Title: Zechariah - in the first person
Text: Luke 1:5-25 and 3:1-20
Big idea: “May our prayers rise to heaven like incense.”
It’s been 400 years since we have heard from a prophet. And as a result, things have been upside-down in our nation for far too long. We have long suffered under the corruption and incompetence of weak Kings – kings that turned our nation away from God. We have suffered under the brutality of the Assyrians and the Babylonians and now for the past 63 years we have been occupied and oppressed by the ruthless Romans. General Pompey conquered our holy land for Rome.
In 37, BC, following a failed rebellion, the Romans turned Judea into a Roman province, and installed the Jewish King Herod {the Great} as administrator. King was too lofty a title… he was more like a provincial premier.
Meanwhile, we held tightly to the promise of a deliverer – a Messiah – who will set us free from our oppressors and be a King like David, and sit on David’s throne. Establish a kingdom of righteousness and justice. Israel’s calling was to be a kingdom of priests who will serve God.
We know the words of Isaiah (unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given… and the government will be upon his shoulders and his kingdom will never end). We hold to the covenant God made with Abraham – I will bless you and make you a blessing... and through your seed, all the world will be blessed.
But there’s been a lot of waiting and hoping. Not much has been moving – except injustice and oppression – which seems to know no bounds.
Do you like your government?
Do you ever wish things could be better?
In Israel, we have had enough… somebody please give us a good government!!!
But I’m an old man.
I wonder if – in my lifetime – I will ever see things change. Will hope be realized?
Will the prophecies of our prophets ever be fulfilled?
My name is Zechariah. I’m a priest. A Jewish priest. And I’m old. All my life I’ve known only foreign rule. Oppression.
The Romans – I despise them.
Well, I wasn’t always old. I’ve just slowly gotten older and older and now here I am. I’m old. Maybe even ancient. My wife is named Elizabeth.
She, is not old.
O no. Elizabeth is most definitely not old. She is (let me get this just right – I learned this in marriage class)…“well along in years.”
That means she getting better and better as the years go by.
All my life I’ve been waiting and praying for three things.
(1) to serve in the temple as Priest.
(2) to be a Father.
(3) to see the Messiah.
For most of my life all 3 prayers seemed to go nowhere.
The dream of having children is something that Elizabeth and I had given up on. Getting old (the calendar) has punched a hole in that biological balloon. When we bought our first house in a small subdivision on the outskirts of Jerusalem we made sure there were a couple of extra bedrooms for the children. we prayed and prayed for God to bless us with children. our friends were so sweet when their children were born. “you will make such great parents.” But the children never came and the rooms stayed empty. Did God hear our prayers we wondered. Slowly, the dream died. But the pain and disappointment lingered - and grew.
As for serving at the temple – I great honor I must say – I kept hoping. And praying. But once again the years slipped by and I had become impatient and a little frustrated. After all, I’m a priest. My father was a priest. Serving at the Temple in Jerusalem is the highest honor a priest can have. A priest served at the temple for one week each year.
I was a member of one of 24 divisions in the priesthood, one of approximately 18,000 priests - of the 8th order, of Abijah . A priest only officiated at the sacrifice once in his lifetime, and was selected by lottery. In other words, you could be a priest all your life and never be called to serve in the Temple.
Finally, my name was called!!! (the answer to Prayer # 1 had arrived)
So, there I am in the temple – it’s our most holy place in all the world. I’m very feeling very excited and yet guarded in my excitement - so I don’t make a mistake. My job was to burn incense – symbolizing the prayers of God’s people rising toward heaven.
The altar of incense was made of acacia wood with a veneer of gold. Acacia is a beautiful hardwood that is almost indestructible. The altar was thirty-six (91 CM) inches high and eighteen inches (45) square. (Exodus 37:25ff). It served as a place for the daily burning of incense, both morning and evening.
This twice daily exercise consisted of a priest taking burning coals from the bronze altar in the temple court, to the altar of incense, and placing the coals upon the incense. (Exodus 30:7-8). The incense was a mixture of five spices. When the hot coals hit the incense a burst of smoke and smells floated up to heaven.
Daily prayer at the temple occurred at 9 am and 3 pm; it’s called the time of the “perpetual offering”.
In that moment, as I place the coals on the incense – symbolizing prayer - an angel appears. And says… “your prayer has been heard.”
But when I saw him, I was startled and was gripped with fear. it’s not every day that you see an angel.
But the angel said to me: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. (Luke 1:13)
(My prayer has been heard??? – but it’s been years and years…I think it’s too late.),
but the angel continued…
and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And 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.”
I recognized those words … from Isaiah 40:3 – and Malachi 4:6
I was startled and shaken… and without thinking I blurted out…,
“How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” (Luke 1:18)
I thought it was a fair question—it’s been many, many years. To be honest I was not expecting this when I woke up this morning - and besides – I was already excited to serve in the Temple…. So, I over-reacted!
