Read
1Many people have tried to tell the story of what God has done among us. 2They wrote what we had been told by the ones who were there in the beginning and saw what happened. 3So I made a careful study of everything and then decided to write and tell you exactly what took place. Honorable Theophilus, 4I have done this to let you know the truth about what you have heard.
An Angel Tells about
5 When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest by the name of Zechariah from the priestly group of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was from the family of Aaron. 6Both of them were good people and pleased the Lord God by obeying all that he had commanded. 7But they did not have children. Elizabeth could not have any, and both Zechariah and Elizabeth were already old.
8One day Zechariah's group of priests were on duty, and he was serving God as a priest. 9According to the custom of the priests, he had been chosen to go into the Lord's temple that day and to burn incense, 10while the people stood outside praying.
11All at once an angel from the Lord appeared to Zechariah at the right side of the altar. 12Zechariah was confused and afraid when he saw the angel. 13But the angel told him:
Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayers. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you must name him John. 14His birth will make you very happy, and many people will be glad. 15 Your son will be a great servant of the Lord. He must never drink wine or beer, and the power of the Holy Spirit will be with him from the time he is born.
16John will lead many people in Israel to turn back to the Lord their God. 17 He will go ahead of the Lord with the same power and spirit that Elijah had. And because of John, parents will be more thoughtful of their children. And people who now disobey God will begin to think as they ought to. This is how John will get people ready for the Lord.
18Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this is going to happen? My wife and I are both very old.”
19 The angel answered, “I am Gabriel, God's servant, and I was sent to tell you this good news. 20You have not believed what I have said. So you will not be able to say a thing until all this happens. But everything will take place when it is supposed to.”
21The crowd was waiting for Zechariah and kept wondering why he was staying in the temple so long. 22When he did come out, he could not speak, and they knew he had seen a vision. He motioned to them with his hands, but did not say a thing.
23When Zechariah's time of service in the temple was over, he went home. 24Soon after this, his wife was expecting a baby, and for five months she did not leave the house. She said to herself, 25“What the Lord has done for me will keep people from looking down on me.”
Reflect
Today’s reading begins a wonderful, rich, and exciting story in the New Testament. It is so familiar that I invite you to do what I did and step back and imagine what these events must have meant for the people involved.
Luke was the only writer of Scripture who was a Gentile. This is important, as he, more than the other gospel writers, sees and explores the connection between Jesus and Caesar. He was also a careful historian (vs 3-4). Notice that his gospel was an account of how the Jewish prophecies had, in his lifetime, been fulfilled.
There had been no word from God for 400 years. The last time the Jews had heard a word from God was when the prophet Malachi had spoken, declaring that God would send the prophet Elijah before the day of the Lord came (Malachi 4:5-6). Then silence.
In the midst of this silence, an angel appeared to Zechariah, who, with his wife Elizabeth, was childless and “very old.” In other words, at least sixty. The angel brought the stunning news that they would have a child, and no ordinary child, but one who would prepare the people for the Lord, “in the spirit and power of Elijah.”
No wonder Zechariah was incredulous. What would have gone through your mind? He was dumbfounded, literally. The effect of this was to convince people that something had happened to shatter Zechariah in the temple. After he went back home, at the end of his time of service, Elizabeth became pregnant. She understood. “The Lord has shown favour”, she said. That’s what the name “John” means, the name Zechariah had been told to call his son.
Many people find this story, and the stories that follow, unbelievable, and dismiss them as fictions invented to add mythical validity to the story of God’s Son coming into this world. Things like that don’t happen, they argue. They are right. Things like that don’t happen—unless God is at work.
Respond
Almighty God, forgive me. So often I go through life unthinkingly accepting the viewpoint of people around me who don’t know you, assuming that you pay no attention to what is going on around me. Thank you for this story, reminding me that you have not forgotten your people. Help me to see your presence and to recognize your activity in my life today.
Annabel Robinson
Annabel was born in Kew, near London, England. She committed her life to Jesus Christ at a Scripture Union camp when she was 16, and immediately found joy and peace. At Oxford she was active in the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, where she met her husband, Reid. They emigrated to Canada in 1965, where she taught Classics at the University of Regina until 2007. She has two children, Heather in Oslo and Alasdair in Calgary.