Zechariah Did You Know?

I love the music of Christmas. Some of my earliest memories are of a small house on a hillside in West Virginia with the smooth mellow intonations of Nat King Cole singing Christmas carols. Some of the carols we sing span hundreds of years, some nearly a thousand years! But I also love some of the new stuff. No, I’m not talking about “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer!” I’m talking about new, fresh Christmas songs that I believe will be part of Christmas worship for generations to come.

One of the most beautiful of these new songs is one that has been around for about 20 years. It was written by Mark Lowry, and is entitled, “Mary Did You Know?” You’ve heard it this morning, but let me just remind you of some of the lyrics:

I’ve been hearing that song for years, but it was about a year ago, in fact it was at the Community Thanksgiving Service at St. Mary’s Church last year that I saw a book in the lobby with “Mary, Did You Know?” on the cover, and the thought struck me – “No, Mary didn’t know! She had no idea what she was getting herself into!”

That thought has stayed with me for more than a year. I can very distinctly remember being on my lawn tractor this summer, and for almost the entire three hours it takes to mow our spread, my mind was contemplating that thought. And as I thought about it, I began to realize that Mary was not alone. In fact, most, if not all of the people associated with the story of Jesus’ birth had no idea, or a mistaken idea, of what was going on. For most of them, the events surrounding the Greatest Night in History were filled with stress, misunderstanding, confusion and questions.

The story of Christmas is the story of people of faith at the point of crisis. People whose faith has entered the Red Zone – the place where it’s not easy to believe, where things are not going the way we thought they were going to go, where we were convinced that we knew what God had in mind, but somehow the wires got crossed and we’re in crisis. Over the weeks to come, we’re going to look at a few of those people, the crisis they faced, and find application for our own faith crises.

Today we focus on Zechariah. His story is found in the first chapter of the biography of Jesus written by Dr. Luke. In Luke chapter 1, we read this:

Before we move on to Zechariah’s story, I want you to notice this forward to Luke’s biography. Notice some key words: “eyewitnesses,” “carefully investigated everything from the beginning,” “orderly account,” and “so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught…” I love Luke’s gospel because as a historian I appreciate a well-researched, well-written biography of a historical figure that includes as much first-hand testimony as possible. Whether it’s Band of Brothers, the film series documenting the lives of a squad of men in WWII, or a biography of Abraham Lincoln, the careful investigation and inclusion of eyewitnesses makes for a great account. It is obvious from the intimate details included in this gospel that Luke talked to the people involved – especially to Mary –there are just things here that no one else could have told him.

There’s no question in my mind that the story of Zechariah was part of that interview with Mary. We’re see in verse 39 of this chapter that Mary went to Zechariah’s home and spent three months there with him and his wife Elizabeth. She got all the lowdown on their story, and we have it recounted here. As we read this, think about that for a moment – this is the story of Christmas as told by Mary – the virgin girl who gave birth to the Son of God – doesn’t that just excite you?!

Here’s the story. I’ve asked Mary Mekelburg to read it to us – as she does, imagine Mary sharing it with Luke all those years ago.

Pedigree (vs. 5)

We’re introduced to Mary’s cousin Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah. We are told about their Pedigree – their reputation and heritage. These are good, godly people. In fact, Zechariah is a priest of Israel, they can trace their ancestry all the way back to the priestly lines of Aaron through Abijah. Not only was Zechariah from the priestly line, but his wife was a descendant of Aaron, too! They have a long, rich heritage of godly people, and by all accounts, they were continuing in that tradition. We see that in the next verse.

Verse 6 tells us that they were both “upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly.” One commentator I read this week wrote,

Their being righteous before God was evidenced by the course and tenor of their conversations; they showed it, not by their talk, but by their works; by the way they walked and the rule they walked by….their devotions and their conversations agreed. [I like the sound of that!]…They were universal in their obedience; not that they never did in any thing come short of their duty, but it was their constant care and endeavor to come up to it…though they were not sinless, yet they were blameless; nobody could charge them with any open scandalous sin; they lived honestly and inoffensively, as ministers and their families are in a special manner concerned to do, that the ministry be not blamed in their blame.[i]

Additionally, I gather from the story that these were popular people, as well. We read later of a couple of occasions where their relatives and neighbors gathered at their house to celebrate with them. These were just wonderful folks!