That did not go over well at all!
19 The angel looks at me with incredulity,
“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. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
Then I realized – this is no low-level angel – this is Gabriel!!!
Gabriel – as you may know - is a high powered Angel. He appeared to Daniel when God wanted to talk about the future – what some call “eschatology”.
So, when Gabriel shows up right in front of me – I know something big is on the agenda.
Before I had time to apologize… Boom.
Immediately, I lost my speech.
Talk about bad timing.
You see, when the priest comes out of the temple – after burning incense- he gives a blessing to the people…But I couldn't speak...all I could do was use sign language.
The people gathered at the temple that day knew something unusual had occurred.
… what took so long Zechariah? What happened?
And of course, I couldn’t say a word. Tongue tied. Like I said earlier… if you want to talk – when an angel is around – keep your mouth shut!
So, I just made motions with my hands… I think I looked shaken and I may have staggered a little.
People seemed to figure it out… “he’s seen a vision” … I think something happened in there!”
I just wanted to go home and be with Elizabeth.
But I couldn’t even talk to her!!! All I could do were hands signals and scribble a few words.
Two prayers answered in one day!!! …and after all these years of waiting… and waiting.
Those words are still ringing in my ears – “your prayer has been heard.”
Except… I lost my tongue.
It was like Gabriel put Duct tape over my mouth.
Nothing was coming out. Not a sound.
He shut me down! Talk about putting my foot in my mouth. I discovered something about angels – they like to have the last word!
A word of advice – when you’re around angels – keep your mouth shut – so you can talk!!!
Maybe it was God’s way of saying – stop talking and just watch… I’ll take it from here.
And then – not long after this temple “experience” – Elizabeth announces that she’s pregnant.
It’s really happening. Just like Gabriel said.
I wanted to and tell all my friends how exciting it was to finally serve in the temple. And second, I’m going to be a Father too! But I’m tongue tied.
(I guess I will just post it on Facebook)
Gabriel appeared to me!
(But I’m not Daniel caliber…I’m a rank and file priest – one of 18,000 priests)
I recalled Gabriel’s words…
“his name will be John”
“great in the sight of the Lord”
“he can never drink wine”
“he will bring back many to the Lord…”
“he will be powerful and full of the Spirit – like Elijah!
During the 9-month pregnancy… I was filled with anticipation… but I couldn’t get a word out – not one word --- for nine long months.
Being unable to talk – I had time to think. And read.
I remembered our patriarch, Abraham, and his wife, Sarah.
They also had no children. They also were old. They also had a visit from an angel to talk about a baby. Their baby – baby Isaac – was a fulfillment of the covenant God made to Abraham.
Is our baby going to have significance on the scale of Isaac?
Is this the beginning of the new covenant? The one Jeremiah prophesied about 500 years ago? The implications are amazing and overwhelming.
Then I started kicking myself – why did I question Gabriel?
Why? Why?
I understand now why he reacted the way he did.
“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. I have been sent to you…” your prayer has been heard.
Suddenly I feel relieved that I only lost my speech! It could have been so much worse.
Six months into the pregnancy another piece of the puzzle appears. Elizabeth’s cousin, Mary, arrives for a visit.
You won’t believe this but it turns out she also had a visit from the same angel – Gabriel.
Mary is young.
Not yet married.
Pledged to marry a fine young man named Joseph.
But, Mary is a virgin.
And Gabriel announces she’s having a baby too.
Now you may think it's a miracle for me and Elizabeth to have a baby
But for a virgin to have a baby – well that's just on an entirely different level.
So, Mary needed to talk to Elizabeth.
As soon as she walked in the door and said hello… our baby - in Elizabeth’s womb jumped. Or kicked. Elizabeth felt the baby move.
And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke these prophetic words to Mary:
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Elizabeth, Luke 1:42-45)
Mary could put two and two together – somehow these two miracles were connected.
For Elizabeth and I -- “Get ready for the King.”
For Mary -- “Give birth to the King - Bring the Kingdom into reality.”
Mary stayed with us for 3 months – right up until the time Elizabeth delivered our baby. I think Mary wanted to see phase one through to completion. And honestly – since I wasn’t making much conversation – Elizabeth needed someone to talk to!
And Mary felt safer being out of town as the “scandal” of her pregnancy spread.
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have our baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 our neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared our joy. 59 On the eighth day we came to circumcise our baby, (according to Jewish tradition – circumcision reaffirms the covenant) and we were going to name him after me - Zechariah, (that's the Jewish way) 60 but Elizabeth spoke up and said,
“No! He is to be called John.”
61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
62 Then they made signs to me, to find out what I would like to name the child. 63 I asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment wrote,
“His name is John.”
(just like Gabriel had declared 9 months ago) …I wanted no part of a run in with Gabriel again.
