Page 17 - Life of Christ w videos

seasons (Deuteronomy 16:16) when all the priests would serve. At the time of Zacharias, there were
about 8,000 priests who served at the temple in various capacities.

Extra-biblical evidence points to Zacharias' week of service described by Luke being around Pentecost,
which generally falls in late May to mid-June on our calendar. Although they fall at specific times on
God's sacred calendar, the dates of His annual Holy Days and festivals vary up to several weeks on the
Roman calendar we use today.

It seems we can ascertain when Zacharias was serving in the temple. One resource, The Companion
Bible, calculates it to the week of June 13-19 in the determined year (1974, Appendix 179, p. 200).

“So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. Now
after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months” (Luke 1:23-24). Since
Zacharias' temple course was in mid-June, assuming she became pregnant within a couple of weeks, five
months would put this into mid- to late November. This will be handy information later when we
consider the date of Jesus’ birth.

Most of the priests lived in settlements outside of Jerusalem, as far away as Jericho and some perhaps
farther. To serve, the priests left their home, went up to Jerusalem for a week, and afterwards returned
to their homes in Judea or perhaps as far as Galilee. Most priests never traveled in Samaria as
Samaritans were considered “unclean” or defiled.

Elizabeth was Zacharias’ barren wife and was past child-bearing age. Notice that Luke tells us that
Elizabeth was also in the tribe of Aaron – which was to serve in the temple and eat the tithes of the
Lord’s people. This reality made the barrenness of Elizabeth even more distressing as she was a public
figure. Barrenness was at the time considered a curse from God. Evidently the two had prayed for
years that they might have a child, as the angel Gabriel announced that John’s birth would be as a result
of answered prayer (vs.13). In surprise and fear, Zacharias asked the angel for a validating sign. He was
to be mute until John was born.

Elizabeth and Mary, the mothers of John and Jesus, were either blood relatives or close kinswomen
(1:36). The Greek word for their relationship was suggenes or syngenis which means “same kin, related
by blood”. We don’t know the relationship of Mary and Elizabeth; all we know is that they were
relatives. The angel Gabriel appeared to both families in the narrative in Luke. Luke implies that John
was born 6 months before Jesus (1:26).

No other Gospel mentions John and Jesus’ kinship. John’s Gospel raises the question: If Jesus and John
were related, why did John not recognize Jesus at the time of His baptism (John 1:31)? Probably
geography allows for the best explanation. John grew up 90 miles from where Jesus grew up. Also, Luke
indicates that John was raised in the wilderness of Judea (Luke 1:80) so during their early years they
were separated by quite a distance by ancient standards, possibly distant enough to be unfamiliar with
each other as adults.

Practically nothing is known about John’s boyhood, except the he “grew and became strong in spirit”
(1:80). It was the custom of most dedicated Jewish families to journey to Jerusalem once per year to
observe Passover. We do know that Jesus made this journey from Nazareth when He was 12 years old.
Probably Elizabeth and Zacharias, being in the family of the priesthood, religiously attended Passover in
Jerusalem. It may have been during this event that John and Jesus made acquaintances. However,

16