The Angel visits Zacharias
[The Saviour of the World] [Volume I] [Book I]
[Poem II] Poem III [Poem IV]
Birth of John Baptist promised.
(The Gospel History, Section 5)
There was in the days of Herod, king of Judæa, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and he had a wife 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.
Now it came to pass, 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 enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: because thy supplication 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 he shall drink no 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 unto the Lord their God. And he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him. 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 I was sent to speak unto thee, and to bring thee these good tidings. And behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marvelled while he tarried 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: and he continued making signs unto them, and remained dumb. And it came to pass, when the days of his ministration were fulfilled, he departed unto his house.
And after these days Elisabeth his wife conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men.
The Angel visits Zacharias
(The Saviour of the World, Vol I Book I Poem III)
An aged priest, within the temple courts,
In meditation watched the curling fumes—
His lot was to burn incense—and all the prayers
Of men he saw ascending; no, not all—
That prayer he prayed, and prayed again, for years,
He and his wife Elizabeth, had that
Indeed gone up to God?—A sudden gleam,
In that dim place, of light ineffable
Arrested him, and lo, an angel stood
At the right side of the altar:
“Fear not thou,”
The angelic word, for Zacharias trembled:
How had he dared to doubt? But not to chide
The visitant was sent: “Thy prayer is heard,”
(That very prayer of years ago he deemed
Had lost its way); “thy wife Elizabeth
Shall carry babe in gladness; nor to her
And thee alone this joy (not any pair
May hold their child for all their own: but this)—
Many shall rejoice at his birth, for he
A great one in the sight of God shall be,
Filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb.
Give him not juice of grape, nor any drink
To cloud his clear intelligence of good:
His people shall he turn to God with the cry,
‘Make ready, there, the highway for the King!’—
Whereat shall natural duties prick men’s hearts;
Fathers bethink them of a son denied,
Children, of fathers recklessly defied—
Unseemly matters for the King to see—
And, rough made plain, behold the King’s highway!
He goes before Messias to prepare,
As spake the prophets, a people for the Lord.”
So said the seraph: Woe to Doubting Heart!
No sudden generous impulse makes him sure—
Perchance, if he might see the wounds of Christ?
But lesser proof avails not, though it were
An angel fraught with promises should speak!
So, Zacharias: “How shall I know this thing?
I am an old man, and my wife is old;
Not for the aged are the joys of child-birth!”
To whom, austere, the seraph, grave rebuking:—
“I, Gabriel, who in the Presence stand,
Am sent by the Most High to thee with word
Of these glad tidings: be thou dumb, nor speak
Till all shall be fulfilled.”
So he went forth
Among the wondering people, making signs,
Whereby they knew an angel spake with him.
And, like an inlay in old cabinet,
His life a space of silence held, wherein
He spake with God, and was abash’d.
After these days Elizabeth conceived,
And for five moons did hide herself from men
And praise God alway, Who, of His dear grace,
Shame and reproach had taken from her face.
St. Luke i. 5-25
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Commentary by J. R. Dummelow
Lk 5–25. Conception of John the Baptist. The rise of Christianity was preceded by a long period of four hundred years, during which prophecy was silent, and the religious guidance of the nation passed to the rabbis and the scribes, who made void the Law of God by their traditions. The advent of Christ was heralded by a great revival of prophecy, and by the restoration of direct communications from God to man through supernatural agency, as in the cases of Zacharias, Joseph, Mary, Elisabeth, Simeon, Anna, the shepherds, the Magi, and, in particular, John the Baptist, who, though he left no written prophecies, and worked no miracle, was declared by our Lord to be the greatest of the prophets, yea, and more than a prophet.
5. The classical style of the preface now changes abruptly to one which is deeply tinged with Hebraisms. This Hebraic style continues to the end of c. 2. Some scholars explain it by supposing that St. Luke is here using a Hebrew document. Herod] see Mt 2:1.
The course of Abia (Abijah)] David divided the priests into twenty-four ‘courses’ or groups, each of which in rotation was responsible for the Temple services for a week. Each course, therefore, officiated twice a year, at an interval of six months. The course of Abijah was the eighth. After the Captivity only four courses returned, but these were subdivided into twenty-four courses under the old names. The course of Abijah is said to have officiated in April and October: see 1 Ch 24:3 Neh 12:1.
6. Righteous] i.e. according to the OT. standard. They were good, pious Jews, strict and careful observers of the Mosaic Law, but not, of course, sinless. 9. Lot] To avoid disputes the various functions were decided by lot. To burn incense] This was done daily, morning and evening (Ex 30:6–8). The daily sacrifice of the lamb was offered on the great altar of burnt offering outside the Temple proper, in front of the porch. The incense was offered inside the Temple on the golden altar of incense which stood before the veil of the Holy of Holies. The officiating priest was alone within the Temple while offering the incense, and the other priests and the people were outside worshipping in the various Temple courts. Only once in a lifetime could a man enjoy this privilege, and he was ever afterwards called ‘rich.’ It was the ‘highest mediatorial act,’ ‘the most solemn part of the day’s service, symbolising Israel’s accepted prayers.’
