The First Sunday of the Blessed Month of Koiahk

1:2 Eyewitnesses and Ministers

Eyewitnesses and Ministers of the Incarnate Word

AMBROSE: The ministry of the word is greater than the hearing of it. Not the spoken word but the essential Word is meant—that which was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14) — so do not understand it as the common word but as that celestial Word to whom the apostles ministered. For one reads in Exodus that the people saw the voice (Ex. 20:18) of the Lord, yet truly a voice is not seen but heard. For what is a voice but a sound, which is not discerned with the eyes but perceived with the ear? Truly, with the highest genius, Moses wished to proclaim that the voice of God is seen, for it is seen with the sight of the inner mind. In the Gospel, not a voice but the Word, which is more excellent than a voice, is seen. 

You see, therefore, that the Word of God was seen and heard by the apostles. They saw the Lord, not only according to the body but also according to the Word. For they with Moses and Elijah saw the glory of the Word. (Mt. 17:3) They who saw him in his glory saw Jesus. Others who could see only the body did not see him. Jesus is seen not with the eyes of the body but with the eyes of the spirit. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 1.5.

Traditions of Incarnation and atonement

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: They “who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word” did not hand on to us that he was one Son and another, as I said, but one and the same, God and man at the same time, the only-begotten and the firstborn. This came about in order that he might have the first title as God and the second as man, when he “was born among many brothers,” (Rom. 8:29) having assumed our likeness. [He had not] joined another man to himself—as it seemed good to some persons to think—but [he] really and truly [became] man and [did] not relinquish being what he was, being God by nature and impassible. For this reason he voluntarily suffered in his own flesh. He has not given the body of someone else for us. Rather, the only-begotten Word of God himself offered himself, after he became man, as an immaculate victim to God the Father. LETTER 67.4

1:3-4 The purpose of Luke’s Gospel

The truth of Luke’s instruction

ORIGEN: “It seemed right for me, too, following the same course from the beginning.” He makes his point and repeats it. He did not learn from rumors what he is going to write. He himself has grasped it from the beginning. Hence, the apostle Paul praises him deservedly when he says, “He is praised for his Gospel throughout all the churches.” (2 Cor. 8:18) Scripture says this about no one else. It uses the expression only for Luke. “It seemed right for me, too, following the same course from the beginning, carefully to write down all those events for you in order, most excellent Theophilus.” Someone might think that Luke addressed the Gospel to a specific man named Theophilus. But, if you are the sort of people God can love, then all of you who hear us speaking are Theophiluses, and the Gospel is addressed to you. Anyone who is a Theophilus is both “excellent” and “very strong.” This is what the Greek word ϑεοϕιλος [Theophilos] actually means. No Theophilus is weak. Scripture says of the people of Israel, when they were going out from Egypt, “There was no weakling in their tribes.” (Ps. 105:37) I could say boldly that everyone who is a Theophilus is robust. He has vigor and strength from both God and his Word. He can recognize the “truth” of those “words, by which he has been instructed” and understand the Word of the gospel in Christ—to whom is glory and power for ages of ages. Amen. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 2.4.

The pure and undefiled birth of Jesus

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Let us remember these things, brothers, and use them as weapons of defense. Let us not endure the heretics who teach that Christ’s coming was in appearance only. Let us shun as well those who say that the birth of the Savior was from a man and a woman, daring to assert that he was begotten of Joseph and Mary, because it is written, “He took his wife.” (Mt. 1:24) Let us recall Jacob, who, before he received Rachel, said to Laban, “Give me my wife.” (Gen. 29:21) Just as Rachel was called the wife of Jacob before marriage, as a result of her betrothal Mary also was called the wife of Joseph. Note the exactness of the Gospel when it says, “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,” and what follows. Again, when the enrolling took place and Joseph went up to be enrolled, what does the Scripture say? “And Joseph also went up from Galilee . . . to register together with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child.” Though she was with child, it does not say “with his wife” but “with his espoused wife.” “God sent his Son,” Paul says, not born of a man and a woman but “born of a woman” (Gal. 4:4) only; that is, born of a virgin. We have already shown that a virgin is also called a woman. For he who makes virgin souls was born of a virgin. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 12.31

