Jesus is both the Messiah and the Son of God, and therefore it was right that he should be introduced to Israel by a suitable personage. In preparation for this, God arranged for the forerunner to be born six months before Jesus so that thirty years later he could introduce Jesus to the people. As he has done at many occasions, God intervened to enable a barren and aged woman to have a son. He would be called John and would go before the Messiah in the spirit and power of Elias (Elijah in the Old Testament). God had declared, in the last sentence of the Old Testament four hundred years before, that Elijah, the great prophet in Israel, will go before the Messiah when he comes in great glory. This role was filled by John and this may be a foreshadowing of the true fulfilment when Christ returns to earth.
It is interesting to note it was the angel Gabriel who brought this information both to John’s parents and to Mary the mother of Jesus. The angels are the servants of the LORD and perform their duties mostly unseen by us, and Gabriel seems to be one of the highest of them, indicated by him saying that he "stands in the presence of God". This same angel appeared to the prophet Daniel to tell him when the Messiah would come Daniel 9:21-27Waiting for response for Daniel 9:21-27 and now, over four hundred years later, he appeared again to announce the Messiah’s birth.
God had said in the beginning that the Saviour of the world would be “the seed of the woman” Genesis 3:15Waiting for response for Genesis 3:15 therefore, when the time came, Gabriel was sent to a virgin in Israel. Mary was told that the baby would be called Jesus which means “Yah saves” and that, in accordance with God’s promise to David, 1 Chronicles 17:11-14Waiting for response for 1 Chronicles 17:11-14 Jesus would receive the throne of his father David and reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) for ever and of his kingdom there would be no end. This has not yet happened but true disciples are looking forward to Jesus reigning over Israel when he returns from heaven. Mary was also told that Jesus would be “the Son of the Highest” as well as her son. She asked how this could be as she was only betrothed to her husband. She was told that her son would be conceived by the power of God acting upon her so that her child would also be the Son of God. This is easy to understand, although often misconstrued, and we can readily appreciate that Jesus had no existence until he was born of Mary. John’s birth and the news of the Messiah’s conception caused great joy in their two families, but we notice that they both rejoiced, not only at the birth of these sons, but also at the glorious future in prospect through their birth and in the fulfilment of the promise made to Abraham and his seed.
Verses 1-4
Waiting for response for Luke 1:1-4Luke, inspired by God, wrote a record of the life of Jesus which he addressed to Theophilus. This name means “lover of God” and applies to all the saints. Luke wrote “those things which are most surely believed among us”, so we should expect that all disciples of Christ would believe all that is written by him in this gospel. He wrote about the words and deeds of Jesus “that thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed”, for we have in this record the true sayings of God.