Luke 1:11 Commentary and Bible Study

The angel of the Lord appears without warning to deliver this message. The eminence of the messenger matches the magnitude of the message. Angels were given the honour of delivering God’s most important announcements to mankind, but it happened rarely, and always for very special reasons. The altar of incense was inside the temple just in front of the veil that led into the holy of holies (Exodus 40:26). On it every morning (Exodus 30:7) the high priest burned incense made from a unique mixture of spices (Exodus 30:34-38). This represented the prayers of the saints (Revelation 8:3). On the Day of Atonement the high priest took a censer full of coals from the altar of incense together with incense in his hands, and brought them within the veil to cause the smoke to cover the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:12-13). The angel appeared on the right side of the altar of incense, something which seems to indicate the special glory belonging to the angel, hence Benjamin – meaning, son of my right hand. All that has been said before explains why Zacharias is in such a place at such a time and able to receive this revelation.Why was the message delivered there? The angel Gabriel came to Mary also, but she was not in the temple. This was going to be a message of supreme importance, and it was fitting that it should be delivered when Zacharias was at his work as a priest, having been chosen to have this unique opportunity in his life to serve the Lord. He was in the midst of this most privileged act of service for God when God spoke to him. His son was to be a child given also for the service of God, the son of a priest but also a prophet.Zacharias was troubled, agitated – the word indicates the moving of parts to and fro; he was inwardly moved, and perhaps outwardly also. Fear fell upon him – a very strong expression, describing being totally enveloped by fear. It gripped him so that he could not think any longer in a normal way. This, as so often described in Scripture, was the response of those who stood face to face with the supernatural. Though this had never happened before in his life, Zacharias knew immediately what he was seeing: a being who appeared from nowhere, no doubt having an aura of heavenly glory, and standing there where none but a priest could be. Without anything being said he knew this was not a mere man, and as a sinner he would have been troubled at first, not knowing why this visitation had occurred. For what had Zacharias and Elisabeth been praying for so long? For a son. Perhaps they had vowed like Hannah to give him back to the Lord if their prayer should be answered. But it seems from Zacharias’ unbelieving response that they had ceased any longer to make this petition. Now however, they are told that their specific request has been heard and will be answered. This is going to be the beginning of something greater than they can imagine. How many blessings will follow from this for so many people!The child is given a name, and the name is chosen by God himself. That is itself a promise of God’s special attention to this child and of untold blessing in the years to come. His name is to be John which, Strong tells us, means ‘God is a gracious giver’. If Zacharias was to receive a child from the Lord, he would also receive the name given to this child by the Lord. He would know that that name was certainly meaningful, for God does not give meaningless names, and therefore there was in the name a promise, and Zacharias and Elisabeth would have reflected long and hard on what this name signified. Their child was to be a personal gift to them from the gracious God, but he was to be much more than that as they are about to be told.