Luke 1:15 (LSB)

Passage

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will not drink any wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.

Nearby Context

Luke 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John.

Luke 1:14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

Luke 1:15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will not drink any wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.

Luke 1:16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.

Luke 1:17 And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "Spirit", "great", "sight", "lord", "drink", "wine", "strong", and "filled". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "Spirit" and "great", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "And you will have joy and gladness..." into verse 16's "And he will turn many of the...", so "Spirit" and "great" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "Spirit" and "great" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.