Inside all of us is a little doubt. We sometimes struggle to live by the faith we so surely believe in. The story of the first Advent is a story of God using "not-so-great people" - maybe the exception is Mary. The Gospel of Luke gives us a full picture of the humans God chose.
Luke 1:5
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.
Zechariah is an older man and a priest in Israel. The division speaks of the way in which the Priesthood did not serve full-time but during seasons of the year. His wife Elizabeth, is also from the line of the Priesthood - a daughter of Aaron by descent. They loved and served God, but there was a problem.
Luke 1:6-7
And they were both righteous
before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the
Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth
was barren, and both were advanced in years.
It's not a sin to be childless and couples both before they existed and many after them, have had to deal with the inability to conceive. Yet, in the first century for an Israelite couple to not have children brought a certain amount of shame in the small villages - perhaps even a question of their standing before God. Why is it that a Priest who is supposed to be a servant of God not able to have a baby? Nevertheless, Zechariah faithfully served.
Luke 1:8-11
Now while he was serving as
priest before God when his division was on duty,
according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen
by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside
at the hour of incense.
And there appeared to
him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
Zechariah entered the Temple that evening to perform the ritual lighting of the incense - a metaphor for Israel's prayers continually rising before God. As he is doing the rituals, the angel Gabriel stands next to him - something that caused no end of alarm and fear.
Luke 1:12-13
And Zechariah was troubled
when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
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.
I find Gabriel's words fascinating...First, a voice from an angel tells him "your prayer has been heard". What prayer? They certainly had prayed for a child in the past, but now they were old...beyond the normal child-bearing. What Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for in the past, now seemed beyond any possible expectation.
Luke 1:18
And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this?
For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”
Here's the rub... a believer who does not believe what God sent an angel to tell him. I can't really fault Zechariah - I am he too. There's a lot to receive with this kind of news, and it seems all too much for him to process in a minute of time. Perhaps God's design all along was to have the Angel Gabriel surprise him, and then tell him... you won't be able to tell anyone of what just happened here.
Luke 1:19-20
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.
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.”
There's a great, great contrasting set of words spoken in this meeting between Priest and Angel.
The Priest... I am OLD... The Angel... I am GABRIEL, and I stand in the presence of God! Is this punishment handed down...perhaps a little; but I am of the opinion that Zechariah stands as a human metaphor of what God is about to do in this first Advent. For 400 years before this, God had been silent. The last Prophet God spoke to, and through, was Malachi - 400 years before. Now Zechariah, who knows in his mind that everything is about to change...stands outside in front of his Israelite worshippers, and has nothing to say...
Luke 1:21-22
And the people were waiting
for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple.
And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and
they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs
to them and remained mute.
God has done something, but nobody but Zechariah the believer is silent - sometimes, unbelief takes time to turn around.
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