After a brief introduction, Luke, who wrote the third gospel bearing his name, immediately gets into the business at hand, namely his account of the birth, life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We immediately meet a devout elderly couple named Elizabeth and Zacharias. They are both from a priestly family; in fact, Zacharias performed routine priestly duties in the temple twice a year as one of about 20000 (Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah) priests who were divided into 24 divisions or courses. In regard to this, we learn that a day came when Zacharias “hit the jackpot” and was selected by lot to do much more than a routine chore, namely to burn incense in the temple’s holy place. This was a once in a life time opportunity because you never did this specific job again once you were picked.
You have to know that Zach was at least a little nervous when he entered the holy place where he hadn’t ventured ever before. He saw the table of shewbread which represented the presence of God, the giver of Life; he could see the lighted Menorah with its seven golden candlesticks as well as the altar of incense, which represented the prayers of Israel rising up as represented by the rising smoke and aroma coming from the alter of (burned) incense. And hovering over all this as it were, was the curtain that separated where Zacharias was standing from the ultra sacrosanct Holy of Holies (even I dare not spell it without caps). If Zach wasn’t nervous, I would certainly have been. So the last thing he needed was to suddenly see an angel by the altar of incense. And not just an angel because it was the Archangel Gabriel who had come from God’s immediate presence. You know that Zacharias was spooked at first but then was put at ease by Gabriel who had come to make a momentous announcement.
Elizabeth, who had never given birth, was going to become pregnant. And her baby would be far from an ordinary person although if he were just a “nice Jewish boy” she would have been ecstatic. But as God would have it, this child would become the “press agent” or forerunner of the long awaited Jewish Messiah and Savior of mankind. His name would be John who later became known as John the Baptist. We know, of course, that John became the greatest of all the prophets because of his powerful message, disarming charisma, and his association with Jesus Christ. Now, Zacharias and Elizabeth were well beyond the age of sixty (the age when, according to Jewish tradition, old age had commenced. (Today, we might say that old age has commenced when you have had your first cataract operation) So learning that he and Elizabeth would become pregnant was a bit too much for Zach. First of all, he and his wife had hoped against hope for a child but to no avail. They may have had some very painful memories of a “false pregnancy” or even a miscarriage; so I don’t really blame Zachariah for wanting absolute proof that Gabriel wasn’t putting him on. He probably wanted to be sure before he shared this kind of news with his wife.
But putting extenuating circumstances aside, we are not called to doubt Almighty God’s word especially when He speaks through His Executive Angel. Because he doubted, Zachariah would not be able to speak until it became necessary for him to confirm before a crowd of people that his and his wife’s miracle infant would indeed be called “John.” For nine months Zach would be mute. That gave him lots of time for “blessed quietness,” contemplation, prayer, worship and preparation to witness the greatest miracle in his life-one that would touch all nations and all generations. During this Christmas season, it might do us much good to be silent instead of being given to much noisy chatter, contemplative rather than enervated, and prayerful rather than given to an overwhelming schedule of activities. God often does his best work in silent places. If we keep quiet, we just might meet him there.
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