Most of you are probably familiar with the classic Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The movie begins with George Bailey about to commit suicide in Bedford Falls, New York on Christmas Eve in 1945. As the prayers of his friends are heard in heaven an angel apprentice named Clarence Odbody is dispatched to help George regain his hope. While the movie is certainly far from accurate theologically, especially in its portrayal of angels, the theme of finding hope at Christmas is a timeless theme that actually does have its roots in the Scriptures, as we will discover this morning.
Over the next four weeks, and again on Christmas Eve, we’re going to take a fresh look at Christmas through the eyes of some of the people who were an integral part of the coming of our Savior. These are certainly not the people that we would expect God to involve in bringing His Son into the world. That first Christmas God did not choose to work through religious or political leaders or people of power and prestige. Instead, he partnered with an elderly couple who were childless, a group of pagan stargazers, a bunch of smelly, uneducated shepherds, a teenage girl and the carpenter she was planning to marry, and a humble innkeeper. I’m convinced that God did it that way because He wants all of us to understand that the power of Christmas is available for every single person, no matter our position in this world.
Before I proceed this morning, let me just make a couple of comments about the messages leading up to Christmas. You will notice that your bulletin insert isn’t the normal “fill-in-the-blank” outline. That’s because the passages that we’ll be looking at are stories and narratives that don’t necessarily lend themselves to a logical outline. If you want to make a few notes, I’ve left some space for you to do that, but my goal is that we’ll use these familiar Bible passages to take us on a journey in which we experience the wonder of the incarnation in a fresh way rather than just make this an academic study.
For the children who are here with us, this is going to be particularly challenging for you, but I know you are up to the task. On your handout, there are a few questions that I hope you can answer as you listen to the message today. But in order to do that, you’ll need to listen very carefully. I know that your parents and grandparents will help you listen for those answers.
With that in mind, you can either turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 1 or you can follow along using your bulletin insert which contains the passage we’ll be looking at this morning.
The very first Christmas occurred during a very dark time in the life of Israel and in the life of an elderly couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth. For Israel, it was a dark time because it had been roughly 400 years since God had spoken to His people through the prophet Malachi. That certainly doesn’t mean that God hadn’t still been at work in the lives of His people, preparing them for the coming of the Messiah. But the people still probably felt like God had abandoned them. But now, God was about to intervene in their lives in a way that would give them permanent, lasting hope.
And God would announce the source of that hope in quite an unexpected way – by sending his angel to an old priest who had experienced his own darkness in life because he and his wife were childless. Let’s pick up the account of that encounter in Luke chapter 1, beginning in verse 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. 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.
We are introduced here to two people who only appear briefly in Scripture – Zechariah and Elizabeth. We’ve talked before about how important names are in the Bible and this is certainly one of those times where the names of the people involved in the story foreshadow what God is about to do in their lives.
Zechariah means “God remembers.” And we are about to see that even though Zechariah might feel like God has forgotten him, exactly the opposite is true. God remembers Zechariah and He remembers His people.
Elizabeth means “God is my oath.” And God is indeed about to make an oath, a promise, that is going to bring great light that will dispel both the darkness that Zechariah and Elizabeth have lived under and the darkness that Israel has experienced as a people.
We learn here that Zechariah and Elizabeth both come from priestly families. In the Jewish culture of their day, that mean that they would have been highly esteemed. They were righteous before God and kept His commands. Obviously that doesn’t mean they never sinned, But that description of their lives does indicate that they desired to live in a way that pleased God.
And yet, in spite of their life of service to God, there was a deep sadness in their lives because they had not been able to have children. This is just one of many places in the Bible where we discover that devotion to God does not guarantee that we won’t experience heartache and difficulties in life.
But God is about to intervene in their lives in a miraculous way that would to overcome the darkness and hopelessness they had lived under for so long.
Let’s continue in verse 8:
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.
