Luke 1:14 Commentary and Bible Study

Insight into the immensity of this gift grows ever greater as the angel continues to speak. They shall personally have joy and gladness, because the period of waiting for God’s answer has come to an end. Evidently they were not in the habit of rejoicing at trivial things such as the comforts of home or increased earthly security, but they rejoiced at life coming into the world, especially when that life that was going to be taken and used by God. This child was to know much stringency, but also much instrumentality for the Lord. He was to live a very austere lifestyle, and his life would end in martyrdom, but none of that would take away from the joy at his birth. How much more precious is a life than any amount of earthly goods! God could be fully trusted to direct the life of one whom he loved, whatever hardship lay along the way.But many others would rejoice at his birth, some at the time, and some in years to come as they saw how God had prepared him and accomplished so much through him. Some would gather around him as disciples, and others would know the blessing of hearing his call to repentance and as he pointed to the greater one coming after him. They would recognise the value of a prophet who had the courage to reprove the nation.‘For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord.’ Many seek to be great in the sight of men, but John cared nothing for that. He let pass opportunities to promote himself as things that he could afford to lose. He did not curry the favour of the great, or draw attention to his achievements. His choices were not influenced by what seemed likely to appeal to popularity. If ever he felt the temptation to soften his message in case it caused offence, he mortified the thought, knowing that no real gain would come from compromise with his calling. The people did not know what was wrong with them, and if they did, they could not be trusted to dispense their own medicine. As a result John earned favour with God, and also with those who turned to God, after they saw what was really needed.John the Baptist was a Nazarite – ‘And shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.’ He must have had early impressions of his calling, and have become a child of great seriousness. Perhaps many thought this was something that would pass, but it did not because it was of the Holy Spirit. Self-control was the distinctive feature of his life; he kept himself even from what was permissible in order to train himself for the rigour of his ministry. John’s life would be consistent with his message. He was to call the people to repentance, and he did so in a way that set an example for them to follow. No minister should urge others to do what he is not prepared to do himself. There was no hypocrisy in him, but he denied himself what he urged others to deny themselves as a sign of turning back to the Lord. ‘And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.’ This is a remarkable statement. We ask of each other, when did you receive the Spirit? and the answer we must give is that it happened when we first repented and trusted in God and were born again. But in John’s case the Spirit worked within him as a little child, even while he was in the womb of his mother. There is no limit to how the Spirit can work. John was a prophet and the Spirit of prophecy was upon him, but he also received the Spirit as a man who needed to be sanctified like any other. Certainly this tells us that little children can come to Christ and there is no lower age limit at which we can be converted.