11. An angel] It was said of the high priest Simon the Just (died 320 b.c.) that ‘for those forty years wherein he had served as high priest, he had seen an angel clothed in white coming into the Holy Place on the Day of Atonement and going out again.’ St. Luke gives special prominence to the ministry of angels, and the appearances which he records are particularly difficult to account for as subjective phenomena: see 1:26 2:9, 13, 21 12:8 15:10 16:22 22:43 24:4, 23, and often in Acts.
12. Was troubled] cp. 2:9 Jg 6:22 13:22, etc.
13. My prayer] Probably not for offspring, but for the coming of the kingdom of God, and of the Messianic salvation, the only suitable prayer for so solemn an occasion. It was a maxim of the rabbis that ‘a prayer in which there is no mention of the kingdom of God is no prayer at all.’ John] lit. ‘Jehovah is gracious.’
15. John was a Nazirite, i.e. one of a class of men in Israel who consecrated themselves to God by abstaining from all intoxicants, by avoiding with scrupulous care all ceremonial defilement, and by wearing the hair long, Nu 6:1–21. Usually men made the Nazirite vow for a definite time, not less than thirty days, but John, like Samson, Samuel, and the Rechabites in the OT., was a Nazirite for life. There are some examples of the Nazirite vow even among Christians (Ac 18:18 21:26). James the Lord’s brother is said by Hegesippus to have been a life-long Nazirite.
John, the Nazirite and dweller in the wilderness (probably also a celibate), represents the austere and ascetic type of piety which few can imitate. Jesus, purposing in His life to offer an example to all mankind, came eating and drinking, and sharing the joys and sorrows and even the recreations of ordinary society. Both these types of piety, the ascetic and the social, have their place in the Kingdom of God.
Filled with the Holy Ghost] As Jesus was conceived without sin, so his forerunner was sanctified in the womb, though the reference is less to personal sanctification than to consecration to the prophetic office: see Jer 1:5 Gal 1:15. 17. Go before his face] i.e. before the face of Jehovah. Elijah] see Mal 4:5, 6 and on Mt 17:10. To turn the hearts, etc.] Malachi’s exact words are, ‘He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.’ ‘The fathers’ are the patriarchs and prophets of Israel, ‘the children’ are their degenerate descendants who have alienated the heart of ‘their fathers’ by their disobedience to their godly precepts. The preaching of John will turn the heart of the children to imitate their just (i.e. pious) ancestors, and thus the heart of their ancestors, now alienated, will be turned to them in love and approbation.
18. With the unbelief of Zacharias compare the laughter of Abraham, Gn 17:17, and of Sarah, Gn 18:12. To ask for a sign was not in itself wrong. Abraham, Gideon, and Hezekiah had done so without rebuke. But the appearance of the angel ought itself to have been a sufficient sign to Zacharias.
19. I am Gabriel, etc.] cp. Tob 12:15, ‘I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels which present the prayers of the saints, and go in before the glory of the Holy One.’ Two angels only are named in the canonical Scriptures, Gabriel (lit. ‘the mighty man of God’), Dan 8:16 9:21, and Michael (lit. ‘Who is like God?’), Dan 10:13, 21 12:1 Jude v. 9 Rev 12:7. In the Apocrypha, Raphael and Uriel are also named. The rabbis say that the Jews learnt the names of the angels in Babylon.
The apparent sanction given here to current Jewish angelology is a good instance of the accommodation to human ideas which is so common in both Testaments. God’s messenger reveals himself by the name of Gabriel, because that was the name by which he was commonly known among the Jews. The Jews themselves did not suppose that they knew the real names of the angels. According to the rabbis the names of the angels represented their mission, and were changed as their mission was changed.
21. Marvelled while he tarried] The people were afraid that the officiating priest might be struck dead for omitting some formality (Lv 16:13), hence the custom was for the priest to finish his ministry as quickly as possible. Once when Simon the Just delayed too long, the people became so anxious that they almost broke into the Holy Place. Afterwards they reproached him for his want of consideration for them.
22. Came out] His duty was now to pronounce the priestly benediction (Nu 6:24), but this he was unable to do. 23. The days] i.e. the week of the course of Abijah. 24. Hid herself five months] She desired to devote herself entirely to prayer and thanksgiving for so signal a mercy. The reproach of childlessness was deeply felt: see Gn 30:23 1 S 1:6, etc.