Nativity of Saint John the Baptist seen in the emphasis Luke gives to the announcement of his birth and the event itself, both set in prominent parallel to the same occurrences in the life of Jesus. The sole biblical account of the birth of John the Baptist comes from the Gospel of Luke. John's parents, Zechariah or "Zachary" — a Jewish priest — and Elizabeth, were without children and both were beyond the age of child-bearing. During Zechariah's rotation to serve in the Temple in Jerusalem, he was chosen by lot to offer incense at the Golden Altar in the Holy Place. The Archangel Gabriel appeared
Gospel of Luke different from Paul's on key points and he does not (in Acts) represent Paul's views accurately. He was educated, a man of means, probably urban, and someone who respected manual work, although not a worker himself; this is significant, because more high-brow writers of the time looked down on the artisans and small business-people who made up the early church of Paul and were presumably Luke's audience. Analysis of the Gospel presents the possibility that Luke may have been a woman. The eclipse of the traditional attribution to Luke the companion of Paul has meant that an early date for