- The name Zacharias in Hebrew is "Zechariah" (Yahweh remembers)

- Zacharias was the father of John the Baptist,  the forerunner and messenger of the Messiah.

- Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth were both descendants of Aaron the first high priest of ancient Israel. This was a double honor for a family born into the priesthood.

- Elizabeth was barren and this was a shame in the land of Israel, especially for the wife of a priest. The rabbis believed that a priest with a barren wife was a reproach and their religious duty was to separate.

- They were both "righteous before God." (Luke 1:5, Luke 1:13)

- Zacharias was in his old age and twice per year he would come to Jerusalem from his home in the hills to serve in the Temple for one week.

- The priesthood was very well organized after the Babylonian exile. By the first century there were 20,000 priests divided into 24 courses. Zacharias belonged to that of Abijah which was the 8th. Each course would perform duty for 8 days, all joining in on the Sabbath. Their duties would be determined by the drawing of the white stone "lot."