New Testament · Gospel

Luke 1:13

The Careful Account

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. Luke 1:13 · Berean Standard Bible

What It Means

Luke 1:13, in plain English

The angel tells him, 'Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife Elizabeth is going to have a son, and you should name him John.'

Why it's here

Zechariah probably stopped asking God for a child decades ago. But God never forgot that prayer. Sometimes the answer comes long after you've stopped expecting it.

Who's speaking

The angel brings Zechariah incredible news.

Where it sits in the story

After all those years of hoping and praying and eventually giving up, God says, 'I heard you. Every prayer. And the answer is yes.' God's timing is never late.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

The angel reassures Zechariah not to fear, announces that his deesis (prayer/petition) has been heard, and prophesies that Elizabeth will bear a son to be named Ioannes (John).

Language and setting

The name Ioannes (Hebrew: Yohanan) means 'God is gracious.' The angel's announcement that his prayer 'has been heard' uses the aorist passive eisekousthe, suggesting a specific, long-standing petition.

Voice

The angel delivers the birth announcement to Zechariah.

Significance

A prayer that Zechariah may have stopped praying years ago has been heard all along. God's answer comes through an angel, bringing the news of an impossible birth.

In context

Luke 1:11–15

11Just then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

12When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear.

13But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.

14He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth,

15for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.

Read all of Luke 1 — A physician writes the most detailed account of Jesus' life. Luke notices the people others overlook — the poor, the outcast, the women, the forgotten.

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