Skip to main content

Zechariah - Advent Parenting

Take Time to Read Luke’s beginning again:

Luke 1:5-25 (NRSV)
5 In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6 Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.
7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.
8 Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty,
9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense.
10 Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside.
11 Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
12 When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him.
13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.
14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
16 He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.
17 With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
18 Zechariah said to the angel, "How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years."
19 The angel replied, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
20 But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur."
21 Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary.
22 When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak.
23 When his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
24 After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said,
25 "This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people."


Malachi 3:1 (NRSV)
1 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight--indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.

Malachi 4:5-6 (NRSV)
5 Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.
6 He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.


An Advent Reflection

How long had Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed for a child? For years? Had they given up praying? Had they said, “It’s just never going to happen, we will have to learn to be content without children.”

“Zechariah”, the angel said, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name 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 from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back 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 fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Did your parents pray for you? I don’t mean pray for you because you were doing things wrong, wasting life. Nothing wrong with praying that way, and probably most parents who have faith have prayed for their kids at one time or another whether that was the case, or not.

What I mean is did your parents pray for you – pray for you to be born, to have a family that included you? Many a mother or father can say they “prayed for you”. Sometimes it was someone else. Did your Grandmother or someone else hold you in their heart as a promise for God? It is a very special child born into a family that eagerly desired and waited for a pregnancy and birth to occur.

Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son… You have prayed for this child and thus far you waited, perhaps even thought it would never occur. God has heard your prayer – in this case, it’s a yes!

“…and you are to give him the name John.” “John” = “Yahweh has given grace”.

We give our children names that often have significance to us from our past. This child’s name is a testimony of the past but it’s also significant because he was named for the future. Yahweh’s grace is not used up, it’s not gone forever, it’s not displaced by Roman rule and tyranny. It is not subject to world’s failures – it is Yahweh’s grace…forever and ever faithful, merciful and never in short supply.

God has a heart for parents and children. Not just the known and super-faith ones either. Zechariah was one of 18000 priests. He didn’t stand out as significant; in fact, he was one of “those who had no male successor”. His priestly line of family was soon over. Elizabeth was a woman who could not conceive. She was not royalty, nor was she connected…she was barren. God has a heart for parents and children always.

What you received might have been from people whose faith was not all that great… BUT, you’re here now aren’t you? So, something happened…God made something happen.

And what is that?

That in every generation, the hearts of the fathers are turned towards the children, and the hearts of the children are turned towards their parents.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The difference between defending and explaining

The news of recent has focused the suffering of Christians in the middle east who have been martyred for their faith in Christ at the hands of Islamic Terrorists. Through the centuries many Christians have lost their lives as a result of their faith. For us, who live in America, there is little chance that we would have this happen here - but it's entirely possibly that terrorism will strike out at Christians sometime.  But, for many Christians in the western world - especially here in the U.S. - being a Christians who believes God's word there is a form of persecution that is defined by words like "ostracized", "passed over", "ridiculed", and more. What do we do in the face of opposition to faith? When the Apostle Peter writes to the early believers who are undergoing great pressure, even persecution for their faith in Jesus, he gives them this charge. 1 Peter 3:8-18 8  Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly lov

Wednesday, Day 25: Christmas Eve - God Loves Us (So We Can Relax)

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but let us not forg

The Tabernacle

The readings today are Exodus 36, 37, 38 I wanted to post some pictures of what these various parts of the Tabernacle looked like. It's not the easiest read in the world, but if you persevere through it, you can get a picture of all the different pieces that made up the tabernacle. It is a replica of the various parts of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness: First thing in the chapter listed is the outside of the tabernacle which consisted of curtains tied together and put on cross bars through loops. Next at the beginning of 37 is the table and lampstand: Also, the altar of incense: And, the altar for the burnt offering which was in the courtyard: Finally, the courtyard which made it all come together: Hope that helps with what it might have all looked like. Most importantly, this was their "place" of worship they were building. I hope you have a great day of worship. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad