Luke 1:5-20 “In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 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. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 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. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 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.” Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” 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. 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.” This episode talks about a few different aspects of this verse. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Zechariah Is Also Visited By An Angel
Luke 1:5-20 “In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 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. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 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. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 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.” Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” 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. 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.”
Today we have the story of another person being visited by an angel. I know I said yesterday that I didn’t think visits from Angels happened often even back then, but I am starting to wonder. Zechariah was visited, Mary was visited, Joseph was visited 4 times. Perhaps it was more common than I thought…There are a few things in this verse that I would like to discuss or draw your attention to. The first one is that these verse say that Elizabeth and Zechariah were both righteous and observed all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. It goes on to say, but they were childless because Elizabeth couldn’t conceive. I know some people have wondered if the reason they couldn’t conceive was because they did something wrong. They wonder if they sinned in some way and there God was punishing them. I know this used to be how people thought back when Jesus walked the earth too. I remember hearing John 9:2-3 which says, “His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” It’s the same with people who can’t conceive. It is not a punishment because they did something wrong. I think it is important that people know that.
Next the angel appears and tell Zechariah all about his future son. Just like yesterday I wonder if this put extra pressure on him and Elizabeth? Although he was already a priest and I think preachers and ministers already feel an added pressure as if the whole congregation is watching them to see how they are as parents. People probably hold them to a higher standard. I wonder if they shared all this information with John when he got old enough to hear it? Are you ever old enough to hear that you will be responsible for brining many people back to the Lord our God? No pressure there, right? The Angel said that “he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah.” In the spirit of Elijah, those are some pretty big shoes that John had to fill.
Another thing I thought was amazing that I didn’t know before is that the Angel said that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he was born. I don’t remember hearing this part before. I know when John heard Mary’s voice when he was still in his mother’s womb he lept with joy and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, but I did not know that John was even before He was born. I just wanted to draw your attention to that line in the verse because as soon as I read it I was surprised.
Now Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” I feel like this would be more like my reaction than that of Mary or Joseph. I wonder if I would question this Angel as well? I would like to think I wouldn’t, but I think most of us would struggle with believing something this extraordinary. They had prayed for years and now that they had given up hope, or at least it seems they have, God answers their prayers. This is such a great lesson for us. It is never too late for God to answer our prayers. It isn’t too late, even if we have given up our hope, it isn’t too late if our earthy circumstances see to prevent it. It is never too late for the Lord to answer your prayers. Please remember that!!
I love the Angel’s reply to Zechariah. “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. 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.” I mean, he has a point. He is an Angel of God, he is God’s messenger, he is able to stand in the presence of God. He does deserve to be taken seriously. I can just imagine how deflated Gabriel must have felt. I imagine he is talking in a voice the the wizard in The Wizard of Oz. With a strong and powerful voice you relay the message of God and then Zechariah doesn’t believe you. That would upset me too. So what happens to Zechariah? He loses his ability to speak until the baby is born and these words are fulfilled.
Although Zechariah did not believe the Angel at first, he must have done a good job raising John with his wife Elizabeth because John fulfilled all that was said about him. He was amazing and although I didn’t know it beforehand, I can definitely see how he was filled with the Holy Spirit. He was able to live in the wilderness and all he ate was locusts and wild honey. One could not live off of that alone without the Holy Spirit sustaining him.
I like to wonder sometimes about John the Baptist and Jesus as kids. They were cousins, or their mothers were anyway, so that makes them family. I wonder if they got together and played traditional kids games, or if they got together at a young age and discussed scripture? I like to imagine that they got to run around and be kids, at least for a little while. I can’t imagine Jesus as a child. I don’t know why, it's just so hard for me to picture him like that. I can picture Him as a baby in the manger and then as a grown up. I wonder if it was a surprise for John the Baptist to learn that his cousin was Jesus, the son of God? Sometimes I wish I could be back there in that time watching it all unfold. However, I am not sure I would have had the strength to withstand the persecution that they had to deal with back them. I am thankful for all the stories in the Bible that help us get a glimpse into the lives of Jesus and His friends and family. I am thankful for the description of all the visits from the Angels. We can learn so much just from reading the Word of God. My hope is that if you have not already been then you will be inspired at some point soon to venture into the Bible and do some exploring on your own.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless those listening to this episode today. Lord, help us to believe your word however we hear it. Lord prepare our hearts so that if you send an Angel to us, we are ready for it. Help us make time for you, to listen to your word and to read your word. Lord, thank you for John the Baptist who was filled with the Holy Spirit even before he was born. Help us to be filled with the Holy Spirit and help us to do something about it. Help us to not just sit around and wait for things to happen but for us to use the Holy Spirit to do the things that you are leading us to do. We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. God certainly showed up today and gave me lots of instances to practice patience today, how about you? I did not do well in all of them, but I am growing. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Have a blessed day!