“Prophetic, Angelic Pregnancy Announcement” | Luke 1:26-33 Bible Study

First streamed on 12.7.22. First posted on 12.9.22. Also see the previous lesson on Luke 1:5-17 (“Get Ready For Christmas! Celebrate the Presence”).

*Elizabeth and Mary were relatives, but Scripture does not say how closely they were related (Lk 1:36).*

Text in gray, was not mentioned during the stream.

• Introduction
• Context
• Bible Study Audio
• Bible Study Video
• Verse-By-Verse Commentary (forthcoming)
• Live Stream Recording
• Bible Study Slideshow
• Bibliography

Introduction

Pregnant mothers often tell others that they’re expecting a little angel. But in Luke 1, an angel unexpectedly tells a soon-to-be-pregnant mother what to expect.

During the “Annunciation”,¹ the angel Gabriel proclaims a prophetic, angelic, pregnancy announcement.

The heavenly messenger gives Mary a message of majesty: “King, Savior: Coming Soon!”

This is the gender reveal of Jesus the Redeemer. And Mary’s not merely having a little prince – but the prophesied Prince of Peace (cf. Is 9:6), the promised Messiah from the line of David who will reign forever.

The Son of the Most High (Lk 1:32), the Son of God (Lk 1:35), the divine Son of Man (Dn 7:13-14; Mk 14:61-62): Jesus will come into the world humbly and human as a son of Mary.

That’s an amazing announcement! But, nowadays, too many people don’t realize the importance of this proclamation. Too many people don’t celebrate Christ during Christmas (Christ mass).

This time of year, too many people throw birthday parties without acknowledging the One who was born. Too many people don’t understand that Jesus is the reason for the season.

What about you? Gabriel announces that Mary will soon have a baby on board. Are you on board with the Baby? Will we believe the angel’s announcement or will we doubt his declaration?

Context

Now, as you may recall, this prophesied, angelic pregnancy announcement for Jesus the Christ is preceded by a previous, prophesied, angelic pregnancy announcement for John the Baptist.²

As we saw in our previous study on Luke 1:5-17, starting at verse 5, it says:

5 It came to pass, in the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah from the priestly division of Abijah. And with him was his wife – from the (female) descendants [lit. “daughters”] of Aaron – and her name was Elizabeth. 6 Now they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking in all the commands and requirements of the Lord blameless(ly). 7 And they had no child, because Elizabeth was unable to have children, and they were both advanced in age [lit. in their days]. (Lk 1:5-7, AT)

8 And it came to pass, while he was serving as a priest in the Presence of God when it was the turn of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter into the sanctuary of the Lord to burn an incense offering. 10 And the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the time of the incense offering. (Lk 1:8-10, AT)

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of the incense offering. 12 And when Zechariah saw [the angel], he was shaken and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not fear, Zechariah, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. And you shall call him the name John.” (Lk 1:11-13, AT)

And we’ll see many similar themes in the angelic announcement to Mary.³ Continuing at Luke 1:14, the angel says:

14 There will be joy and exultation for you. And many, on account of his birth, will be overjoyed. 15 For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord, he may never drink any wine or alcoholic beverage, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.  (Lk 1:14-15, AT)

16 And he will turn many of the descendants [lit. sons] of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go before Him, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare for the Lord a people made ready. (Lk 1:16-17, AT)

Last week, we talked about getting ready for Christmas, and celebrating the Presence (the Presence of the Lord). And we discussed how John the Baptist was the prophesied Elijah-like prophet who was to come and prepare the way for the Lord (cf. Is 40:3; Lk 3:4; Mal 3:1, 4:5-6; Lk 7:27; Mt 11:13-14, 17:10-13) – the Lord Jesus.

The angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah, John’s father, during the time of the incense offering in the Temple. He tells Him that His wife, Elizabeth, would bear a son, who will be great in the sight of God, and a joy to the people. For he will bring about repentance, reconciliation, and godly wisdom as he gets the people ready for the Christ.

And Gabriel announces the mission of John, whose name means “The LORD is gracious” or “YHWH is gracious”.

Now how does Zechariah respond to this gracious, good news?  Well, continuing at Luke 1:18, it 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.”

19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” (Lk 1:18-20, NIV)

Now, though we can understand his skepticism (cf. Gen 15:8),⁴ Zechariah does not respond faithfully to words Gabriel speaks. Therefore, Gabriel says Zechariah won’t be able to speak any words. He’s likely made deaf, as well (cf. Lk 1:62).⁵

If Zechariah asked for some sort of miraculous sign as proof, he got it.⁶ He is miraculously made mute.

