Luke records the birth of first John, then Jesus, telling the stories from the point of view of the respective mothers, who are apparently cousins.
Luke 1: 56-65, The birth of John
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John."
They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name." Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.
He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things.
Isn't three months a rather long time to stay? Why do you think Mary stayed so long? What did Joseph think of her absence? Did he yet know she was pregnant?
Why did he have to be named John? Why did the angel pick this name? Couldn't he have been called Elijah or something similar?
What was the result of Zechariah's naming his son? (His affliction was removed, he praised God, the neighbors were awed, and the hill people told of it!)
Who all heard the tale of Zechariah and his son? (This must have been an interesting community. Surely it included some shepherds?)
Luke 1: 66-79, Zechariah's song of praise, the "Benedictus"
Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him.
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us-- to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."
In verse 69 the word "horn" symbolizes strength (NIV footnotes.)
Does Zechariah see the Messiah as overthrowing the Gentiles? Or aiding the Gentiles.
A question for the Jews of that day: "What type of salvation will this child provide?" (Two-fold, apparently, for it will save Israel from his enemies and provide forgiveness of sins.)
Zechariah is remembering God's covenant with Abraham, grandfather of the Jewish nation. (See Genesis 17.)
What is the "rising sun"? How will they be guided into "peace"?
How do you think Luke learned of all of these events?
Luke 1: 80, The child grows strong
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.
What does it mean to become "strong in spirit"?
How did he live in the desert? Did he live there as a child? Maybe his parents resided in the desert? Or did John move there after growing up?
Like the other gospels, neither the childhood of The Baptist, nor the childhood of Jesus seems to be of much interest.
For further thought: What was the childhood of Jesus like? of John?
In the next chapter Luke records the birth of this promised Messiah.
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