Christmas 2018 A Story of Contrasts (Zechariah, part 1)
Hello this is Eric again. A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?” So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy.
(Read the previous blogs here)
The Christmas story, which seems so familiar, has a richer plot line than the 15 minute nativity skit can address on a Christmas Eve evening service. The heartbeat of this plot line is a God who gives His word, and then keeps it, and we can trust Him to do so. This is what we celebrate at Christmas. Yet, people are…weird. I know, I resemble that statement too—but we are, and we respond differently to Christmas. Think about it…
Who is the “Year-Round-Christmas-Planner” in your life? You know them. They are the ones who have to go shopping the day after Christmas to begin planning for next year. They are the ones with a specific line-item in their budget for each person on their Christmas list, and they can confidently say that half of their list is completed by mid-August. Come on, I know someone’s face just popped up in your mind. Or, who is the “I-Will-Alert-NASA-With-My-Decorations” friend in your life? You know, they are the ones whose neighbors have to wear sunglasses at night. They have their first decoration up before going to bed on Halloween, and they celebrate their electric bill being tripled for the next 3 months—“But it was worth it.” Maybe it’s the “Scrooge-Pudding” type that you know. They are the ones who act the Scrooge year round, and yet, when they think no one is looking, they are the first to gaze longingly at the tree, to give to the Salvation army bell-ringer’s, and to bring a load of toys to the Marine’s ‘Toys-For-Tot’s’ drop off location.
Christmas brings out a unique spectrum of responses in us. The Christmas story in the Bible not only gives us more weirdness to observe, but it calls us to consider how we will react to the news of Christmas. The Bible leads teaches us how we should respond.
In Luke 1 we meet a man named Zechariah. He is a priest, and is married to his sweetheart Elizabeth. Now, they are both old, and they have not been able to have kids—and this has been a source of deep grief for them. I’ve talked about this before, but it bears repeating, having kids was the epitome of worth and status for women in this culture—not to mention we are called to be fruitful and multiply—and they had walked a long and difficult path. How do I know that they were aching? Good question.
Zechariah was on duty as a priest, and the lot had fallen to him and he had the privilege of going in to the holy place of the sanctuary and was offering incense. Offering incense is a picture of a sweet smelling aroma of our prayers going up before the Lord. While Zachariah was in the sanctuary an angel appeared to him and said (Luke 1:13-17),
“Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.”
Zechariah was praying, and it sure looks like he was praying about the old ache in their heart, and…God heard Zechariah’s prayer. Now, was he praying then, or was this a prayer that he and Elizabeth had been praying for years? Either way, God had heard them and in His time He was answering their prayer. That’s encouraging, isn’t it. How many times have you wondered if God heard you—and it ended up being that God’s timing was different than yours? Or, like Zechariah, maybe God wanted to answer your prayer, but His plan was bigger than you were even praying!
“You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”
Whoa…
Taking Next Steps With Jesus, Together!—this is the adventure that we have been invited on—and Christmas is all about this adventure. Sometimes we are given a clear path to follow. Other times, we are asked to take great leaps of faith, but there is one thing these have in common; We are walking with God. It is God’s journey that we have been invited on. He is leading. We have the privilege of being invited. We have the blessing of God’s presence. We have the joy and exhilaration of having a front row seat to God’s power working in and through our lives, and the lives of those around us…But…
But, we are still given the same choice Adam and Eve had in the garden. Will we follow God and His way—even if we don’t understand and see all of the path—even if we are being lied to about God and His character—will we say “Yes” to the leading of the Holy Spirit?
I understand that following Jesus as our Lord is hard. He is bigger than us. His plan is beyond our full understanding. It’s like being put into the cockpit of a helicopter in mid-flight, or at the base of an avalanche, or waking up free-falling in the sky—we don’t know what to do, and all we can do is hold on tight to Jesus’ hand and enjoy the adventure with Him.
But, we don’t always respond like that do we? Zechariah was in that boat. Luke 1:18 says,
“Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.’”
Is it OK to ask God questions, especially the obvious ones? I think so. “God, how will you work this out in my life?” “God, um, I don’t have the resources to make that transition—how will you make this possible and what do I need to do?” Even, “God, we are really old, how will this happen?”
But, that’s not what Zechariah does. Look at the verse again. The word Zechariah uses is, “sure.” How can I be “Sure” that You are big enough to do what You said You would do God. This is an entirely different question. This isn’t a, “How will this happen” kind of question; no, this is a, “God, I’m not sure that You have what it takes to do this” kind of question. This is a matter of faith.
Zechariah finds himself in a…learning and growing opportunity; Luke 1:19-22,
“Then the angel said, ‘I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.’ Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out of the sanctuary, wondering why he was taking so long. When he finally did come out, he couldn’t speak to them. Then they realized from his gestures and his silence that he must have seen a vision in the sanctuary.”
Our response to God needs to be one of faith. We can certainly ask questions. To want to understand the practicalities, and the directions God is taking us on is a reasonable response to being led by God on the adventure of faith. But, we should not forget, that this is an adventure of FAITH. If God says follow Me, and trust Me—that is enough. This is the heartbeat of the Christmas journey. It’s OK to not know how this is going to work out, because we know WHO we are walking with. Yes, there are moments when God has to grow us, even moments where He disciplines us (Remember, God disciplines those He loves, Hebrews 12:6) so that we will learn to trust Him more. God loves us, even in these moments. How do I know? Luke 1:23-25 says,
“When Zechariah’s week of service in the Temple was over, he returned home. Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. ‘How kind the Lord is!’ she exclaimed. ‘He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.’”
God kept His promise and fulfilled His prophecy.
