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The 3rd
Sunday of Advent, December 12
BACKING UP: WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Luke
1: 5-25
Up
until now, we have been looking at the life and ministry of
Jesus Christ, from His baptism to His resurrection. Our
focus has been whether or not people had room for Him, and
what that means to us. Now, in these last two weeks before
Christmas, we back up to see where and how it all began—the
precious Christmas story itself.
It
had been about 400 years since the Lord had spoken to His people
through a prophetic voice. At the end of the Babylonian
captivity, the people of God went through a series of
"occupations" by world empires, culminating at this
time with the Roman Empire. In the days in which Herod was
made king by the Romans, there was a priest by the name of
Zechariah. Both he and his wife Elizabeth were descendants
of Aaron, the first High Priest. The Scripture tells us
that, "Both of them were upright in the sight of God,
observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations
blamelessly." (vs. 6) They, however, were quite
elderly and were never able to have children. As far as
they were concerned, it was now too late.
One
day, while Zechariah was fulfilling his priestly duties in the
temple and burning the incense, suddenly, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him at the right side of the altar. Since he
was gripped with fear, the angel told him, "Do not be
afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife
Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name
John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will
rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight
of the Lord."(vss. 13-15a) In fact, this child
would become John the Baptist, the one who would point the way
to Jesus and prepare people's hearts for the coming of the
Lord. He would go before the Lord in the spirit of Elijah
and turn people back to Him. Imagine just how much this
would be to grasp at one time! So, Zechariah asked the
angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man
and my wife is well along in years."(vs. 18) I
wonder how much we don't trust the Lord in what He says He is
going to do in our lives, just because we think it is
impossible! I mean, Zechariah has the angel Gabriel
standing right in front of him AND he had just come from
standing right before God Himself, and Zechariah doesn't
believe? Yet, we often don't believe far less
dramatic things—like His promise to bring us through every
circumstance; like filling us with trust in an all-powerful God;
like knowing that He will never leave or forsake us. Pray
that we will believe everything He says, and then base
our entire lives on it. It looks like Zechariah doesn't
have very much room in his heart and life for the plan of God,
but is it really a matter of that, so much as it is not
letting that amazing plan get past his brain first? Talk
about mercy—the angel made it so he couldn't talk before
he knew what he is talking about! Praise God—He was
not done with Zechariah yet, as you will see tomorrow.
~
C. June Johnson
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