As a priest, he should know how, in the Old Testament, God blessed several, renowned childless couples with children (most notably Abraham and Sarah)⁷ (cf. Gen 18:10f.). Thus, Zechariah is punished for his lack of faith.⁸

And, as we’ll see, unlike Zechariah, Mary will respond faithfully to her angelic announcement⁹ (cf. Hannah vs. Eli in 1 Samuel 1-2).¹⁰ And, as we’ve said, there are many parallels between the two accounts¹¹ (both in form and vocabulary).¹²

For the Lord has preordained the parallel provenances¹³ of these two extraordinary, unborn babies. There is divine intervention to bring about God’s divine intention¹⁴ – an everlasting Kingdom for His people.¹⁵

That said, as we’ll see, though there are many similarities, there are also some important differences.¹⁶ The same angel announces the good news.¹⁷ But, here, instead of the focus being on a father, the focus is on a mother.¹⁸

“This is significant because it reflects the gender diversity of such birth announcements or inquiries about births in the Old Testament (e.g., Abraham, Rebekah, the wife of Manoah).”¹⁹

Also, whereas Matthew focuses on Joseph (Mt 1:18-25), Luke focuses on Mary.²⁰

And Luke is likely inviting readers to compare and contrast the faith of Mary  (a young girl) with that of Zechariah (an older priest).²¹

You see, in Luke, we often find that the so-called “little people” joyfully receive God’s great grace.²² In this gospel, it’s the nobodies who tend to know better.

That said, continuing at Luke 1:21, it says:

21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. (Lk 1:21-22, NIV)

Now, after the incense offering, the priest would typically come out of the Temple and pronounce the priestly blessing (Num 6:24-6:26).²³ But they discern that something extraordinary has taken place (cf. Is 6:1-5; Eze 10:3-19).²⁴

Then, in Luke 1:23-25, it says:

23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “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.” (Lk 1:23-25, NIV)

Recall that, in their context, childlessness was seen as a disgrace (cf. Gen 30:23; 1 Sam 1:5-6)²⁵and even a punishment from God.

Now, in Genesis 30:22-24, it says:

22 Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” 24 She named him Joseph, and said, “May the LORD [YHWH] add to me another son.” (Gen 30:22-24, NIV)²⁶

Recall that Rachel was the wife of Jacob, who was later renamed Israel (Gen 32:28). Also, Joseph means “may he add”.²⁷ And, as we discussed in our last lesson, Zechariah means, “The LORD [YHWH] has remembered.”²⁸

In any case, apparently Elizabeth remains secluded until the time in her pregnancy where her baby bump would be obvious – and thus she would no longer feel shame.²⁹

Bible Study Audio

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Bible Study Video

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Verse-by-Verse Commentary

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Bible Study Slideshow

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12-7-22 Bible Study Slides Luke 1_26-33

Bibliography

• Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. [BDAG]
• Balz, Horst Robert, and Gerhard Schneider. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1990–. [EDNT]
• Black, David Alan. It’s Still Greek to Me: An Easy-to-Understand Guide to Intermediate Greek. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998.
• Bock, Darrell L. Luke. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996. [NIVAC]
• Burton, Ernest De Witt. Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in New Testament Greek. 3rd ed. Edinburg: T&T Clark, 1898.
• Evans, Craig A. The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew–Luke. Edited by Craig A. Evans and Craig A. Bubeck. First Edition. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2003.
• Evans, Craig A. Luke. Understanding the Bible Commentary Series. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1990. [UBNT]
• Green, Joel B. The Gospel of Luke. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997.
• Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Second Edition. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2014.
• Liefeld, Walter L., and David W. Pao. “Luke.” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition), edited by Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, Vol. 10. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007. [LP]
• Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. New York: United Bible Societies, 1996. [LN]
• Marshall, I. Howard. “Luke.” In New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, edited by D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham, 4th ed., 978–1020. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994. [NBC]
• Mounce, William D. Basics of Biblical Greek: Grammar. Edited by Verlyn D. Verbrugge. Third Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009.
• Morris, Leon. Luke: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 3. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988.
• Porter, Stanley E. Idioms of the Greek New Testament. Sheffield: JSOT, 1999.
• Reiling, J., and J. L. Swellengrebel. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. UBS Handbook Series. New York: United Bible Societies, 1993. [UBS]
• Schreiner, Thomas R. “Luke”. In The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Edited by Gary M. Burge, and Andrew E. Hill. Baker Books, 2012.
• Silva, MoisÈs, ed. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Vol. 1–5. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014. [NIDNTTE]
• Strauss, Mark. “Luke”. In Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke. Vol. 1. Edited by Clinton E. Arnold. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002.
• Trites, Allison A. “Luke”. In Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 12: The Gospel of Luke and Acts. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2006.
• Wallace, Daniel B. Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996.
• Wilcock, Michael. The Savior of the World: The Message of Luke’s Gospel. The Bible Speaks Today. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979.
• Zerwick, Max. Biblical Greek Illustrated by Examples. English ed., adapted from the fourth Latin ed. Vol. 114. Scripta Pontificii Instituti Biblici. Rome: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1963.