Luke 1:7

And they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in their days. It was divinely ordained that John would be born to parents of advanced age and long deprived of the fruit of marriage, so that the sudden birth of offspring …

Allegorically, through Zacharias, the priesthood of the Jews is signified; through Elizabeth, the very law can be indicated, which, exercised by the teachings of the priests as if supported by a manly strength, ought to beget spiritual sons to God, but because of the insult …

The wives of the righteous were themselves often righteous yet childless, so that you might learn that the Law demands not fleshly but spiritual fruitfulness. "Both were advanced in years" both in body and in spirit, for in soul they had grown old, that is, …

Children are a heritage of the Lord. But there are many of his heirs in a married state, that yet are denied this heritage; they are valuable desirable blessings; yet many there are, who are righteous before God, and, if they had children, would bring them up in his fear, who yet are not thus blessed, while the men of this world are full of children ( Ps. xvii.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And they had no child,....

Both were now well stricken in years - By the order of God, sterility and old age both met in the person of Elisabeth, to render the birth of a son (humanly speaking) impossible. This was an exact parallel to the case of Sarah and Abraham, Gen 11:30; Gen 17:17. Christ must (by the miraculous power of God) be born of a virgin: whatever was connected with, or referred to, his incarnation must be miraculous and impressive.

The first event recorded in Luke's Gospel, is the sudden appearance of an angel to a Jewish priest named Zachariah. The angel announces to him that a son is about to be born to him, by a miraculous interposition — and that this son is to be the forerunner of the long-promised Messiah. The word of God had plainly foretold that when Messiah came — someone would go before him to prepare his way. (Malachi 3:1.) The wisdom of God provided that when this forerunner appeared, he would be born in the family of a priest.

The first event recorded in Luke's Gospel, is the sudden appearance of an angel to a Jewish priest named Zachariah. The angel announces to him that a son is about to be born to him, by a miraculous interposition — and that this son is to be the forerunner of the long-promised Messiah. The word of God had plainly foretold that when Messiah came — someone would go before him to prepare his way. (Malachi 3:1.) The wisdom of God provided that when this forerunner appeared, he would be born in the family of a priest. We can form very little idea, at this period of the world, of the immense importance of this angel's announcement. To the mind of a pious Jew, it must have been glad tidings of great joy. It was the first communication from God to Israel since the days of Malachi. It broke the long silence of four hundred years. It told the believing Israelite that the prophetic weeks of Daniel were at length fulfilled, (Daniel 9:25) — that God's choicest promise was at length going to be accomplished — and that "the seed" was about to appear in whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. (Genesis 22:18.) We must place ourselves in imagination, in the position of Zachariah — in order to give the verses before us their due weight. Let us mark, for one thing, in this passage — the noble testimony which is borne to the character of Zachariah and Elizabeth. We are told that they were "both righteous before God," and that "they walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." It matters little whether we interpret this "righteousness" as that which is imputed to all believers for their justification — or that which is wrought inwardly in believers by the operation of the Holy Spirit, for their sanctification . The two sorts of righteousness are never disjoined.

Well stricken in years - Old or advanced in life, so as to render the prospect of having children hopeless.