Think of the barren women we encounter in Scripture.

Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel in Genesis, Hannah in 1 Samuel, and here, in Luke 1, Elizabeth to name a few. Have you ever wondered why God chose to use so many barren women in the story of Scripture? He did so because He wanted to make a point.

If you were God and were forming a brand new people, would you choose Sarah, an older barren woman? Not likely. And then would you follow that up with two other barren women—Rebekah and Rachel—within the first generations? Again, not likely.

Life from Death

And that is exactly why God chose these women—He wanted to make it obvious that something special was going on. He wanted people to pay attention because they were beholding something unique. God brought forth life from dead wombs to form a people. He brought forth life from Hannah’s dead womb to bring forth the final prophet before the advent of the monarchy in Israel. And here, in Luke, He used a dead womb to bring forth John the forerunner of Jesus. John’s birth narrative should draw our attention back to what God had done to form a people—a people through whom He promised to provide the deliverer—the snake crusher. But at the same time, John’s birth should draw our attention forward to what will follow—another unexpected birth, that of Jesus.

The Greatest Birth Miracle Ever

Each of these barren women giving birth was miraculous, but make no mistake that they all fall short of the miracle of the birth of Jesus by the virgin Mary. Barren women, even older barren women, giving birth is amazing, but someone could consider these pregnancies unlikely but possible. But the pregnancy of a woman who had never been with a man is not unlikely, but rather impossible—apart from the work of God.

After 400 years of silence, God was speaking to His people again in a powerful way. The birth of John was designed to open the eyes and ears of Israel, but the birth of Jesus was designed to open their mouths agape and their hearts anew to the gospel message He would proclaim.

Greatness comes from serving the Lord, not from serving ourselves. Greatness comes when we, like John, say, ‘We must decrease; Jesus must increase’ … The prophet of salvation never replaces the bringer of salvation.” — Thabiti Anyabwile

Thabiti Anyabwile, Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Luke (Nashville, TN: B&H, 2018), 40-41.

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