The Savior for All: A Savior Promised to the Humble
Luke does not begin with a king's palace.
He begins with an elderly priest who has prayed for years and received no answer. He begins with a young woman in a forgotten village. He begins with two cousins — one barren, one virgin — both visited by the same angel.
Luke is the Gospel for all people. And the way it opens tells you who the Savior comes for: not the proud, not the powerful, not the safely respectable, but the humble who have waited long for God to act.
A careful orderly account
Luke addresses his Gospel to "most excellent Theophilus":
"It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught."
Luke is a careful historian. He has investigated. He has interviewed. He writes so that we may have certainty — not vague feelings, but solid ground.
The Savior for All is presented to the careful mind as well as the broken heart.
A childless priest
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. Both were righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments. But they had no child — Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
This is the language of Israel's old stories: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah. Women who could not bear, until God opened the womb. The God of Israel has not forgotten how to do this.
While Zechariah is serving in the temple, burning incense, the angel Gabriel appears to him:
"Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John."
This son will be great before the Lord. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah.
Zechariah answers with skepticism: "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years."
Gabriel answers:
"I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. You will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place."
Even faithful priests can struggle to believe when God finally answers a prayer prayed too long. The Savior is coming, and the silence of Zechariah is part of the preparation.
A young virgin in Nazareth
Six months later, Gabriel is sent to a city of Galilee named Nazareth — a town so insignificant that later people will ask, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"
He comes to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name is Mary.
"Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"
Mary is greatly troubled. The angel says:
"Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
Mary asks honestly: "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"
The angel answers:
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy — the Son of God."
He gives her a sign: even her relative Elizabeth has conceived a son in her old age. For nothing will be impossible with God.
Mary answers:
"Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."
The Savior for All begins His earthly life in the womb of a humble girl whose only response is yes. Not negotiation. Not condition. Just yes.
Mary visits Elizabeth
Mary goes with haste to a town in the hill country of Judah. She enters Zechariah's house and greets Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth hears Mary's greeting, the baby leaps in her womb. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaims:
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"
Even in the womb, John recognizes the One he was sent to prepare for.
The Magnificat
Mary breaks out in song:
"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant."
She sings of the God who scatters the proud, brings down the mighty from their thrones, exalts the humble, fills the hungry with good things, and sends the rich away empty.
This is the song of the Savior for All — the One who reverses the order of the world. The humble are exalted, the proud are scattered, and the lowly are remembered because God remembers His covenant.
The birth of John
Elizabeth gives birth. The neighbors and relatives rejoice. On the eighth day, at the circumcision, they want to name him after his father.
Elizabeth says: "No; he shall be called John."
They ask Zechariah. He writes: "His name is John."
Immediately his mouth is opened and his tongue loosed. He speaks, blessing God.
Zechariah's prophecy
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Zechariah prophesies:
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people."
He sings of the horn of salvation raised up in the house of David — the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham — the rescue of God's people from the hand of their enemies, that they might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness, all their days.
Then he turns to his son:
"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins."
The dawn from on high is about to visit:
"To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
The Savior for All is coming. And before Him, John will run as the herald.
Closing prayer
Father, You did not send Your Son to a king's palace but to a humble girl in a forgotten town. You answered the prayer of an elderly priest. You scattered the proud and exalted the lowly. Make us those who say, like Mary, let it be to me according to Your word. Visit and redeem us by Your Son — the dawn from on high who has come to give light to those who sit in darkness. In Jesus' name, amen.
