5088]auTEN; kai eGENne-sen huiON.
b. 1:58 NEIGHBORS REJOICE WITH ELISABETH
kai Ekou-san hoi peRIoi-koi [4040]kai hoi sug-geNEIS [4773]auTES
And the neighbors and her :kinsfolk heard
HOti e-meGAlu-nen [3170] KUri-os to Ele-os auTOU met' auTES; kai suNEchai-ron [4796]auTE.
that the Lord had magnified his :mercy toward her; and they rejoiced with her.
c. 1:59 KINSFOLK GIVE CIRCUMCISION NAME OF ZACHARIAS
kai eGEne-to en teheMEra teogDOe, ELthan pe-ri-teMEIN [4059]to paiDIon;
And it came to pass on the eighth :day, they came to circumcise the child;
kai eKAloun auTO, ePI tooNOma-ti tou paTROS auTOU, Za-chaRIan.
and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of his :father.
d. 1:60 And his :mother answered andsaid, Not so; but he shall be called John.
kai a-po-kriTHEIsa heMEter auTOU EIpen, OuCHI; alLA kleTHEse-tai IoAnes.
e. 1:61 And they said unto her [that], There is none of your :kindred that is called by this :name.
kai EIpan pros auTEN [HOti], OuDEIS es-tin ek tes sug-geNEIas sou hos kaLEItai tooNOma-ti TOUto.
f. 1:62 And they made signs to his :father, what he would have him called.
eNEneu-on [1770] de to paTRI auTOU, to ti an THEloi kaLEISthai auTO.
g. 1:63a And he asked for a writing tablet, andwrote, saying, His name is John.
kai aiTEsas pi-naKIdi-on [4093], Egra-psen, LEgon, IoAnes esTIN Ono-ma auTOU.
h. 1:63b And all marveled. kai eTHAUma-san [2296]PANtes.
i. 1:64 And his :mouth was opened immediately, and his :tongue, and he spoke, blessing :God.
a-neOCHthede to STOma auTOU pa-raCHREma, kai he GLOSsa auTOU, kai eLAlei, eu-loGON ton TheON.
j. 1:65 FEAR ON ALL: THE RESULT OF THESE HAPPENINGS
kai eGEne-to ePI PANtas PHObos tous pe-ri-oiKOUNtas [4039] auTOUS:
And fear came on all that dwelt round about them:
kai en HOlete o-riNE[3714]tes IouDAIas di-e-laLEIto [1255]PANta ta 'REma-ta TAUta.
and all these :sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea.
k. 1:66a And all that heard laid themup in their :heart, saying, What then shall this :child be?
kai Ethen-to PANtes hoi aKOUsan-tes en tekarDIa auTON, LEgon-tes, Ti Ara to paiDIon TOUto EStai?
l. 1:66b For theLord's hand was also with him. kai gar cheir KuRIou en met' auTOU.
2. 1:67-79 PROPHECY OF ZACHARIAS CONCERNING JESUS AND JOHN
a. 1:67-69 ZACHARIAS PROPHESIES A SAVIOR FROM DAVID'S HOUSE
Kai Za-chaRIas ho paTER auTOU ePLESthe PNEUma-tos HaGIou,
And his :father Zacharias was filled with theHoly Spirit,
kai e-proPHEteu-sen [4395], LEgon, Eu-lo-geTOS KUri-os, ho TheOS tou Is-raEL;
and prophesied, saying, 68Blessed theLord, the God of :Israel;
HOti e-peSKEpsa-to [1980] kai ePOIe-sen LUtro-sin [3086] to laO auTOU,
Because he has visited and wrought redemption for his :people,
kai Egei-ren KEras [2768] so-teRIas heMIN en OIko DauID paiDOS auTOU.
