Unshaken: Chapter a Day

Luke 1 Discussion

• Pastor Plek

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Certainty isn’t arrogance when it stands on truth that holds up under pressure. We walk through Luke 1 with a clear aim: to show how a careful historian, a courageous young woman, and a silenced priest reveal a God who keeps promises and invites us to trust him. From Gabriel’s arrival to Mary’s Magnificat and Zechariah’s restored voice, the chapter moves from quiet longing to bold praise, linking centuries of silence to the first notes of fulfillment.

We start with Luke’s purpose for Theophilus—so you may know the certainty of what you’ve been taught—and why that matters in an age that treats doubt as a virtue. Then we press into the virgin birth, not as a curious detail but as the theological heart of the gospel: Jesus is fully man to stand in our place and fully God to bear the weight we could never carry. Mary’s response models faithful surrender, while Zechariah’s muteness exposes how skepticism can stall obedience. Both end in worship, reminding us that God’s correction is mercy that leads us home.

Along the way, we draw a bright line from Malachi to Luke: John the Baptist arrives in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn hearts back to God. We reflect on why angels often start with “Do not be afraid,” how divine majesty meets human fear, and why the leaping child in Elizabeth’s womb dignifies life before birth. The chapter closes with promises worth banking on—mercy to those who fear him, forgiveness of sins, light for those in darkness, and peace for wandering feet. If you’ve prayed for years without an answer, Elizabeth’s joy will remind you that God’s timing is never late.

If this conversation helps you see Luke 1 with fresh clarity, share it with a friend, subscribe for more chapter-by-chapter studies, and leave a quick review telling us which moment hit home for you. Your feedback helps others find the show and join the journey.

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Pastor Plek:

And welcome back to a chapter day. Keeps the devil away. I'm Pastor Pleck along with Pastor Holland. We're gonna outline Luke 1. We're gonna find some observations and we're gonna find some interpretation about the nature of people and the character of God and finally put to application. Give us a sin to avoid, a promise to claim, example to follow, command to obey, or knowledge to simply believe. All right, so outlining Luke 1, Luke 1, 1 through 4 gives us his purpose. Luke 1, 5 through 25 is the announcement of John's birth to Zechariah. Then we have a scene change. Luke 1, 26 through 38 is the announcement of Jesus' birth to Mary. And you have uh similar yet different, unique responses there to an angel visit. Then you have Luke 1, 39 through 56. Mary then visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is um pregnant with John. And then you have uh Mary's song, which we know as the Magnificat. And then verses 57 through 66 is the birth of John the Baptist, where Zechariah regains the speech. And then finally, in verses 67 through 80 through 80, Zechariah uh gives the prophecy about who John the Baptist will proclaim, otherwise known as the Benedictus. All right. Let's get into some observations, Holland. What did you see?

Pastor Holland:

All right. First thing that jumps out to me is in the introduction, the dedication to Theophilus, Luke writes that he wants Theophilus to have certainty concerning the things that he's been taught. Yeah. And that this is why he's writing the gospel. And so I think this is really important because sometimes today, people kind of talk about certainty or being sure of things in like a negative way, of like, oh, that's like arrogant to think you can be certain. Like, you know, be humble, just like kind of admit you don't know. And Luke really wanted that the readers of his gospel would have certainty about the life and ministry and death and resurrection of Jesus and the meaning of his teachings, significance of the gospel. There are things in the Christian faith that we are meant to have certainty about. Not gonna have certainty about everything, but there's some things that we ought to be certain about.

Pastor Plek:

And I appreciate it. It's it's a guy interviewing people who had first hand accounts. Yeah. So over and over, he spoke to Mary. He got the whole story from her. He spoke to, you name the person that you're seeing. He has a first hand for an eyewitness account. That's good. All right. Um, let's get to the the conception of a virgin birth. A lot of times people have a really hard time believing that. Um, and this is where even in Islam, you would have like you know, God and and Mary had some sort of uh sexual experience, and clearly that's not it. Right. But why is it so important that we have a virgin birth?

Pastor Holland:

Well, it's a whole podcast right there. Right. But um one at least one aspect of it is um Jesus, you know, in order to save us from our sins, um, to be fully man so that he could actually be our substitute, right? Um, also fully God so that he could take the wrath that we deserve. Um and the idea of him being fully man, fully God, um, the perfect substitute and savior, uh requires a virgin birth. Yeah. And part of this is that he is coming, you know, he's not coming from uh he he does not have the inherited sin um uh of or guilt of Adam. Right. And so he's not coming um from the line of Adam in the sense that he has no um biological earthly father. Right. Um and so Jesus is unique in that way, necessary.

