When a tragedy occurs it is common for someone to say, “Why doesn’t God do something?” The truth is that God often is doing something – but what He is doing is not apparent to us. The greatest tragedy of all was when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God. Through them sin entered the world and mankind has been in bondage to sin ever since. Through the centuries many people must have wondered why God wasn’t doing something about the unrighteousness, debauchery, hatred and evil which enslave His creation. In fact, God was working to redeem mankind. As the centuries passed He was carefully laying the groundwork so that when the time was right, the Savior could come to redeem mankind. Through the descendants of Abraham, the Jewish people, God taught the concepts and principles which would prepare people’s minds and hearts so they could accept the Savior. Through the Jewish prophets God promised that the Savior, His Anointed One, was coming.
At last Christ came, just as the prophets said He would. The Holy Bible contains four accounts of Christ’s work and teaching. One of them was written down by the “beloved physician”, Luke. Luke wrote the introduction to his Gospel in the same style as the Greek historians of the time. However, as soon as he began to recount the actual events recorded in the book he switched to a style of writing similar to that of the Old Testament prophets. By doing so he emphasized that the coming of Christ and the events of His life were not isolated from what God had done previously in human history. Rather, the coming of Christ was a continuation of God’s work to bring salvation to mankind which He began through the Jewish people. In fact, Christ’s coming, His work and teaching and, especially, His sacrificial death are a fulfillment of the prophecies found in the Jewish Scriptures.
Luke begins his account with the events leading to the birth of the person who would prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah whom the Jewish people had been waiting for hundreds of years. In chapter 1, verses 5 through 25 he writes, “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the priestly division of Abijah. He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years. Now while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his division according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. The whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 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 prepare a people prepared for the Lord.” Zacharias said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. Behold, you will be silent and not able to speak until the day that these things will happen, because you didn’t believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” The people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marveled that he delayed in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple. He continued making signs to them, and remained mute. When the days of his service were fulfilled, he departed to his house. After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying, “Thus has the Lord done to me in the days in which he looked at me, to take away my reproach among men.””
The events Luke writes about are not only a fulfillment of Jewish prophecy, they are grounded in history. They are not a myth or the product of someone’s imagination. They are actual events which took place during the reign of King Herod. They were things which the people of that day could investigate for themselves. Since no one of that time could discredit them we also should take them as fact.
The priests who served in the Temple in Jerusalem could be chosen to burn the incense only once in their lifetime. Thus, to be chosen to do so was the height of aged Zechariah’s career. The honor conferred on Zechariah was compounded when the angel Gabriel appeared to him while he was performing this duty. Though Zechariah was an upright man in the sight of God, his immediate response was one of fear. Gabriel had to reassure him that he did not need to fear because he brought a message of joy – Zechariah’s prayer for a son had been answered.
This teaches us an important lesson about prayer. We often become discouraged and think that God is not listening to our requests. The truth may be that God has indeed heard our prayer, but the time is not right to grant what we have asked. Zechariah and his wife were both righteous. Their desire for a child was both good and right. But God wished to accomplish more than just bringing joy to this couple. He waited until it was humanly impossible for them to have a child before granting their request. As a result, there could be no doubt that the child’s birth was from God. There could be no question that God intended this child to fulfill a special purpose.
What was the role Zechariah’s son would play in God’s plan? Gabriel quoted the prophet Malachi to establish that this child would be the one who would prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. He, himself, would not be the Messiah but would be the one who announced the Messiah to the world.
Unfortunately, Zechariah did not believe Gabriel’s message. Because of his unbelief, Gabriel struck him dumb until the child was born. Any further doubt was erased when Elizabeth became pregnant just as Gabriel said she would.
Six months after Elizabeth became pregnant, the angel Gabriel visited another person with a divine message. To learn what it was listen to our next program.