It's
Tuesday, Day 17 in the third week of Advent.
Advent
celebrates the birth of our Savior...but before Jesus is born in the manger,
the Gospel of Luke reminds us that God sent someone first to prepare the
way. The Gospel of Luke opens with the
story of Zechariah in the temple, the angel Gabriel's announcement to him that
Elizabeth and He would have a child - a boy - and they would name him
John.
WHY did God
first put John in place?
Luke 1:17
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.”
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.”
But
Zechariah has doubts...and the angel says, "you will be silent (mute) and
stay that way until the time comes..."
AND THEN the
time came...
Luke
1:57-66
57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.
58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father,
60 but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.”
61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”
62 And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.
63 And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered.
64 And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.
65 And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea,
66 and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.
57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.
58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father,
60 but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.”
61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”
62 And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.
63 And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered.
64 And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.
65 And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea,
66 and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.
His Name is
John - His name means "The Lord is Gracious".
John does
not appear again until he is in the wilderness saying "Prepare the way of
the Lord." He was a messenger to
prepare for Jesus' coming.
Prepare...
Do we hear
that?
We are all
preparing...presents, cookies, decorations, programs...but are we preparing for
the coming of the Lord.
This is the
Advent for us. Desperation, anxiety,
one-more-thing to do, is temporary...but in Advent,
Christ is coming, and that
is forever.
Peace
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