Luke 1:14 — Community Reflections

LUKE 1:14 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.”

He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth — the joy language is Luke's distinctive characteristic: joy (chara) and rejoicing (agalliasis) pervade the birth narratives and the Gospel's closing chapters (24:52). The many who rejoice communicates that John's birth is not merely a private family blessing but a public event with implications for all Israel. The birth announcement frames John's arrival as the beginning of a season of joy that was not possible while the forerunner had not yet appeared.

Church Fathers on Luke 1:14

When Zacharias entered into the temple to offer up prayers to God for all men, interceding between God and man, he saw an angel standing within, as it is said, And there appeared to him an angel.
Chrysostom · 4th century

It is well said that there appeared an angel to Zacharias, who suddenly beheld him; and this is the expression especially used by Divine Scripture with respect to angels or God, that what cannot be seen beforehand may be said to appear. For things which are the objects of our senses are not seen as He is seen, Who is seen only as He will, and Whose nature is not to be seen.
Ambrose · 4th century

And we speak thus not only of the present time, but also of the future. When we shall have passed from the world, God will not appear to all men, nor will the angels, but to him only who has a clean heart. The place will neither hinder nor serve any one.
Origen · 3rd century

Read all 20 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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