Last week, Pastor Tim started preaching from Luke, and challenged people to read through the Gospel. So today I read Luke chapter 1. Here are some thoughts and observations.

• A miscellaneous, unnamed angel appeared to Zechariah, but the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary. Yet in what's recorded, Gabriel didn't identify himself. On what basis did Luke identify the angel as Gabriel?
• When Zechariah questioned how he and his wife could bear a child, since they were old, he was struck deaf and mute. But when Mary questioned how it could happen, since she was a virgin, Gabriel's response was more like, "Good question. Here's how." Is that fair?
• On the other hand, Zechariah's specific question was (in the NIV), "How can I be sure of this?" So he had some skepticism. Whereas Mary asked, "How will this be, since I am a virgin." She perhaps didn't doubt that it would happen. She was just saying, "I believe you. Could you tell me how this will happen?"
• When did Mary actually become pregnant? After seeing Gabriel, Mary went to see Elizabeth and stayed with her about three months (at which point, Elizabeth would have been 9 months along). Did Mary become pregnant after Gabriel's visit? At Elizabeth's home (missed a period, and ended up sticking around for three months)?
• In greeting Mary, Elizabeth said, "Blessed is the child you WILL bear." Does that mean she wasn't currently pregnant? Or does this really mean "the child you will eventually give birth to"?
• Why did Mary not stick around for the birth of John? She was with Elizabeth right up until she was ready to give birth. Why leave then?
• Imagine this old lady, Elizabeth, a first-timer when it comes to pregnancy, coaching Mary through her earliest months of pregnancy. "Yes, Mary, I remember when I went through what you're experiencing...just six months ago."
• We always think of Zechariah not being able to talk. But he also couldn't hear. So when the angel said "You will be silent," it meant not only that he wouldn't make sound, but that he would live in silence, unable to hear sound.
• Did the angel have the authority to strike Zechariah silent? Was this a unilateral decision on the angel's part? Or was there a prompting from God himself?