Do you want to walk on this journey with us?
Subscribe here
(Read the previous blogs here)
The Christmas story, which seems so familiar, has a richer plot line than the 15 minute nativity skit can address on a Christmas Eve evening service. The heartbeat of this plot line is a God who gives His word, and then keeps it, and we can trust Him to do so. This is what we celebrate at Christmas. Yet, people are…weird. I know, I resemble that statement too—but we are, and we respond differently to Christmas. Think about it…
Who is the “Year-Round-Christmas-Planner” in your life? You know them. They are the ones who have to go shopping the day after Christmas to begin planning for next year. They are the ones with a specific line-item in their budget for each person on their Christmas list, and they can confidently say that half of their list is completed by mid-August. Come on, I know someone’s face just popped up in your mind. Or, who is the “I-Will-Alert-NASA-With-My-Decorations” friend in your life? You know, they are the ones whose neighbors have to wear sunglasses at night. They have their first decoration up before going to bed on Halloween, and they celebrate their electric bill being tripled for the next 3 months—“But it was worth it.” Maybe it’s the “Scrooge-Pudding” type that you know. They are the ones who act the Scrooge year round, and yet, when they think no one is looking, they are the first to gaze longingly at the tree, to give to the Salvation army bell-ringer’s, and to bring a load of toys to the Marine’s ‘Toys-For-Tot’s’ drop off location.
Christmas brings out a unique spectrum of responses in us. The Christmas story in the Bible not only gives us more weirdness to observe, but it calls us to consider how we will react to the news of Christmas. The Bible leads teaches us how we should respond.
In Luke 1 we meet a man named Zechariah. He is a priest, and is married to his sweetheart Elizabeth. Now, they are both old, and they have not been able to have kids—and this has been a source of deep grief for them. I’ve talked about this before, but it bears repeating, having kids was the epitome of worth and status for women in this culture—not to mention we are called to be fruitful and multiply—and they had walked a long and difficult path. How do I know that they were aching? Good question.
Zechariah was on duty as a priest, and the lot had fallen to him and he had the privilege of going in to the holy place of the sanctuary and was offering incense. Offering incense is a picture of a sweet smelling aroma of our prayers going up before the Lord. While Zachariah was in the sanctuary an angel appeared to him and said (Luke 1:13-17),
“Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.”
Zechariah was praying, and it sure looks like he was praying about the old ache in their heart, and…God heard Zechariah’s prayer. Now, was he praying then, or was this a prayer that he and Elizabeth had been praying for years? Either way, God had heard them and in His time He was answering their prayer. That’s encouraging, isn’t it. How many times have you wondered if God heard you—and it ended up being that God’s timing was different than yours? Or, like Zechariah, maybe God wanted to answer your prayer, but His plan was bigger than you were even praying!
“You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”
Whoa…
Taking Next Steps With Jesus, Together!—this is the adventure that we have been invited on—and Christmas is all about this adventure. Sometimes we are given a clear path to follow. Other times, we are asked to take great leaps of faith, but there is one thing these have in common; We are walking with God. It is God’s journey that we have been invited on. He is leading. We have the privilege of being invited. We have the blessing of God’s presence. We have the joy and exhilaration of having a front row seat to God’s power working in and through our lives, and the lives of those around us…But…
But, we are still given the same choice Adam and Eve had in the garden. Will we follow God and His way—even if we don’t understand and see all of the path—even if we are being lied to about God and His character—will we say “Yes” to the leading of the Holy Spirit?
I understand that following Jesus as our Lord is hard. He is bigger than us. His plan is beyond our full understanding. It’s like being put into the cockpit of a helicopter in mid-flight, or at the base of an avalanche, or waking up free-falling in the sky—we don’t know what to do, and all we can do is hold on tight to Jesus’ hand and enjoy the adventure with Him.
But, we don’t always respond like that do we? Zechariah was in that boat. Luke 1:18 says,
“Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.’”
Is it OK to ask God questions, especially the obvious ones? I think so. “God, how will you work this out in my life?” “God, um, I don’t have the resources to make that transition—how will you make this possible and what do I need to do?” Even, “God, we are really old, how will this happen?”
But, that’s not what Zechariah does. Look at the verse again. The word Zechariah uses is, “sure.” How can I be “Sure” that You are big enough to do what You said You would do God. This is an entirely different question. This isn’t a, “How will this happen” kind of question; no, this is a, “God, I’m not sure that You have what it takes to do this” kind of question. This is a matter of faith.
Zechariah finds himself in a…learning and growing opportunity; Luke 1:19-22,
“Then the angel said, ‘I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.’ Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out of the sanctuary, wondering why he was taking so long. When he finally did come out, he couldn’t speak to them. Then they realized from his gestures and his silence that he must have seen a vision in the sanctuary.”
Our response to God needs to be one of faith. We can certainly ask questions. To want to understand the practicalities, and the directions God is taking us on is a reasonable response to being led by God on the adventure of faith. But, we should not forget, that this is an adventure of FAITH. If God says follow Me, and trust Me—that is enough. This is the heartbeat of the Christmas journey. It’s OK to not know how this is going to work out, because we know WHO we are walking with. Yes, there are moments when God has to grow us, even moments where He disciplines us (Remember, God disciplines those He loves, Hebrews 12:6) so that we will learn to trust Him more. God loves us, even in these moments. How do I know? Luke 1:23-25 says,
“When Zechariah’s week of service in the Temple was over, he returned home. Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. ‘How kind the Lord is!’ she exclaimed. ‘He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.’”
God kept His promise and fulfilled His prophecy.
Do you want to walk on this journey with us?
Subscribe here
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