Pastor Plek:

That's great. So here's the the thing that we're a lot of people are wondering why, and and maybe this is just me, why is Zechariah and Mary who give essentially this, they they kind of give off a sense of disbelief or like, how can this be? Um she's like, how can this be? I'm a virgin. He says, How can this be I'm an old man? Why is there for Mary, she's blessed and she doesn't have any sort of consequence, like you are be mute. Uh in fact, she's seen as having great courage and faith and all of that. Whereas Zechariah gets the mute treatment. What do you think that's all about?

Pastor Holland:

Mary seems to really embody, you know, she's shocked, but really embodies a submissive, humble spirit in it. You know, she says verse 38, Behold, I'm the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word. Yeah. And so she just like she is this great example of humbly saying, Okay, Lord, I trust you and I will obey. I'm here, whatever you, you know, you want to use me for. Whereas um, yeah, you would when it gets to Zechariah, um, where is it? Uh verse where does he get mute?

Pastor Plek:

Uh verse 19. Verse 19. Or sorry, 20, verse 20. And behold, you'll be silent, only will speak until the day you see all these things take place, because you did not believe my words.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. So did not believe. Um, so that you contrast that with Mary. She's, you know, shocked, but she believes and she says, Okay, I I believe, I obey, I'm submissive. Zechariah had a disbelief, and so different posture there. Very different.

Pastor Plek:

Okay, so let's also take a look at one of the things I truly love. The first words uh, like you remember, we call the period of time between the Old Testament and New Testament, uh, the 400 years of silence. God does not speak. Even in the intertestal books of 1st and 2nd Maccabees or whatever, it would say there were in that day there was no word of the Lord. So you have the Malachi chapter 4 ends uh with uh this idea. Let me read it to you. Malachi 4 ends with, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet for the great and awesome day of the Lord comes, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, the hearts of children to their fathers, unless I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. And then in Luke 1, uh like right before uh we get to the part where he makes a mute, it said, He will be great before the Lord, he must not drink wine or strong drink, he'll be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go for him go before him the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the people the Lord prepared. You see a connection between the old and new testament hinging right there on verse uh essentially 17. And that I feel like to me, that's one of the most exciting things about the um Luke, the the revelation of God. Uh it it starts with the same words.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, it's awesome. And you see Gabriel again. Um, you know, you you know Gabriel from back in the book of Daniel. Right. One of the only angels that are named, Gabriel and Michael. And Gabriel pops back up again. So that's pretty cool. Just uh I appreciate it. You see the uh you see Elijah named again, you see the end of Malachi referenced, you see Gabriel back, and so it's kind of like a little reunion of like, oh snap, here we go. This is what the Old Testament has been pointing forward to. Here it is. Okay. Uh why do you think God was silent for so long? Uh well, you have the uh just uh his judge silence is viewed as his judgment against his people for their sin. Um, and so you have uh people who have killed the prophets, who have disobeyed God, who have strayed from his word, who have you know made idols, and uh then you have God just saying uh essentially, you know, his final words in Malachi, and silence uh as judgment is at least one of the reasons.

Pastor Plek:

Okay, so um, yeah, I like the way you put that. It's a judgment. And so then all of a sudden God is now coming and he's gonna judge Israel by presenting them their king, and they will choose either to reject him or accept him. And I think that is really wild. How about this? How come every time an angel shows up, people are freaked out, and then and they have to be told, hey, don't be afraid.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, either A, angels were really freaky looking, um, and uh, you know, just looked like these kind of terrifying monsters or something like that, or they were very just majestic um looking. Or just surprised them because they weren't expecting an angel. Yeah, or that. Just uh, hey, where'd you come from? Um, but I I think it's really you get more of the sense of that there is this majesty, this you know, brightness, this sense of power um that of this supernatural being in a sense.

Pastor Plek:

All right, so Mary's blessed, and she says, all generations will call her blessed. Uh what does that mean? I think if you were kind of Catholic background, that means she's gonna be venerated. You can talk to her, um, you know, she can you know give put a good word in for you uh with Jesus. Uh, but I don't think that's what it means. I think there's just like this honoring of her for her faith that she believed uh when the angel visited, and that God used her, her body physically to inhabit her body, like the way he would inhabit this earth. Kind of wild.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, uh very unique role um to be chosen for by God that, yeah, for all generations, right? We were saying, man, how blessed is she. And you not only for carrying, being the one chosen to carry Jesus, but also for her obedience and faith as kind of like the prime example of here's what a here's what a what faithfulness looks like, here's what a faithful woman of God looks like. Um, yeah, just blessed in so many ways.