John it is – I don’t know why. I just know his name is John.
64 Immediately my mouth was opened and my tongue set free, and I began to speak, and praise God!!!
Hallelujah!!!
65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard …. wondered about it, asking,
“What is this child going to become?”
Clearly…. the Lord’s hand was with him.
67 Then, I {Zechariah} was also filled with the Holy Spirit and I too prophesied under the power of the Holy Spirit…
68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David 70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), 71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us— 72 to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, my child, (John) you will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation, through the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven 79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
I couldn’t believe the words coming from my mouth
Indeed, my speech had returned in the most dramatic of ways!
Was this the answer to prayer #3?
Six months later Mary had her baby – she named him “Jesus”. As Gabriel had insisted. The son of David – who will sit on David’s throne and establish a kingdom that will never end. By this time, we knew our baby and Mary’s baby shared something very special in God’s plan.
We didn’t know exactly when things would start moving, so we just waited and trusted and waited and trusted some more. Sometimes God moves slower than we would like, yes? And sometimes faster.
As our little Johnny grew up, it was quite wonderful… all three of us – Elizabeth, Johnny and me, Zechariah – had all been filled with the Holy Spirit. And so our home was filled with the presence of God.
And then the day came when Johnny – my apologies, “John”, decided to leave home and live in the desert. He felt such an austere place would prepare him well for his mission.
He knew his calling.
He accepted it
It was time to prepare for preparing the way.
His Mom and I said “good-bye.”
A little nervous – but also feeling great anticipation.
Some people think he lived near the “Dead Sea” – (the dead sea is at the bottom of the Jordan River. But since there is no outflow it has become a lake of rich minerals and no fish)
There was a community of scribes living beside the dead sea and holiness was their focus. John may have spent some time with them. I’m not really sure to be honest. What mattered is that he was getting himself ready for his preaching ministry.
We had to let go. Our job now was to pray for him. (seems we never quit praying)
I was inspired by Gabriel – “your prayers have been heard.”
Then he started. Out of the desert and straight into Jerusalem itself.
He was quite a preacher.
Absolutely fearless.
And then he started baptizing people – calling them to repentance.
The practise of baptism was unprecedented.
As a priest within Judaism I knew of ceremonial washing, but this was bigger -- a call to repentance – to prepare for the arrival of the Messiah.
John preached like an Old Testament prophet, seeking for a “turning” of the heart.
He never did care much about personal grooming… he had some bizarre outfit made of camel’s hair… with a kind of home-made leather belt. And he ate insects – locusts were his meal of choice – have you ever seen a locust – looks like a large grasshopper… and honey – he seemed to love wild honey. How he Acquired this wild honey and these locusts – I didn’t ask – not going there!
But man could he preach!
He put the fear of God in everyone. As his Father, I knew the Holy Spirit was on him, but wow, when he started to preach it was like nothing you’ve ever heard before…
The Pharisees got more than they could handle from John-- “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. (act like you love God)
And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’
(your biology won’t save you)
For I tell you that from these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
For John repentance was practical:
“Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” 12 he challenged the corrupt tax collectors - 13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
The people of Israel were waiting hundreds of years - with great expectation for the Messiah - and now they began wondering if John might possibly be the Messiah.
John answered them…, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.
Then one day, as John standing there in the Jordan, baptizing people. Jesus himself came to the Jordan River and asked John to baptize him!!!
Of course, John refused.
But Jesus insisted.
When Jesus came up out of the water – heaven opened
The Father spoke – “this is my son, listen to him”
And the Holy Spirit came – symbolized by a bird. A dove.
You can imagine, Mary and Elizabeth had quite a talk about that.
On the political front John was also fearless.
King Herod… who divorced his wife and took his brother’s wife (Herodias) as his own came under rebuke from John.
- like I told you …absolutely fearless.
I just wish he was a little more subtle at times.
But no – once a prophet always a prophet. And so, my dear son, John landed in one of Herod’s dungeon’s.
{the tetrarch} because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.{ Luke 3: 19 }
It was as if it was all choreographed… John’s work was finished… Jesus was on the scene.
John said it best: The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30)
But Herod wasn’t finished.
On Herod’s birthday the daughter of (his wife) Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother (Herodias), she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9 The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10 and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12 John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.
But Jesus had the last word: Luke 7:224 “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 25 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. 26 But what did you go out to see?
A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is the one about whom it is written:
“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’
28 I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” …
Zechariah: “So, that’s my story… My prayer was heard.”
Our Prayer is heard…. Even when you are old… and waiting only serves to make it sweeter.”
So, now … as an old man I’m very excited. And very hopeful.
2 of my prayers answered
and #3 is well underway. So, I keep on praying. May our prayers rise to heaven like incense.
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name
thy kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen!!!
Will you, join me, in prayer?
“May our prayers rise to heaven like incense.”