In 1 Chronicles 24, we see that King David had arranged the priests into 24 divisions that served in the Temple on a rotating basis. Each division served twice a year and would travel from their homes to Jerusalem to serve the needs of those who were worshiping and sacrificing in the Temple. Scholars estimate that there may have been as many as 20,000 priests in those 24 divisions, so each division may have had nearly 1,000 members. Zechariah was from the division of Abijah, the eighth of the 24 divisions.
One of the more noble duties the priests performed during their service was the burning of the incense inside the Holy Place within the Temple that occurred twice a day. That responsibility was assigned by drawing lots. It was akin to drawing names out of a hat to see which of the hundreds of priests got to perform this important duty.
That day, Zechariah got a once in a lifetime opportunity to perform this priestly duty when he was chosen by lot.
So while a great multitude was praying in the Temple outside the Holy Place, Zechariah prepared himself according to the command that God had given to Moses and then he entered the Holy Place to burn the incense. We can’t be totally sure, but it’s quite likely that this was the one and only time Zechariah would ever be chosen for this honor, so I have to imagine he was looking forward to it with great anticipation. But I doubt he could have ever imagined what God was about to do in his life.
Let’s continue in verse 11:
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.”
Zechariah’s experience of having an angel appear before him is pretty consistent with similar experiences that Joseph and Mary will have several months later. Seeing an angel would obviously be a frightening experience so in each of those cases, the first words the angel speaks are “Do not be afraid.”
And the angel has great news for Zechariah. Just as his name portends, God has remembered him and is about to answer his prayers. He and Elizabeth are going to have a child – and not just any child. They are to dedicate their son to the Lord because he is going to be the forerunner who will prepare the way for the long awaited Messiah, fulfilling the words of the prophet Malachi.
But this is not just good news for Zechariah and Elizabeth. It is also good news for all of God’s people. Think about it. There have been no visions, no prophets, and no angelic appearances – nothing for over 400 years. And then when God does speak again He chooses Zechariah to be the first person to whom He reveals the coming of the Savior, the Messiah. Advent begins with Zechariah.
We learn here the importance of persisting in prayer and in trusting in God’s timing for the answer to those prayers. Zechariah and Elizabeth had apparently been praying for a child for quite some time. And now, when there was no way for that prayer to be answered from a human perspective, God intervenes to answer that prayer. But not only that, Zechariah and Elizabeth had been praying, along with many others in Israel, for the coming of the Messiah. And as unlikely as it seemed, God was about to answer that prayer as well.
Isn’t that the way God often works in our lives? He often waits until there is no way that the answer can be explained other than to attribute it to the work of God and then He answers our prayers and He gets the glory.
Now you would think that an encounter with an angel would pretty much guarantee a faithful response. But that’s not exactly how it works with Zechariah. Let’s look at his response in verse 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.”
At first glance, this doesn’t seem like Zechariah’s response is all that bad. But when we see how the angel Gabriel reacts to his answer, we see that Zechariah’s response shows a lack of faith on his part. Beginning in verse 19, we see the consequences of Zechariah’s lack of faith:
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.”
God gives Zechariah one heck of a time-out here. I mean, if you’re a parent you’ve probably put your kids in time-out for 5 minutes, maybe 10. But Zechariah gets a 9 month time-out as a result of his unbelief.
And is it just me or does it seem like Zechariah gets kind of a raw deal here? I mean all Zechariah says, is “I’m an old man and my wife is old, too. How is this possible?” and he gets nine months of silence. Later in this same chapter, Gabriel appears to Mary to tell her she is going to have a baby and she asks what seems like a similar question: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” and nothing happens to her.
The only way I can explain the difference is to acknowledge that only God knows our hearts. It seems like in Mary’s case her question was a result of a heart that was genuinely seeking to understand God’s plan for her life as indicated by her later statement: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Zechariah on the other hand, seems to completely dismiss the idea that God can enable an old couple to have a baby even though there is certainly precedent for that in the account of Abraham and Sarah.
