1:5,6
There were quite a few Herods around in New Testament times! This one is Herod the Great who reigned 37-4 BC. Here we are probably talking of 7-6 BC. Both Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, were from priestly families. “They were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly”. Now this should teach us that a “literal” interpretation of the Bible requires us to exercise some common sense. Luke is not saying that they were perfect. What he is saying is that the origins of Jesus was based in good Judaism. We will come to Jesus’ own human origins shortly, here we are concerned with John who prepared the way for Jesus. Neither of them were “failed Jews”, or rebellious Jews, just as Paul was by no means a failed Jew. Christianity is not the result of rebellion against Judaism and the Law, but is the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets. Zechariah and his wife were faithful adherents of the Law.
1:7
However, Zechariah and Elizabeth were childless. Many key people in the Bible were children of couples who were childless until God “opened” the wife’s womb. So we see some important points. Childlessness is not necessarily a sign of God’s judgement, many servants of God were childless. Indeed Luke has just said that Elizabeth was a devout woman. Secondly, we see that the giving of children is a gift from God. God is in ultimate control of life and the giving of life, both natural and spiritual.
Finally, many key people were children of couples who had trouble conceiving. If there is difficulty in our lives it does not necessarily mean that God has something against us. But in all situations, the grace of God can overcome and the most amazing things can happen.
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