MONDAY, 21 December, 2020 “Zechariah”

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Good Monday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends, this is Christmas week, are you ready?

As you know the first book of the New Testament in your Bible is Matthew, and that long first chapter of the ancestral line of Jesus, going all the way back to Abraham, is important. It shows that Jesus was born into both the Abrahamic Jewish line and the Davidic royal line. But the first important EVENT which opens the New Testament and begins the Christmas story is found in Luke 1. Do you know what that event is? Will you join me there today?

You’ll recall yesterday we traveled with 50,000 Jewish exiles returning to their homeland from their captivity in Babylon. Their intention was to rebuild their great city of Jerusalem and their great Temple of the God of Israel. The Bible book of Ezra gives us the remarkable account of their accomplishments. That new temple was dedicated in the year 516bc, 70 years after the original temple of king Solomon had been demolished by the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar.

By the time we get to Luke 1, about 510 years have passed, now don’t rush by that. Think about how much has changed in our world since 1520!!!

Jerusalem had become a large city, and several smaller towns had grown up within walking distance of Jerusalem. Bethany, about 2 miles away where Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived, is an example of these ‘bedroom communities’ as we’d call them today.

The Temple which had been rebuilt, as recorded in Ezra, like all buildings, aged and required maintenance through the centuries. King Herod, who is mentioned in Luke 1:5 is known as Herod the Great. May I give you just a little explanation of the times? The great Roman Empire covered much of the known world, including all of Palestine. While the Roman Caesar was the Sovereign ruler over the entire empire, to keep law and order the Caesar had assigned regional leaders who were loyal to Rome but given some authority over local matters in their region.

Herod the Great had some Jewish lineage and so Caesar had placed him in authority over the region of Judea which included Jerusalem. He was an arrogant, manipulative and paranoid man, always fearful someone might be seeking his throne, which is why this king Herod sent soldiers to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem after he received a visit from the Magi, remember?

To gain favor with the Jews, Herod had led a massive renovation project of the Temple and significantly expanded what we call the “temple mount”, so it could accommodate large crowds of people. The Jews were grateful. But to appease Rome, Herod had placed a Roman eagle on the front of the Temple visible to all. The message was clear. King Herod wanted the people to understand that while worship of God was important, EVERYTHING in life was under the sovereign authority of Rome! You’ve often seen pictures of people praying at what is called the “Western Wall” or the “Wailing Wall” in Jerusalem. That is a portion of the remains of the ‘temple mount’ walls which king Herod had built. That great Temple was demolished in 70ad by the Roman army as they did to Jerusalem what Nebuchadnezzar had done 600 years before! But in the time of Jesus, that great Temple was the most important structure in Jerusalem and in the lives of Jews throughout the Roman empire.

You’ll notice Luke 1 begins with Dr. Luke, a Greek physician who had traveled with the Apostle Paul, explaining that like any good doctor, he has done his due diligence so he could write an accurate record of the events. So let’s join the story…

May I ask an important question of you… all of you? Do you sometimes feel that maybe you aren’t very significant in this world? If you are of retirement age, do you sometimes think your productive years are behind you and you’re not sure what value you really have anymore? In the hill country of Judea, one long days walk from Jerusalem, an old man named Zechariah gave his old wife Elizabeth a hug, and he started his long walk, perhaps with a donkey carrying all he would need for his week of work in Jerusalem. You see Mr. Zechariah was one of those godly men, a priest of God, who could trace his lineage all the way back to Aaron, the brother of Moses, the first High Priest of Israel. (Luke 1:5) Amazingly his wife Elizabeth was also from a priestly line. Therefore this couple was a thoroughbred couple. At their wedding, many years before, I’m sure many blessings were spoken over them with great expectations that God would bless them with sons, who of course would continue their priestly heritage. But alas… as Zechariah and Elizabeth had aged, their home had never heard the pitter patter of tiny feet, or the cry of a newborn infant. Yet Luke gives us this legacy description of them: “Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the LORD’s command and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless…” (Luke 1:6,7)

So as old Zechariah walked those several miles to Jerusalem, I wonder if he might have been thinking that his life had little value? He was really too old to do much of the heavy work at the Temple, even the small lambs and goats sacrificed were heavy, and he perhaps needed younger priests to help him lift the animals onto the altar. Do you suppose he felt some disrespect from the other priests since he had no sons? Was that a sign God was not pleased with him? But what Zechariah did not know, was that God had been watching him carefully, listening to him, and preparing him, all of his life for this week! One week from now, as Zechariah would be walking back home after his week of work at the Temple, he would be an entirely different man! Do you know why? He was about to have a life changing encounter at the Temple!

