I've found myself pondering the story of Zechariah this Advent... I was able to share some of these thoughts at Ecclesia this past Sunday evening and thought I would share them here as well.
Luke 1:5-20
The story of Zechariah is an Advent story. Partly because Luke tells us it is - the birth narrative of John the Baptist is interwoven with the birth narrative of Jesus.
But it is also an Advent story because in Zechariah we can relate to a man who, like us, is waiting for something. He is waiting on God. And the waiting has not been easy. The waiting has been full of disappointment.
Zechariah and Elizabeth had great hopes and expectations, as any couple. They wanted a family. But the text says that that was not to be. Elizabeth had been unable to conceive. And now, as an older couple, it was not likely. And my guess is that they had begun to come to terms with that.
Zechariah is a priest. Both he and his wife Elizabeth come from the line of Aaron which served the temple as priests. Twice a year, for a week Zechariah would serve at the Temple. It is during one of these weeks of service that this part of the story takes place. During his time of service, by lot, Zechariah is chosen to go into the Holy place of the Temple and burn incense, to offer up prayers on behalf of the people to the Lord. This is a rare event and one that a priest would only perform once in his life. While he is praying, probably for the salvation of Israel, an angel of God appears to him with a message.
The angel Gabriel brings a message of hope. He says that this couple who have been barren will have a child. And not just any child. A child who will be a joy and a delight to them. A child who will bring Israel joy and who will prepare the way for Israel's salvation. Who will walk in the same path as the prophets of old, like Elijah. This is amazing, wonderful, incredulous news!
As a husband, this offers an answer to a long held prayer for a son or daughter. For a family. To be a father.
As a priest and Israelite who is faithful to God there is an answer to a prayer for rescue for Israel, for salvation and that God has not forgotten his people.
There is a personal and public answer to prayer. This is what Zechariah and Israel have been waiting for. And Zechariah receives the message.
And all Zechariah can say is... "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."
I love this response. I know it is deemed as a lack of faith and he receives consequences for that, but look what this reveals to us about Zechariah.
First, it reveals Zachariah's hopelessness and disappointment. I think most of us would like to think that if an angel of God came to us and spoke, we would believe it - from the mouth of God, you kind want of believe that it is reliable information. But Zechariah can't even bring himself to believe. This man has hoped for years and probably had many moments of expectations and failed expectation and disappointment that he has come to a point of acceptance. He is an old man, Elizabeth is getting on in years. Their immediate family will be a family of two and that is how it is. At some point with unmet expectations and disappointment we come to a point of self-protection, don't we? A point in which we dare not hope any longer because of the agony created when it is not met. This question of uncertainty, even to an Angel of God reveals this guarded and jaded heart that Zechariah has cultivated.
Second, it shows the limits of Zechariah's hope. Zechariah's question centers solely on Zechariah's hope of being a father, and completely ignores the hint of national redemption and work of God that Gabriel alludes to. Zechariah can't get past the personal to the work that God is doing corporately. His view is limited by his own failed hope and disappointment.
As a result of this lack of faith, lack of belief in what Gabriel has said, Zechariah is put in what one of my friends has called, a 9-month time out. He is given a time of silence - he can't speak and some commentators believe he also could not hear - in which to consider whether he believes this message of God.
We're not given details into this time of silence, into this time of waiting that brought very tangible evidence that the angel was right... Zechariah could doubt the angel's words, but he couldn't doubt his wife's growing belly. And in this time, Zechariah has a change of heart. He is able to accept the invitation to participate in God's plan for redemption. His vision expands and his hope expands from beyond his own desire for a family, but to see and accept the plan God is enacting for Israel and the world.
After the birth of his son and after he is named John as Gabriel said he would be, many recognize that God's hand is upon the child. Zechariah is filled with the Holy Spirit and Luke records a song, a poem, that expresses Zechariah's new found perspective.
God is praised because of the redemption of his people, his plan is unfolding as promised long ago.
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed the. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David."
A reference to the promised Messiah.
And he sees in his own son John, not a fulfillment of his own dream to be a father, although I'm sure he felt that, but as part of this fulfillment of the plan God has for Israel.
"And you my child will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him."
The danger is to think that Zechariah's disappointment was immediately reversed, that his joy is still as a result of his prayer being answered the way he wanted; things are going his way. But I imagine that is not entirely true. As an old man, Zechariah probably didn't get to see John grow up. There is still an element of things not entirely the way he probably wanted. But what is different is Zechariah's ability to see a bigger picture and larger scope of the work God is doing. Zechariah embraces the work God will do through his son and his larger plan of redemption.
The story of Zechariah is a story of Advent - it is a story of expectation, one of disappointment and one in which we are invited to participate in something greater, a greater story.
