In the days of Herod, king of Judah, there was a priest of the Abian family, whose name was Zechariah, and his wife of the family of Aaron, whose name was Elizabeth.

I mentioned the reign of Herod, on the one hand, out of a desire to narrate after the example of the prophets, for they begin thus: in the days of Ahaz and Hezekiah, and so-and-so, the following things happened (Isaiah 1:1; Hos. 1:1; Amos 1:1), and on the other hand, since I intend to speak of Christ, I mentioned Herod in order to show that in the time of Herod Christ truly came. Since this Herod was at a time when, according to the prophecy of Jacob (Gen. 49:10), there were no princes from among the Jews, it is proved from this that Christ came. It also achieves some other goal: by speaking of time, it shows the truth of the Gospel, for it gives those who wish the opportunity to rejoice and from time to know the truth of the Gospel. It is proper to begin with Zechariah and the birth of John. Since he intends to speak about the Nativity of Christ, and John is the Forerunner of Christ, it is therefore proper before the Nativity of Christ to narrate the birth of John, which itself is not without a miracle. Since the Virgin had to give birth, grace arranged for the old woman to give birth not according to the law of nature, although with a husband. What do the words "from the Abian fold" mean? Some understand that there were two priests who performed the divine service in succession, one named Abijah, and the other Zechariah, and since Abija conducted the service, Zechariah served after his service. But it doesn't seem like that. For Solomon, having finished the temple, also established the daily cycles, that is, weeks: in one, for example, he ordained the sons of Korah, in another – Asaph, in the next – Abijah, in another – another (2 Chron. 8:14; 1 Chron. 24). Therefore, when he says that Zechariah was "from the tribe of Abiah," it should be understood that he was in the week of Abijah, and not that he accepted the ministry after the week of Abiah; for then he would have said, "After the bed of Abi; and now, when he said, "Of the brook of Abiah," he imagines that he was of the brook and week of Abijah. And, wishing to show that John on both sides (his father and mother) was lawfully of the priestly family, he says: "And his wife was of the family of Aaron," for it was not lawful to take a wife from another tribe, but from the same (Num. 36:6-9). Elizabeth, according to the interpretation, means "the rest of God", and Zachariah means "the memory of the Lord".

Both of them were righteous before God, acting according to all the commandments and statutes of the Lord blamelessly.

Often some are righteous, but not in the sight of God, but in appearance and in the sight of men. And Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous before God. The commandments are, for example: "Thou shalt not commit adultery", "Thou shalt not steal" (Exodus 20:14-15), and the statutes (in Church Slavonic – justifications) are, for example: "Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death" (Exodus 21:17), for this is righteous. But know that the commandment can also be called justification, since it makes a person righteous and is even more God's justification. For on that day God will judge us, having the commandments as if by some kind of written justification: "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they would have had no sin" (John 15:22), and again: "The word which I have spoken, it shall judge him at the last day" (John 12:48). Why is "blameless" added to the words "walking in all the commandments"? Listen. Often some act according to the Law of God, but they do everything in order to show themselves to people (Matt. 23:5). Such are not blameless. But Zachariah also kept the commandments, and kept them blamelessly, and not in order to please people through their fulfillment.

They had no children, for Elizabeth was barren, and both were already in old age.

The wives of the righteous and the righteous themselves were often childless, so that you would know that the Law requires many children, not carnal, but spiritual. "Both were already advanced in years" both in body and in spirit, for in soul they were old, that is, they made great progress, putting ascents in the heart (Psalm 83:6) and having life as day and not night, doing decently as in the light (Romans 13:12-13).

Once, when he was serving before God in the order of his rank, by lot, as was usual with priests, it fell to him to enter the temple of the Lord for incense, and all the multitude of people prayed outside during the incense.

Before God, only the pure perform the sacraments, but from the unclean God hides His face. When did he come to incense? Without a doubt, on the day of atonement, when one high priest entered the Holy of Holies, so that we might learn that just as this high priest, having entered the Holy of Holies, received fruit, so the Lord Jesus, the only and truly great Hierarch, having entered the Holy of Holies, that is, with the flesh into heaven, received the fruit of His appearance in the flesh – our adoption as sons of God and salvation.

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

An angel does not appear to everyone, but to a pure heart, as Zechariah was. The altar (in Church Slavonic – altar) is called the altar of incense because there was another altar – burnt offerings.

And when Zechariah saw him, he was troubled, and fear came upon him. And the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name; John; and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

Zechariah is embarrassed; for the extraordinary vision disturbs even the saints. But the Angel stops the indignation. For everywhere for this reason Divine and demonic visions are recognized: if the thought is at first troubled, but then, with the dissipation of fear, soon calms down completely, then the vision is truly from God; but if fear and indignation are more intense, then the vision is from demons. Why did the Angel say: "Thy prayer has been heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son," since Zachariah prayed not for his son, but for the sins of the people? Some say: since Zechariah prayed for the sins of the people, but had to give birth to a son, crying out: "Behold the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), the Angel appropriately says to him: "Thy prayer for the remission of the sins of the people has been heard, for thou shalt give birth to a son, through whom there shall be a remission of sins." Others understand it this way: Zechariah! Your prayer has been heard, and God has forgiven the people's sins. Then, as if he would say, "Whence can this be seen?" The angel said, "Behold, I give thee a sign: Elizabeth shall bear thee a son; and from the fact that Elizabeth will give birth, you must also be convinced of the remission of the sins of the people.

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord; he shall not drink wine or strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb; and he shall turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God; and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to restore the hearts of the fathers to the children, and to the disobedient the minds of the righteous, that he may present to the Lord a prepared people.

The angel declares that John will be great, but before the Lord, for many are called great before men, but not so before God, for example, hypocrites. And John is great in soul, just as everyone who is tempted is small in soul. For no great man is offended, but the small and faint-hearted, as the Lord also says: "Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones" (Matt. 18:6). Just as John's parents were righteous "in the sight of God," so their son was great "in the sight of the Lord." – "Strong drink" is called everything that, being not made of grapes, can produce intoxication. He was filled with the "Holy Spirit" while he was still in his mother's womb. When the Mother of the Lord came to Elizabeth, the infant, rejoicing at the coming of the Lord, leaped up. "To return the hearts of the fathers to the children," that is, to convert the Jews to the apostles, for the Jews were fathers, and the apostles were their children. He turned the hearts of the Jews to the apostles by teaching and testimony about Christ; but he who bears witness to Christ also makes His disciples fully trustworthy. John did not convert all, but many; and the Lord enlightened everyone. He came "in the spirit... Elijah," because as grace worked in Elijah, so in John, and as Elijah is the forerunner of the second coming, so John is the forerunner of the first. And in the "power of Elijah," because the coming of both, Elijah and John, has the same power, namely, it leads to Christ. And in another sense, John came in the power and spirit of Elijah, because he, too, was a desert dweller, an abstinent and a rebuke, like Elijah. – He returned to the "disobedient" Jews "the way of thinking of the righteous", that is, the teaching of the apostles; but the wisdom of the apostles is the grace of the Spirit in them, by which they were governed. "Present to the Lord," that is, to Christ, "a prepared people," that is, people capable of receiving preaching. I will say some similarity. When a prophet came with a sermon, not all believed, but those who were able, that is, those who had prepared themselves for it, for just as if someone comes to a house at night, not all receive him, but those who watch and wait for him and are prepared to receive him, so John prepared people for the Lord, not disobedient, but capable, that is, those who were prepared to receive Christ.