Dr. Luke tells us Zechariah was of the priestly division of Abijah. 1000 years before, King David had divided all the priests into 24 divisions and each division came to Jerusalem to work at the temple for 1 week, twice per year. (1 Chronicles 24:3-19)The rest of the time they were spiritual leaders in their hometowns. During their week at the Temple, each day two priests were selected for the sacred privilege of entering the Temple to pray, one in the morning and one in the evening. They would carry in two things… a small pouch of special incense and a container of hot coals from the great altar out front of the Temple.

Once inside the Temple, in the Holy Place, the priest would approach the “Altar of Incense” and clean off the ashes from the day before. Then he’d pour out his hot coals on that altar and then as he prayed, he would sprinkle the incense on those hot coals. A magnificent odor would fill the Holy Place in the Temple, and white smoke would waft up from the altar. He could remain there as long as he desired. This was his special time of prayer with God… praying for himself, his family, God’s people Israel and anything else the priest wanted to bring to God. Outside, worshipers would watch for the white smoke, and when they saw it they knew the priest was praying for them!

Since this privilege may have only come once in a lifetime, can you imagine how old Zechariah felt when his name was selected? Perhaps he stayed up most of the night praying, reading the Torah, making sure his heart was pure before God, as he prepared to enter the Temple holy place. Often as the priests would come out from there, after praying, the people and other priests would question him… ‘what was it like in the holy place’? Did anything special happen to you in there? Did you sense the Presence of God? How should I prepare if I ever have that holy opportunity?’

Look closely at what happened to Zechariah as he was praying inside the holy place of the Temple: “Then an angel of the LORD appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear…’Do not be afraid, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you and many people will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the LORD… He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. He will bring many of the people of Israel back to the LORD. He will go on before the LORD in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:13-17)

Zechariah was speechless! The angel Gabriel? A message directly from God? The promise of a son in his old age? A son like the prophet Elijah? A son who would be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, perhaps like Moses? A son like Isaiah or Jeremiah who would call the people back to God? A son who would fulfill the last words spoken of the last prophet of God, Malachi? (Malachi 4:5,6) No one had heard any fresh word from God since Malachi, and that was 400 years ago!

Naturally old Zechariah was stunned, overwhelmed, maybe confused. How would you have responded to such an encounter? How was any of this possible Zechariah asked? The answer he received was almost beyond comprehension: “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to YOU and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent, not able to speak, until the day this miracle happens, because you did not believe my words which will come true at their appointed time.” (Luke 1:19,20)

And so the Christmas story begins! 400 years of silence from God is broken with the angel Gabriel’s visit to the Temple and one very special old priest who may have thought his value had long since dwindled away. His son John, as you perhaps know, would be known as John the Baptist! He would be the forerunner, the announcer of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world!

As you read the rest of this story, up through vs. 25, walk along with Zechariah as he travels home after his week of Temple work. How will he explain this encounter with Gabriel to his dear wife Elizabeth? How will he convince her that she will soon be pregnant with John the Baptist? Their old age years will have great purpose and value… raising a prophet who will prepare a nation for Jesus, Immanuel, God among us!

Now ponder that, and I urge you to have a conversation with God about what He sees as your value this Christmas season and what influence you are having with your family and friends these days? Oh how our world needs Zechariah’s and Elizabeth’s today!

Click to read today’s chapter: Luke 1:5-25. (At the top you can choose a different translation.)

NEW FEATURE: Click here to listen to a dramatized reading of Luke 1.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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