Pastor Plek:

And I love that God, like clearly she shares that she's a poor person. He didn't choose the rich, he chose the poor. If God's like, I'm gonna do the most impossible thing ever, I'm gonna come in the form of a poor person, uh, because I don't want anyone to think that my power or my prestige was somehow something I inherited from humans, but rather it was gifted to me by God. So that's why he is such a unique person. His training would all have been from literally God Himself. Um, now obviously he grew up human and he probably went to school and learned Torah like everybody else, but he was a carpenter. And he grew up alongside other people and they knew him from the time he was born, and yet he had the wisdom that was out of this world.

Pastor Holland:

Amazing. I also love uh the the interaction of Mary and Elizabeth and Jesus and John the Baptist in the womb. Yeah. Um, and the leaping for joy. Like, I think that is just such a cool, that's not in any of the other gospels. Such a cool thing here. Um, and uh where it says in verse 41, uh Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. Okay. The baby leaped in her womb. I think this is like a really important verse to understand. The Greek word is brefos. It's the it's the same word for a baby outside the womb. Um, it's the same word even used for a toddler sometimes, but an infant, um, a baby in the womb, a baby out of the womb, it's all the same word.

Pastor Plek:

It's clearly the sixth month of Elizabeth. So if the baby's only it's six, the baby has another three or four months to go.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. And uh you see scripture, you know, rightly identifying and clarifying this is a baby human life and already filled with the Holy Spirit, John the Baptist. Um, and so you have like two babies in the womb who are clearly and undeniably human, ensold, you know, human being babies. Uh, and so in terms of you know, the the cultural and political arguments uh about abortion, scripture is clear that what is growing in the womb is a human life. Um, it's it's a baby. I love them.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah. Okay, uh, let's talk about some of the things that we see here with the nature of people. Uh, first thing for me is we tend to doubt stuff like Zechariah questioned the very promise of God when hearing it from an angel. And I know, I know. People have told me all the time if I just had an angel show up, I would believe. And then, no, you wouldn't. You probably have to be muted, which I love the fact that you know the angel goes, mute, and I'm not gonna hear that doubtful talk come out of your mouth. And because you uttered that, you're gonna be muted until the day all these things are gonna be fulfilled. We have a tendency to be doubtful.

Pastor Holland:

That's good. What you got? Um, you know, I think going back to the introduction, um that you may have certainty. Yeah, I brought that up in the beginning, but I I think uh, you know, it's in our nature to want to be sure. And um we want to have certainty about things, especially things that if we're gonna bank our whole life on this, you know, if uh then, you know, the desire to I want to be sure, again, it's usually viewed negatively, um, like as as if it was opposed to faith. But it's not. You can be your faith, um, you know, it can be uh should be consistent with the things that you, you know, you're certain about. And so he gives them the truth of the gospel. Here's who Jesus is. You can be certain about this, therefore put your faith in him.

Pastor Plek:

Okay, let's get into some truths about the character of God. I the really thing that kind of just spoke to me is look at verse 25. Uh, thus the Lord has this Elizabeth, thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach from among people because she was barren. And so, and I and I thought this was wild. So going back to Zechariah, he heard the prayer of Zechariah. Yeah. Now, when did he, when was the last time he prayed to have a baby? And I I don't think he, you know, was he praying yesterday? As an old man, I think at some point you go, you know what, this is my lot in life, this is the Lord's will, no babies coming. I'm content. It's okay. Let's call it 50 years ago, 30 years ago, whatever that was, and now he is answering it in his timing when Zechariah is an old man, and then takes away the reproach of Elizabeth in her old age, which I just really appreciated that. And then even um That's so good. It's it's it's like you don't know when your prayer will be answered when you prayed that prayer at 25, it might be answered at 75.

Pastor Holland:

Man. And not only took away her reproach, but bestowed unbelievable honor on her. You're the the mom of John the Baptist, the greatest prophet, you know, uh, man. That's awesome. What do you got? Um, God is merciful. Verse 50, his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. The character of God is that he is a merciful God. He forgives sin.

Pastor Plek:

All right, let's get to some application. What can you let's see how can people some of us apply this today? All right, how about a sin to avoid? Uh, or promise to claim, example to follow, command to obey, or knowledge to believe. What do we got? I think sin to avoid, don't doubt. Don't doubt God's word and his promises. Uh, mute yourself so that God doesn't have to. That's good.

Pastor Holland:

Um, an example to follow back to Mary. I'm the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. Man, I love that. Um, trust and obey his word, accept whatever he he gives to you um without hesitation.

Pastor Plek:

How about promise to claim nothing will be impossible with God?

Pastor Holland:

Yeah.

Pastor Plek:

You can trust him to take your impossible and make it possible with him.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. Amen. Um, promise to claim verse uh 77. Uh, knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness of their sins. God forgives your sins. Verse 80, he gives light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. He's our savior, he's our guide, he's our leader, our redeemer. These are all promises to bank on. I love it.

Pastor Plek:

Hey, I want you to sit in that today, and we'll see you next time on a chapter a day.

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