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MARCH 22
8 So it was, that while he was serving as and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
priest before God in the order of his division, to make ready a people prepared for the
9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his Lord.”
lot fell to burn incense when he went into the 18 And Zacharias said to the angel, “How
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temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my
of the people was praying outside at the hour wife is well advanced in years.”
of incense. Then an angel of the Lord 19 And the angel answered and said to him, “I
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appeared to him, standing on the right side of am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of
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the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw God, and was sent to speak to you and bring
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him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. you these glad tidings. But behold, you will
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be be mute and not able to speak until the day
afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and these things take place, because you did not
your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and believe my words which will be fulfilled in
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you shall call his name John. And you will their own time.”
have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at
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his birth. For he will be great in the sight of
the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor
strong drink. He will also be filled with the 1:19 Gabriel. Literally, “strong man of God.”
Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. Gabriel also appears in Daniel 8:16; 9:21. He is
16 And he will turn many of the children of Is- one of only two holy angels whose names are
rael to the Lord their God. He will also go given in Scripture, the other being Michael
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before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to (Dan. 10:13,21; Jude 9; Rev. 12:7).
turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’
Day 21:Who was the writer Luke?
According to tradition, Luke was a Gentile. The apostle Paul seems to confirm this, distin-
guishing Luke from those who were “of the circumcision” (Col. 4:11,14).That would make Luke the
only Gentile to pen any books of Scripture. He is responsible for a significant portion of the New
Testament, having written both this Gospel and the Book of Acts.
Very little is known about Luke. He almost never included personal details about himself, and
nothing definite is known about his background or his conversion.Both Eusebius and Jerome iden-
tified him as a native of Antioch (which may explain why so much of the Book of Acts centers on
Antioch—see Acts 11:19–27; 13:1–3; 14:26; 15:22,23,30–35; 18:22,23).Luke was a frequent compan-
ion of the apostle Paul, at least from the time of Paul’s Macedonian vision (Acts 16:9,10) right up to
the time of Paul’s martyrdom (2 Tim. 4:11).
The apostle Paul referred to Luke as a physician (Col.4:14).Luke’s interest in medical phenom-
ena is evident in the high profile he gave to Jesus’healing ministry (e.g., 4:38–40; 5:15–25; 6:17–19;
7:11–15; 8:43–47, 49–56; 9:2,6,11; 13:11–13; 14:2–4; 17:12–14; 22:50,51).In Luke’s day, physicians did
not have a unique vocabulary of technical terminology;so when Luke discusses healings and other
medical issues,his language is not markedly different from that of the other Gospel writers.

stood between the LORD and you at that time,
MARCH 22 to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you
were afraid because of the fire, and you did
not go up the mountain. He said:
Deuteronomy 5:1–6:25 6 ‘I am the LORD your God who brought
And Moses called all Israel, and said to you out of the land of Egypt, out of
5 them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the house of bondage.
judgments which I speak in your hearing 7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.
today, that you may learn them and be careful 8 ‘You shall not make for yourself a
to observe them. The LORD our God made a carved image—any likeness of
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covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD did not anything that is in heaven above,
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make this covenant with our fathers, but with or that is in the earth beneath, or
us, those who are here today, all of us who are that is in the water under the
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alive. The LORD talked with you face to face on earth; you shall not bow down to
the mountain from the midst of the fire. I them nor serve them. For I, the
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