When Zechariah comes out from the Holy Place, it is immediately evident to the people there that something out of the ordinary happened to Zechariah while he was ministering there. Let’s pick up the account in verse 21:
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 offering the incense in the Temple, the priest was supposed to come out and stand on the steps and pray for the people. So when Zechariah finally exited the Holy Place, there was probably a collective sigh of relief from the crowd who knew that there were several times throughout history where the priest failed to do his job properly and didn’t leave the Holy Place alive. But that relief was quickly followed by a collective gasp when they realized Zechariah couldn’t speak.
This is actually a pretty funny picture as Zechariah engages in a game of Biblical charades with the people in order to try and explain what happened. I thought it might be fun for us to experience firsthand what that might have looked like so I need some volunteers who are willing to come up here and make a fool of yourselves by doing your best Zechariah impersonation.
Okay, I’ll remind you of what Zechariah is trying to communicate and we’ll see how well you can express that without speaking.
I was in the temple praying . . . and I was just lighting the candles and the incense, and getting everything set up for worship . . . when this really angel appeared… and he told me that God heard our prayers and that Elizabeth and I are going to have a baby…and when I said it wasn’t possible he made it so that I couldn’t speak… Not until the baby is born…Elizabeth is never going to believe this!
Thanks for your help. Let’s give them a big hand.
After Zechariah had completed his priestly duties, he returned home as usual. And I can just imagine what things must have been like when Zechariah returned home and tried to explain to his wife what had happened. Perhaps it went something like this.
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We do know that Zechariah and Elizabeth were obedient to do what God had told them to do, as Luke confirms beginning in verse 24:
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.”
Although Zechariah had his doubt initially, he and Elizabeth did eventually obey God and do their part in the fulfillment of God’s promise. Just like had occurred thousands of years earlier with Abraham and Sarah, God used the natural process in the conception of this child, so it was incumbent on Zechariah and Elizabeth to do what only they could do and trust that God would do what only He could do.
For the first five months of her pregnancy, Elizabeth kept to herself. Any attempt to figure out why she did that would be merely speculation. But at the end of those five months, Elizabeth’s relative Mary came to visit her and Elizabeth learned of another miraculous birth that was going to result in the Messiah coming into the world. Mary stays with Elizabeth for about three months and then returns home. Shortly thereafter, Elizabeth’s baby is born.
Let’s pick up the account in verse 57.
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.
Although the text doesn’t say so directly, we sense that something changed in Zechariah’s heart over the nine months of his wife’s pregnancy. His initial unbelief and resistance had given way to repentance and trust and obedience. So just as Gabriel had instructed him earlier, much to the surprise of everyone else present, Zechariah made sure the baby was named John.
Earlier we talked about the significance of the name Zechariah – God remembers – and Elizabeth – God is my oath. The name John was also significant. It means “God has been gracious.” What an appropriate name for both Zechariah and Elizabeth and for the entire world. The birth of John was proof that God had been gracious to His people by putting into motion the plan to bring the Savior, the Messiah, into the world.
This entire event made a big impression throughout the entire region as we see beginning in verse 65:
And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, 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.
What began as an ordinary day in the life of the people of Jerusalem over nine months earlier had now been turned by God into a miraculous event that became known all over the region.
Perhaps today, you feel a bit like George Bailey or like an old childless couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth or even like the entire nation of Israel. Perhaps you feel like God has forgotten you or that He no longer cares about you. If you’re experiencing that kind of hopelessness in your life, then Advent is the good news that there is hope regardless of your situation.
Advent begins with Zechariah – God remembers. It begins with Elizabeth – God is my oath, and it begins with the birth of John – God has been gracious. They remind us that from the beginning God has been the author of a story that results in bringing hope into the midst of a dark world to those who will call upon the name of our coming Savior – Jesus.
Advent reminds us that even when it might seem like God has forgotten His people, God remembers. It reminds us that God is faithful to carry out His oath that He made with Adam and Abraham and every generation of His people throughout history to send a Savior, the Messiah, who would bring hope to all. And it reminds us that God delights in extending His grace to us.
