Verses: Luke 1:5-25

⁵ During the time Herod ruled Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to Abijah’s group.^[a] Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, came from the family of Aaron. ⁶ Zechariah and Elizabeth truly did what God said was good. They did everything the Lord commanded and were without fault in keeping his law. ⁷ But they had no children, because Elizabeth could not have a baby, and both of them were very old.

⁸ One day Zechariah was serving as a priest before God, because his group was on duty.⁹ According to the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ There were a great many people outside praying at the time the incense was offered. ¹¹ Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing on the right side of the incense table. ¹² When he saw the angel, Zechariah was startled and frightened. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Zechariah, don’t be afraid. God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give birth to a son, and you will name him John. ¹⁴ He will bring you joy and gladness, and many people will be happy because of his birth. ¹⁵ John will be a great man for the Lord. He will never drink wine or beer, and even from birth, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ He will help many people of Israel return to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ He will go before the Lord in spirit and power like Elijah. He will make peace between parents and their children and will bring those who are not obeying God back to the right way of thinking, to make a people ready for the coming of the Lord.”

¹⁸ Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is old, too.”

¹⁹ The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand before God, who sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰ Now, listen! You will not be able to speak until the day these things happen, because you did not believe what I told you. But they will really happen.”

²¹ Outside, the people were still waiting for Zechariah and were surprised that he was staying so long in the Temple. ²² When Zechariah came outside, he could not speak to them, and they knew he had seen a vision in the Temple. He could only make signs to them and remained unable to speak. ²³ When his time of service at the Temple was finished, he went home.

²⁴ Later, Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and did not go out of her house for five months. Elizabeth said, ²⁵ “Look what the Lord has done for me! My people were ashamed^[b] of me, but now the Lord has taken away that shame.”

 

• After the last chapter in Old Testament, God was silent for 400 years. His people did not receive any sign or direction from God, until this – God spoke to his people right through His angel about the pioneer for the Savior. Similarly, Zechariah and Elizabeth, despite being faithful to God all their lives, also had to endure a long wait before Elizabeth would finally bear a son. The common theme here seems to be ‘wait’. Does God make us wait, sometimes to build and equip us? Or sometimes to make us more gracious? Have you endured any lesson of waiting from God? Or are you in the middle of waiting for something from the Lord? Has God spoken to you through these verses about waiting?

 

• The angel told Zachariah “He will help many people of Israel return to the Lord their God” Indeed, as Christians, God’s calling for us is not just to help solve our loved ones’ problems, but to bring them, with their problems, to God so that they can experience the grace and love and almighty power of our heavenly father for themselves. At the end of the year, reflect on whom you have brought back to the Lord over the past year. Who did your cell group return to a personal relationship with God? And has God put anyone’s name in your heart at this very moment? Why not start with a quick phone call or a short message right after this devotion and prayer to start bringing him / her back to God?

 

• The first thing the angel said to Zachariah was “Do not be afraid.”, and that is the first line out of the mouth of many angels in the Bible as well. God knows in the light of his almighty power, the first instinct for us is to be afraid, and he does not want us to be afraid. In fact, our heavenly father has given us Jesus so that our sins can be justified, our relationship can be repaired and we can once again call God ‘father’. Do you have fears in your heart? Quiet yourself and pray to our heavenly father. Not only He will also tell you “Do not be afraid”, he will also love to hear and guide you through your fear!