A reading from the book of Judges (13:2-7, 24-25)
There was a man of Zorah of the tribe of Dan, called Manoah. His wife was barren; she had borne no children. The angel of the Lord appeared to this woman and said to her, ‘You are barren and have had no child, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now, be careful not to drink wine or fermented liquor, and eat nothing unclean, for you will conceive and bear a son. No razor is to touch his head, for the boy is to be God’s nazirite from the womb; and he will begin to rescue Israel from the power of the Philistines.’
The woman then went and told her husband, ‘A man of God has just come to me, who looked like the angel of God, so majestic was he. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. But he said to me, “You shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or fermented liquor, and eat nothing unclean. For the boy is to be God’s nazirite from the womb till the day of his death.” ’
The woman gave birth to a son and called him Samson. The child grew, and the Lord blessed him; and the spirit of the Lord began to move him.
Another announcement of the birth of a special child comes in the book of Judges to the wife of Manoah, who is never named. The angel appears first to her, and then on a second occasion when Manoah also speaks with the angel. The instructions about diet first given to the woman are repeated to Manoah. The child, named by his mother as Samson, is to be a ‘nazirite’, vowed to the Lord from conception until death. This pattern of annunciations of birth in the Hebrew Scriptures is naturally taken up for John the Baptist and for Jesus. The spirit of the Lord will be given to Samson, just as the holy Spirit will fill John the Baptist ‘even from his mother’s womb’ (Luke 1:15). But Samson will use the gift of the Spirit for his own selfish ends.
Psalm 71 (70) speaks of God as a ‘rock’. From the womb of the mother God’s support and strength is known.
O root of Jesse,
set up as a sign to the peoples,
kings fall silent before you,
and the peoples acclaim you,
come to save us,
and delay no more.
The great messianic poem speaks of ‘a shoot from the root of Jesse’ (Isaiah 1:1), father of king David. The spirit of the Lord will rest on him. This ‘root’ will ‘stand as a signal for the peoples’ (11:10). Kings fall silent before the servant of the Lord (52:15), and the peoples acclaim him.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke (1:5-25)
It happened that in the days of King Herod of Judaea there was a priest called Zechariah who belonged to the Abijah section of the priesthood, and he had a wife, Elizabeth by name, who was a descendant of Aaron. Both were righteous in the sight of God, living blamelessly in all the commandments and observances of the Lord. But they were childless, for Elizabeth was barren and they were both advanced in years.
Now it happened that in the turn of his section to serve, he was exercising his priestly office before God when it fell to him by lot, as the priestly custom was, to enter the Lord’s sanctuary and burn incense there. And at the hour of incense all the people were outside, praying.
Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar of incense. Seeing this, Zechariah was disturbed and overcome with fear. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son and you shall name him John. You will have joy and delight, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine, or strong drink; even from his mother’s womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will turn many of the Israelites to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah, he will go before him to turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.’ Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How can I know this? I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.’ The angel replied, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in God’s presence, and I have been sent to speak to you and bring you this good news. Look! You will be silenced and unable to speak until this has happened, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.’ Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were surprised that he was delaying in the sanctuary. When he came out he could not speak to them, and they realised that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. But he could only make signs to them and remained unable to speak.
When his time of service was complete he returned home. After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived and for five months she kept to herself, saying, ‘The Lord has done this for me, now that it has pleased him to take away the shame I suffered in public.’
The narrative of the Gospel of Luke begins with the annunciation to Zechariah of the birth of John the Baptist. While the annunciation to Mary takes place in the humble home of Nazareth, this announcement happens in the sanctuary of the temple of Jerusalem. There are obstacles to the fulfilment of God’s promise, for Elizabeth is aged and barren. The angel announces that the child is to be named ‘John’, which means ‘the Lord is merciful’, and that his rule of life will exclude wine or strong drink. Filled with the Spirit he will assume the power of Elijah, whose return is proclaimed in Malachi 3, to ‘make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him’. Zechariah’s understandable hesitation is met with the announcement that he is to fall silent, much like the prophet Ezekiel (24:27), until the events come true. The passage ends with the delight of Elizabeth that her ‘shame’ has been removed through the Lord’s gift.
Why does the Lord work in strange and unexpected ways?
The names of John, and of Jesus, make powerful statements about their respective missions.