Twelve Fascinating Facts about the Forgotten First Chapter of Luke
Advent IV: A Christmas Prequel Story
✍🏻 Special Note: I'm posting the fourth segment of the Advent series a week early to take some time with family. Please consider joining my Substack as a PAID subscriber. I need to put up a paywall in the New Year, and I’d like you to be on the other side with me! It’s inexpensive and easy to do. And, come on! It’s Christmas!
A Christmas Prequel
It isn’t easy being a prequel. Just ask Jar-Jar Binks.
Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, Obi-Wan, and Yodi are the characters we think of when we hear the movie title “Star Wars.” But the prequels to those iconic movies are highly forgettable. Does anyone care about Jar-Jar?
The Christmas Story we all know—the one that Linus recites—is found in the 2nd Chapter of the Gospel of Luke. But there is a First Chapter. Christmas has a prequel, and its storyline is full of dramatic moments, tensions, surprise announcements, characters, and marvelous miracles. In this story before the Story, you will meet Zechariah, Gabriel, Elizabeth, Herod, John the Baptist, and Jesus. You’ll understand the drama and tension of God’s first word since Malachi. There’s incense. An angel. An old man who can’t speak. A young girl who sings. Two miracle births. One woman is old. A girl is young. A child leaps. The time is fulfilled.
Here are 12 fascinating highlights from Luke 1's prequel to Christmas. Unlike Star Wars, these stories show the glory and power of the story they precede. They also introduce new characters who should be in the Christmas Pageant but sadly are not.
So, to begin, let’s go back to
…a long time ago in a land far, far away…
(In each of these highlights, I will put the title in bold, explain the details in regular font, and highlight the takeaway lesson in italics.)
Priestly Lottery. Zechariah belonged to the division of Abijah, one of 24 priestly divisions, and his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to offer incense came through a lottery system. Lesson: God’s timing is perfect. Always.
Twice Afflicted. Zechariah's muteness was discipline for doubting the angel of God. It was also a symbol. It represented the silence of 400 years between the end of the Book of Malachi and the voice of John the Baptist. It was also a commentary on the Temple system. The people of God had been disobedient, so their prayers in the Temple were muted. (It appears the old man was deaf too. People spoke to him in signs (Luke 1:62). Lesson: Believe and do not doubt God. Just obey.
Elizabeth's Seclusion. After conceiving, Elizabeth went into hiding for five months. This detail is often overlooked but suggests deep personal reflection and protection from public scrutiny. Lesson: When miracles happen, it should disrupt our lives and make us think deeply about God.
Cross-Generational. The text explicitly states that Elizabeth was "barren" and she and Zechariah were "well advanced in years," making her conception miracle comparable to Sarah's conception of Isaac. Mary’s miracle is at the opposite end of the age spectrum. She is a young teenage girl. One of the women in the story is too old, and the other is too young. Lesson: Nothing is impossible with God, however improbable it may be.
Geographic Precision. Luke specifies Nazareth was "a city of Galilee," suggesting he's writing for an audience that needs this clarification - showing his attention to detail for non-Palestinian readers. This further highlights the fact that Nazareth was a “Nothing” town. It is never mentioned in the Old Testament. Nothing good had ever come from Nazareth. Lesson: God doesn’t care about human conventions or popular reasoning.
Prenatal Recognition. John leaps in Elizabeth's womb at Mary's greeting - suggesting prenatal consciousness and recognition of divine presence. The bond between John the Baptist and Jesus is forged in utero. Lesson: life begins in the womb, at conception. A fetus is a child.
Family Dynamics. Despite the honor of bearing the Messiah, Mary goes to help her elderly cousin Elizabeth for three months - showing practical family care alongside cosmic events. Lesson: The human family is God’s chosen institution to save the world; child-bearing is how He will accomplish it.
Prophetic Women. Both Elizabeth and Mary speak prophetically - Elizabeth becomes the first person to call Jesus "Lord" while still in the womb. She is, in effect, the first Christian. And women are prominent in the Gospel of Luke. Lesson: Women are not bystanders to the story of salvation. They are integral.
Political Context. Gabriel's announcement includes political language about thrones and kingdoms, places and names - placing Jesus' birth in spiritual and political contexts. Lesson: Christianity is not a philosophy or an idea. It is a faith rooted in historical facts about God entering the world’s timeline.
Miraculous Signs. Each major announcement comes with a confirming sign - Zechariah's muteness, Elizabeth's pregnancy, and Mary's cousin's pregnancy. Lesson: Miracles are not an end in themselves. They always point to God and what He is doing.
Temple Service. The story begins and ends with temple service - starting with Zechariah's incense offering and ending with him blessing people. But the main character will not be born near the Temple, much less Jerusalem. Lesson: God is by-passing the Temple and bringing Jesus into the real world of people.
Divine Initiative. God initiates all major events through angelic messengers - humans respond rather than initiate. Lesson: Salvation is not something we do or achieve. It is something done by God that we can only receive.
Luke’s Gospel is a masterpiece of storytelling. And its all true too! Read it for yourself. Get to know the characters in the story before the Great Story.
The Advent Series
If you want to read the other episodes in the Advent Series here they are:
Advent I: The Women in Jesus' Family Tree: Outcasts Who Became Ancestors
Advent II: Mary: What Did She Know and When Did She Know It?
Advent III: The Magnificent Magnificat: Majestic, Humbling, and in Some Places, Illegal
Advent IV: Twelve Fascinating Facts about the Forgotten First Chapter of Luke
(Copy and paste these four links and send to a friend in your Christmas letter!)
I’ll post a few more things over the holidays, but please know that I love your comments, your forwards, your shares, and your subscriptions. And remember, it’s Christmas!
The Rev. David Roseberry, an ordained Anglican priest with over 40 years of pastoral experience, offers leadership services to pastors, churches, and Christian writers. He is an accomplished author whose books are available on Amazon. Rev. Roseberry is the Executive Director of LeaderWorks, where his work and resources can be found.
One more comment as I listen to this again: Nazareth was never mentioned in any historical record before the gospels.
Simple and practical. Thanks!