69And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In his servant David's house.
b. 1:70-75 DELIVERANCE BY MESSIAH: PROMISED TO ABRAHAM
(kaTHOS eLAle-sen diA STOma-tos ton haGIon ap' aiOnos pro-pheTON auTOU),
(As he spoke by themouth of his holy :prophets from theage),
so-teRIan [4991] ex echTHRON [2190] heMON, kai ek cheiROS PANton ton miSOUNton [3404] heMAS;
71Salvation from our enemies, and from thehand of all that hate us;
poiEsai Ele-os meTA ton paTEron heMON, kai mnesTHEnai di-aTHEkes [1242] haGIas auTOU;
72To show mercy toward our :fathers, And to remember his holy covenant;
HORkon [3727] hon Omo-sen [3660] pros A-braAM ton paTEra heMON,
73Theoath which he swore unto Abraham our :father,
tou DOUnai [1325] heMIN, aPHObos [870], ek cheiROS echTHRON 'rusTHENtas [4506],
74To :grant unto us that we, delivered out of our enemies' hand,
laTREUein [3000] auTO,
Should serve him without fear,
en ho-siOte-ti [3742] kai di-kai-oSUne eNOpi-on auTOU PAsais tais heMErais heMON.
75In holiness and righteousness before him all our :days.
c. 1:76-79 JOHN: TO PREPARE JESUS' MINISTRY OF SALVATION
kai su de, paiDIon, proPHEtes HuPSIStou [5310] kleTHEse:
Yes and you, child, shall be called prophet of the Most High:
pro-poREUse [4313] gar eNOpi-on KuRIou he-toiMAsai [2090] hoDOUS auTOU;
For you shall go before theLord to make ready his ways;
tou DOUnai GNOsin [1108] so-teRIas to laO auTOU en aPHEsei[859] ha-mar-tiON auTON,
77To give knowledge of salvation to his :people In remission of their sins,
diA SPLAGCHna [4698] eLEous TheOU heMON,
78Because of thebowels of mercy of our God,
en hois e-piSKEpse-tai heMAS a-na-toLE [395] ex HUpsous [5311],
In which thedayspring from on high shall visit us,
e-piPHAnai [2014] tois en SKOtei kai skiA [4639] thaNAtou ka-theMEnois;
79To shine upon them that sit in darkness and theshadow of death;
tou ka-teuTHUnai[2720] tous POdas heMON eis hoDON eiREnes [1575].
To guide our :feet into theway of peace.
D. 1:80 THE SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT OF JOHN
To de paiDIon EUxa-ne [837], kai e-kra-taiOUto [2901] PNEUma-ti,
And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit,
kai en en tais eREmois [2048] HEos heMEras a-naDEIxe-os [323] auTOU pros ton Is-raEL.
and was in the deserts till theday of his showing unto :Israel.
NOTE: 1:57-66 - Unusual Events in Naming of John - Gabriel's first visit in NT times was to Zacharias. In this visit he announced the supernatural birth of the coming child, and that God had predetermined his name to be John. This all happened before he was conceived, let alone born.
Very few have been born as recorded in the Bible that were named before birth: Ishmael to Hagar through Abraham was the first. Isaac to Sarah through Abraham was the second; Solomon to Bathsheba through David; Josiah, 325 years before his birth! Cyrus, a heathen king, 175 years before his birth, and called God's servant and shepherd, and slated to send Jews back to Jerusalem from captivity to rebuild the Temple; John the baptist and Jesus. In the last two births, it was Gabriel who passed on God's choice for their pre-naming.
This naming of John prior to his birth surprised the kinsfolk, expecting him to be named after his father. The confirmation of Zacharias to Elisabeth's word also surprised the people, especially when his written word released his tongue to speak and prophesy after 9 months of dumbness.
1:67-79 - The prophecy of Zacharias concerning what his son John would do in preparing for the ministry of Jesus the Son of God - is remarkable!
Finally in 1:80, we see the development of John prior to his ministry. Note how the last verse of Luke 1 and 2 parallel each other in recording the development of these two lives. For John, just the spiritual development is mentioned; but for Jesus - it is four-fold!
These first two chapters of Luke introduced this third Gospel in a unique way, containing much information not given in the other three. J.A.W.