1:5-7 Time, Persons and Place

John’s priestly background

AMBROSE: Holy Scripture tells us that not only the character of those who are praiseworthy but also their parents must be praised, so that the transmitted inheritance of immaculate purity, as it were, in those whom we wish to praise, may be exalted. What other intention is there in this passage of the holy Evangelist, except that St. John the Baptist be renowned for his parents, his wonders, his duty and his passion? Thus Hannah, the mother of St. Samuel, (1 Sam. 1:2) is praised. Thus Isaac received from his parents nobility of piety, which he handed down to his descendants. Therefore the priest Zechariah is not only a priest but also of the course of Abijah, that is, a noble among his wife’s ancestors. “And his wife,” it says, “was of the daughters of Aaron.” So St. John’s nobility was handed down not only from his parents but also from his ancestors—not exalted through worldly power but venerable through the religious succession. For the forerunner of Christ ought to have such ancestors, that he be seen to preach a faith in his Lord’s advent that is not suddenly conceived but received from his ancestors and imparted by the very law of nature. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 1.15-16.

1:8-17 Gabriel appears to Zechariah in the Temple

Gabriel dispels fear

ATHANASIUS: Whenever the soul continues to be fearful, it is the enemy who is present. The evil spirits do not dispel the fear of their presence, as the great archangel Gabriel did for Mary and Zechariah. LIFE OF ST. ANTHONY 37.

And you shall call him John

BEDE: Whenever in the Scriptures a name is imposed or changed . . . by God, it is indicative of great praise and virtue. It was good that our Redeemer’s precursor was ordered to be called John. The name John means “the grace of the Lord” or “in whom there is grace.” He received a special grace beyond other saints, that of being Christ’s precursor. He came to proclaim a previously unheard of grace to the world, that of entry into heaven. Therefore he who was full of grace himself and who brought the good news of God’s grace to the rest of humankind expressed even by his name a proclamation of grace. It was rightly foretold that there was to be cause for exultation for many persons at his birth, since it was through him that the Author of their regeneration was manifested to the world. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.19.

How John is like Elijah

BEDE: Both Elijah and John were celibate. Both wore rough dress. Both spent their lives in the wilderness. Both were heralds of the truth. Both underwent persecution for justice’s sake at the

hands of a king and queen—the former at the hands of Ahab and Jezebel, (1 Kings 19:1-3) the latter at the hands of Herod and Herodias. (Mt. 14:3) The former, lest he be killed by the wicked, was carried up to heaven in a fiery chariot. (2 Kings 2:11) The latter, lest he be overcome by the wicked, sought the heavenly kingdom by his martyrdom, which was accomplished in spiritual combat. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.23.

1:21-23 The people realize Zechariah has seen a vision

Zechariah’s silence a sign

ORIGEN: When the priest Zechariah offers incense in the temple, he is condemned to silence and cannot speak. Or better, he speaks only with gestures. He remains unable to speak until the birth of his son, John. What does this mean? Zechariah’s silence is the silence of prophets in the people of Israel. God no longer speaks to them. His “Word, which was with the Father from the beginning, and was God,” (Jn. 1: 1-2) has passed over to us. For us Christ is not silent. …

Christ ceased to be in them. The Word deserted them. What Isaiah wrote was fulfilled: “The daughter of Zion will be deserted like a tent in the vineyard or like a hut in the cucumber patch. She is as desolate as a plundered city.” The Jews were left behind, and salvation passed to the Gentiles. HOMILY ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.1,4.

1:24-25 Elizabeth rejoices in her new status

Elizabeth’s modesty

AMBROSE: Elizabeth, who undoubtedly desired sons, hid herself for five months. What was the reason for this concealment if not modesty? For there is a prescribed age for each duty, and what is fitting at one time is unseemly at another, and a change of age often changes the nature of every act … She, who once hid because she had conceived a son, began to carry herself with confidence because she bore a prophet — she who blushed before was blessed, she who doubted before was strengthened. “For, behold,” she said, “as soon as the voice of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” (Luke 1:44) Therefore she cried out with a loud voice when she perceived the coming of the Lord, because she believed in the divine birth. There was no cause for shame when she accepted the birth of the prophet as a given, not a desired, generation. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 1.43, 46.

Source

Oden, T.C. & Elowsky, J.C. (2003). Luke (The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament part III). Illinois (U.S.A): InterVarsity Press. Pages 3-4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10-11.