What does Luke 1:25 mean?

Cultures of the past had no means to offer social security, retirement, or other resources for the elderly. A common person's only reliable means of support in old age was their children. Being childless, in that era, was an enormous financial disadvantage. Likewise, it meant the married couple would pass on no legacy—there would be no continuation of their family line. As a result, women shouldered an outsized social stigma when they could not bear children. In fact, some men divorced wives who did not conceive.

When Elizabeth, aging and without a child (Luke 1:5–7) hears she will finally have a son (Luke 1:13), it is cause for celebration. Not only is this an answer to prayer, and a blessing for an older couple, it removes the cultural shame that came with being an infertile woman. In modern western cultures, infertility is still a deeply personal, emotional issue. However, it does not carry the disgrace of millennia past. Women who overcame infertility would have felt released, by God, from a terrible burden (Genesis 30:22–23; 1 Samuel 1:4–6).

In this case, Elizabeth will have even greater reasons to rejoice. Her son will come to be known as John the Baptist (Luke 3:2–3). This will fulfill prophecy (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1; 4:5–6) and herald the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. She will also be visited by her relative, Mary, who will receive even more amazing news, about an even more miraculous conception (Luke 1:39–45).