“But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias,
for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,
and you will give him the name John. “You will have joy and gladness, and many
will rejoice at his birth.” (Luke 1:13–14, NASB95)
Taking some extra time to work on some upcoming sermons I decided
through this Christmas season to take a break from John and focus on an annual
traditional in our home, which is the reading of Advent passages. And starting
a few days late with today being a special day in our home I thought about how
to bring together the special celebration of today with the previous days of
our Advent readings. So, what I decided to do was to jump into day two and
build through day four, coming back to day one very soon. Hopefully you are not
confused by this point and give up, but I think you are in for a treat as we
look to the incredible gifts of God to two different families.
Having had five sons, my wife (Robin) and I found out in
2006 that we were going to have another special blessing in our home. As time
progressed and ultrasounds and nausea (not mine, but Robin’s) proved out we
knew in advance that our sixth child was going to be very different from the
rest. This time we were having a girl. All of the years of raising boys were going
to change as God was bringing a precious little girl into our home. Of course,
like many couples we had a name we favored but had yet been unable to use. But
after so many years of holding on to this other name we realized that it was
not going to be the name of our new daughter.
In discussing the different name possibilities we quickly
came to a point that we agreed her name was unquestionably going to be “Elizabeth.” When it came to her middle name we had a bit
more waiting and thinking to do. But even this didn’t take long before Robin
and I both came up independently with the same middle name which was “Joy.” For
me the process at arriving at her middle name included reading about the births
of John the Baptist and Jesus, and in particular reading in Luke chapter 1 about
Zechariah and Elizabeth the parents of John, who would become known as John the
Baptist.
Advent Reading for Day 2: “In the days of Herod, king of
Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he
had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. They were
both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments
and requirements of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was
barren, and they were both advanced in years.” (Luke 1:5–7, NASB95)
I read in verses 5-7 of this couple who were upright before
God and committed to Him both in service and righteous living. In these verses
we read that this godly couple had no children though they had dearly wanted
them. All of their years Elizabeth had been unable to conceive and at this
point their age had caught up with them. This was intriguing to me as I thought
about another father and mother who had been promised a son who would be a
blessing, but who did not have that son until they also were very advanced in
years (Abraham and Sarah). And I could not help thinking of Robin and myself as
we were expecting not our first child, but a child nonetheless just short of my
fiftieth birthday with Robin not many years behind. Some even poked fun at me
in this, but I enjoyed the fun as I really looked forward to the birth of yet
another child.
This new dad, Zechariah, was a priest among many priests of
Israel. We read in these verses that his division’s time for service, which came
twice a year, had come. This time Zechariah was chosen by lot (as if God really
have permitted anyone else to be chosen) to enter the temple and burn incense
as a fragrant offering to God on behalf of the people. As he did this our passage
tells us that many people were outside waiting in prayer. This is how it had
been done since Moses with the priest going in, burning the incense, and then
coming back out to pronounce a blessing.
Advent Reading for Day 3: “Now it happened that while he was
performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his
division, according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot
to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of
the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.” (Luke
1:8–10, NASB95)
This is the setting that brings us to our annual December 4th
reading: “And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of
the altar of incense. Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear
gripped him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your
petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you
will give him the name John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will
rejoice at his birth.”” (Luke 1:11–14, NASB95)
While in the temple an angel of the Lord (identified later
in verse 19 as Gabriel) appeared to Zechariah. The angel stood at the right
side of the altar of incense, and when Zechariah saw him he (Zechariah and not the
angel) was startled. Being startling is easy to understand as only one priest
was permitted to enter, and for anyone else to be there would have been unheard
of. But there stood another individual. And this individual was not just anyone,
but was probably easily identified as an angel of God because our passage also
tells us that Zechariah was gripped with fear. This was no mere human before
him. As Zechariah stood there trembling the angel the angel spoke to calm him
down and then proceeded to tell him that his prayer had been heard.
The angel told him that his prayer was both heard and
answered in that he and his wife Elizabeth were going to have a son. I don’t
know what prayer Zechariah might have immediately thought God had heard, but I seriously
doubt that it was the one that the angel spoke of, and it surely was not an
answer that Zechariah was expecting. I suspect that Zechariah might have given
up on this prayer some time beforehand thinking that their hope of having a
child was long past. But this was the news the angel had for him, and the
answer was coming in God’s perfect time. Elizabeth was going to give him a son
and his name was going to be John.
Then we read that this long hoped for son was going to be a “joy
and delight” to his parents. And beyond that he was going to be used of God to
cause many to rejoice because of his birth. He truly was going to be great in
the sight of the Lord. Can you imagine being told that your child was going to
grow up loving God and impacting people for him? They had given their lives to
God and now God was blessing them with a child who would do even more—a joy to
his parents and a blessing to many.
Upon reading this it was settled in my heart that my desire
was that our Elizabeth’s middle name be “Joy.” And I was so happy to hear that
Robin had been led to the same name though for different reasons. So, then came
the waiting and the waiting. Beth was not born on her due date. She was not
even born in her due month. She finally was born on December 4th
when the doctor stepped in to move things along. And as I read our Advent
calendar readings for 2006 (a bit delayed for obvious reasons) I saw that this
very passage was the one that we would read year and after year on the anniversary
of our Elizabeth Joy’s birth.
Our God is so incredibly amazing, and His blessings to us
are far more abundant than we could ever count or measure. This includes the
greatest joys such as this and His strong hand in our greatest hurts. Our prayer
for Beth, as for all of our children and now grand-children, is that they would
know God, be known for their walk with Him, and be a blessing to many as their
lives prove God’s work in them.
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