8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
Zechariah and his wife were both of the line of Aaron (Moses' brother), and belonged to the priesthood. Zechariah lived his life righteously it says, and lived out all the commands of God. So how interesting it is that when an angel appears to him in the temple, while in the middle of worship nonetheless, that he doubts this messenger of God. As consequence he loses his ability to speak and no doubt at that point had so much to say. He was forced into living his faith rather than just telling about the angel.
Elizabeth became pregnant with John, as Gabriel said she would, and five months into it is she that speaks and not Zechariah. Notice the thanks, and the faith of believing what her husband could only show through action.
This story stuck out to me as one that needed to be examined. We never talk about this foretelling of John the Baptist's birth. Luke thought it an important part of the story of Jesus. After all, John would be the one that would prepare the people's hearts for what Jesus had to say. He would challenge them to come back to God so that when God got there they would recognize Him. I wonder how often I question the same as Zechariah did. How many times has God shown me His wonders and I question just how wonderful they are?
I remember a trip to Spirit West Coast (A 3 day Christian festival/concert in CA) where it seemed all was going wrong. The first night we were there I was playing basketball and took a hard hit to the face, breaking my glasses, and cutting my nose. Also that night, one of the girls had lost her contact lenses somewhere within the church. The next morning we went to McDonald's for breakfast at I noticed a eye glass place in the parking lot. I figured I'd take my chances and go see what they could do for me. The guy was gracious and had molded my glasses together, even giving me new lenses in them (as they had been cracked). I thanked him profusely and asked how much I owed him. "Nothing," he said. "Just glad I could help." Without knowing what he did for me, the girl noticed the same place and went to purchase new contact lenses. Again, the man gave them for free. Towards the end of the trip one of the kids had spent all their money at Spirit West Coast. For three days, he had no cash to spend. We all prepared to offer what we could to help out, but we didn't need to. For those three days everywhere we went he was provided somehow with free food. Either there was a special being run, or at a couple places the restaurant made too much food and just offered it to us.
I came back very grateful God had provided, but I also remember how quickly I forgot. I know other things happened on that trip where we knew coincident went out the window, and it was all God that provided. It wasn't too long before the fire went out, and even in the midst of worship, I'd question what God was doing with me. The most amazing thing about God, though, is He always keeps His promises. He tells us He'll provide, and sure enough we are provided for. Not always in ways we'd expect but definitely in ways that work.
The last thing that struck me is God's ability to use these people who by all accounts were not too important to their society. They were old, and Elizabeth was barren. They had nothing to offer but service in the priesthood. While that's an amazing task, it was deemed useless to the likes of Herod. Yet here God uses them to provide the way for Christ. He promises what seems like the impossible (though they had read of God doing the same with Abraham and Sarah) and are brought to live out a faith either of them had probably ever had.
Hey God,
Too often my fear gets the best of me. All my troubles and insecurities leave me without much faith some days.I rely too much on my own understanding of this world and not on the understanding that with You everything is possible. Use me, God. Drive out my fear and replace it with Your love. Let me believe in You as much as You believe in me.
Amen.
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