It's one of my favorite Advent passages to "muse" on. I have read this passage for years and each time I'm captivated in my imagination, thoughts and faith as I read the Angel Gabriel's visit to an aged priest named Zechariah.
Luke 1:5-20 5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.
7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,
9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.
11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,
17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”
19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”
Most of us can relate to Zechariah. We're totally unprepared for the supernatural to appear anywhere in our lives, much less our day. Then when a word from God does come, we're bound to say "What did you say?"
Think about the words from the angel - "your prayer has been heard". I can imagine Zechariah looking back with furrowed brows and saying, "What prayer?"
If you are at all like me, you've prayed hundreds of prayers. Unless it was an immediate one, we don't have any ability to see that God records them all and they all mean something...every prayer since we first began as a little kid perhaps.
The whole scene puts a smile on my face - even Gabriel's response, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”
Luke 1:5-20 5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.
7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,
9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.
11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,
17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”
19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”
Most of us can relate to Zechariah. We're totally unprepared for the supernatural to appear anywhere in our lives, much less our day. Then when a word from God does come, we're bound to say "What did you say?"
Think about the words from the angel - "your prayer has been heard". I can imagine Zechariah looking back with furrowed brows and saying, "What prayer?"
If you are at all like me, you've prayed hundreds of prayers. Unless it was an immediate one, we don't have any ability to see that God records them all and they all mean something...every prayer since we first began as a little kid perhaps.
The whole scene puts a smile on my face - even Gabriel's response, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”
I get the image of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings as Bilbo hesitates to give him the ring because it has these magical powers that make ordinary individuals become obsessed with it. As Bilbo turns on Gandalf, the camera shows a gigantic Gandalf - towering over Bilbo and proclaiming with a loud voice: "Bilbo Baggins, do not take me as a conjuring of cheap tricks, I'm not trying to rob you..." (and the large dark scene gets light) "...I'm trying to help you."
It's a great scene that takes place with Gabriel and Zechariah. The angel Gabriel has come to help, but Zechariah can't get past the "impossible" part of the message.
Do we make a place in our hearts, our minds, for the possible of God?
I read the story recently of a teacher in her second grade classroom asking what her students wanted to be when they grow up.
"A football player", "A doctor", "A Mom", "A Fireman", and on and on it went.
"A football player", "A doctor", "A Mom", "A Fireman", and on and on it went.
She noticed that one little boy had not replied, so she walked near to him and said, "Timmy, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
Timmy said, "Possible".
"Possible?", she asked.
"Yes, possible", he said again.
"Yes, possible", he said again.
"Timmy what do you mean?"
Timmy looked at her and said, "Well, my Mom is always telling me I'm impossible, so when I grow up I want to be possible!"
Advent reminds us that God is the God of possibles. Is there a place where your prayers have gone unheard? Where you have walled off God from entering in - you've become a Zechariah?
I know I have at times...probably we all have.
It's time to put faith, God, all things possible back into our hearts and minds.
Peace
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