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. 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.
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. 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. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 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. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 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.”
And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 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.” 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. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
(Luke 1:5-25 ESV)
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. 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. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 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. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 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.”
And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 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.” 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. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
(Luke 1:5-25 ESV)
This selection of Scripture is about God’s promises and faithfulness and our response to Him. God sends an angel named Gabriel to Zechariah to tell him that God has heard his (and his wife’s) prayers and that they would have a son. He goes on to tell him that not only will he have a son but that his son would “turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 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.” God is promising John that he would finally have a son. He is also in the process of making good on a promise He first made to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden that He would one day send someone who would make all the wrongs of the world right.
We learn a couple of things about God in this text. First we see that God is intimately involved in the life of His people. Gabriel says that John’s prayers “have been heard.” God is a God who listens to our prayers. He is not a disconnected God who is distant from His creation but instead He is intimately involved in all aspects of our lives. He is a gracious God. He has shown grace to Zechariah and Elizabeth by giving them a child even though both of them were beyond the years of child bearing. We also learn that He is a God who keeps His promises. By anointing John as the one who would “make ready for the Lord a people prepared” he is taking another step in the fulfillment of the promise He made to Adam and Eve in the garden. God is good, right, and perfect. He is gracious and He keeps his promises.
So how does Zechariah, a priest, react to God’s promises? In much the same way we all react: disbelief. We see this as Zechariah says “How shall I know this?” Doubt and disbelief wreak havoc in the lives of God’s people. As a priest Zechariah was well read in the Scriptures and knew of all the amazing things God had done in the past and all the unbelievable promises He had kept. Yet he was still full of doubt and disbelief. How do modern day believers react to the now full revelation of God’s promises in the Bible? The vast majority of the time we react in the same way as Zechariah: disbelief. When I think about all the promises in Scripture I realize how much I disbelieve God and what He tells me is true. He tells me that as someone who loves Him all things work together for my good. That means if I get sick or Oksana or Grace get sick or even die that He is in control and is using that circumstance for my good. But I don’t believe Him and I constantly worry about Oksana and Grace because in reality I believe that my ways are better than His and their getting sick could not work for my good. He also tells me that the work of salvation He began in me He will bring to completion, that He will not let me go. But I don’t believe Him and when I look at my life and all my failure I seriously doubt my salvation because in reality I believe that salvation is my work and it is my responsibility through my good deeds to get myself to the finish line. My heart seems to disbelieve under every circumstance in life.
Thankfully for Zechariah and us we have an unbelievably merciful and gracious God. Despite Zechariah’s disbelief God stayed true to His promise to give him a son. Despite the Israelites disbelief from the beginning God stayed true to His promise to send one who would prepare the way for the Messiah. And despite our disbelief God sent His son Jesus to fulfill every promise. Jesus believes all God’s promises on our behalf. Where we disbelieve and sin Jesus believed and obeyed God. In what is often referred to as the great exchange Jesus exchanged places with us. The only one who ever believed perfectly, stood in our place on the cross being punished for our sin and disbelief. We then get to stand in His place, credited with His perfect belief so that God now looks at us and says “This is my son, this is my daughter. Perfect. Blameless. Spotless.”