Luke 1:5-20
The story of Zechariah is an Advent story. Partly because Luke tells us it is - the birth narrative of John the Baptist is interwoven with the birth narrative of Jesus.
But it is also an Advent story because in Zechariah we can relate to a man who, like us, is waiting for something. He is waiting on God. And the waiting has not been easy. The waiting has been full of disappointment.
Zechariah and Elizabeth had great hopes and expectations, as any couple. They wanted a family. But the text says that that was not to be. Elizabeth had been unable to conceive. And now, as an older couple, it was not likely. And my guess is that they had begun to come to terms with that.
Zechariah is a priest. Both he and his wife Elizabeth come from the line of Aaron which served the temple as priests. Twice a year, for a week Zechariah would serve at the Temple. It is during one of these weeks of service that this part of the story takes place. During his time of service, by lot, Zechariah is chosen to go into the Holy place of the Temple and burn incense, to offer up prayers on behalf of the people to the Lord. This is a rare event and one that a priest would only perform once in his life. While he is praying, probably for the salvation of Israel, an angel of God appears to him with a message.
The angel Gabriel brings a message of hope. He says that this couple who have been barren will have a child. And not just any child. A child who will be a joy and a delight to them. A child who will bring Israel joy and who will prepare the way for Israel's salvation. Who will walk in the same path as the prophets of old, like Elijah. This is amazing, wonderful, incredulous news!
As a husband, this offers an answer to a long held prayer for a son or daughter. For a family. To be a father.
As a priest and Israelite who is faithful to God there is an answer to a prayer for rescue for Israel, for salvation and that God has not forgotten his people.
There is a personal and public answer to prayer. This is what Zechariah and Israel have been waiting for. And Zechariah receives the message.
And all Zechariah can say is... "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."
I love this response. I know it is deemed as a lack of faith and he receives consequences for that, but look what this reveals to us about Zechariah.
First, it reveals Zachariah's hopelessness and disappointment. I think most of us would like to think that if an angel of God came to us and spoke, we would believe it - from the mouth of God, you kind want of believe that it is reliable information. But Zechariah can't even bring himself to believe. This man has hoped for years and probably had many moments of expectations and failed expectation and disappointment that he has come to a point of acceptance. He is an old man, Elizabeth is getting on in years. Their immediate family will be a family of two and that is how it is. At some point with unmet expectations and disappointment we come to a point of self-protection, don't we? A point in which we dare not hope any longer because of the agony created when it is not met. This question of uncertainty, even to an Angel of God reveals this guarded and jaded heart that Zechariah has cultivated.
Second, it shows the limits of Zechariah's hope. Zechariah's question centers solely on Zechariah's hope of being a father, and completely ignores the hint of national redemption and work of God that Gabriel alludes to. Zechariah can't get past the personal to the work that God is doing corporately. His view is limited by his own failed hope and disappointment.
As a result of this lack of faith, lack of belief in what Gabriel has said, Zechariah is put in what one of my friends has called, a 9-month time out. He is given a time of silence - he can't speak and some commentators believe he also could not hear - in which to consider whether he believes this message of God.
We're not given details into this time of silence, into this time of waiting that brought very tangible evidence that the angel was right... Zechariah could doubt the angel's words, but he couldn't doubt his wife's growing belly. And in this time, Zechariah has a change of heart. He is able to accept the invitation to participate in God's plan for redemption. His vision expands and his hope expands from beyond his own desire for a family, but to see and accept the plan God is enacting for Israel and the world.
After the birth of his son and after he is named John as Gabriel said he would be, many recognize that God's hand is upon the child. Zechariah is filled with the Holy Spirit and Luke records a song, a poem, that expresses Zechariah's new found perspective.
God is praised because of the redemption of his people, his plan is unfolding as promised long ago.
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed the. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David."
A reference to the promised Messiah.
And he sees in his own son John, not a fulfillment of his own dream to be a father, although I'm sure he felt that, but as part of this fulfillment of the plan God has for Israel.
"And you my child will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him."
The danger is to think that Zechariah's disappointment was immediately reversed, that his joy is still as a result of his prayer being answered the way he wanted; things are going his way. But I imagine that is not entirely true. As an old man, Zechariah probably didn't get to see John grow up. There is still an element of things not entirely the way he probably wanted. But what is different is Zechariah's ability to see a bigger picture and larger scope of the work God is doing. Zechariah embraces the work God will do through his son and his larger plan of redemption.
The story of Zechariah is a story of Advent - it is a story of expectation, one of disappointment and one in which we are invited to participate in something greater, a greater story.
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Hope you guys are well! We'll be in Denver soon. Yeah!