But despite their Godly pedigree and righteous performance, there was a problem. Verse 7 starts out with that biggest little word in the Bible – “but.” “But they had no children…” Elizabeth was barren. I can’t begin to imagine the heartbreak that infertility brings a couple – but I have seen it evidenced in couples over the years. But add to the already unbearable pain the additional burden of a culture that mistakenly assumes that barrenness must be the result of God’s punishment and judgment. Somehow these folks whose entire culture was centered on what we call the Old Testament missed the fact that many eminent Old Testament persons were born to mothers that had been long childless: Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samson, Samuel, and now John the Baptist. That truth was lost on them, however, and they associated childlessness with sin and judgment, and for the poor couple, it resulted in the compounding of the pain by the addition of what Elizabeth identifies as “disgrace” in verse 25.

Now before we just thoughtlessly move on to the rest of the story, let’s settle here for a moment. I want you to ponder what we are seeing here. Wonderful, popular, godly, righteous people – people who love the Lord and whose life reflects their love for Him - yet they are seemingly unfairly and unjustly being singled out for “disgrace,” suspicion, judgment and shame.

When Zechariah, a strapping young man, who showed so much promise, intelligence and character that he was on the fast-track for the priesthood; married Elizabeth, a wonderful, godly young woman, with all their friends and family gathered around; do you think they expected to live such an existence? Do you think as they listened to the words of blessing by the priest at their wedding they expected to be childless? Do you imagine they looked forward to being “well along in years” alone and heartbroken? Certainly not. These were descendants of Aaron! These were good kids! They loved the Lord and walked uprightly before Him!

Surely as a priest of Israel, Zechariah read thousands of times the words of Psalm 127,

3 Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. 4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. 5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them…

Young Zechariah and his bride were certainly anticipating a quiver full of arrows in their family to carry on the priestly line of Aaron and Abijah – but their life was a disappointment. Instead of joy and celebration, they had to watch as their friends - other young couples all around them - brought children into their families.

“Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them…” How Zechariah must have winced every time he thought of those words. How often did Elizabeth read them and wonder what she had done to deny her husband the blessing of the Lord? “They were both well along in years.” How many times over those years had they shed tears over those words and prayed that God would extend to them that blessing?

Doubtless those years that had passed were filled with prayers for a child. In fact, when the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah, what is the first thing he says? He says, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard…”

But then I notice that the angel has to make clear which prayer was being answered. After all, Zechariah was in the temple to burn incense and pray for the people of Israel, so when Gabriel appears, and says, “Zechariah, your prayer has been heard…” he then explains that he and Elizabeth were going to have a child. You know what? I think that Zechariah had given up on that prayer a long time ago. The years had gone by…they were “well along in years…” and Zechariah had resigned himself to the harsh, judgment-filled, unfair reality of his life. “Somehow he must have messed up. Somewhere along the line he and Elizabeth had obviously been put on God’s list of people to treat unfairly – right? Obviously, God had chosen to ignore their prayers. Obviously God didn’t love them as much as their friends who had children, and grandchildren,” - right?

Do you know how prevalent that thinking is? “Since my life isn’t going the way I thought it would, God must hate me!” “Since my prayers are not being answered the way I think they should, I must be a loser!” “Since everyone else has it better than me, I must be outside of God’s will!”

Do you have any idea how often I hear talk like that? Sure you do, because at one time or another we’ve probably all thought that way! Somewhere along the way we’ve all fallen victim to the heresy – yes I said “heresy!” – that because we are children of God, everything is supposed to go perfect for us. Our children or grandchildren aren’t supposed to be sick, our teens aren’t supposed to rebel, our cars aren’t supposed to break down, we’re not supposed to have money problems, life is supposed to be fair!

If you believe that, then I don’t know what Bible you’re reading – in fact, I suspect you’re not reading your Bible at all – because it’s just not there! I defy anyone in this room to find me ONE example of a God follower whose life was not unfair, problem-filled and discouraging. Do you think that when Adam and Eve had their two boys that they planned that one would kill the other? Do you think Joseph looked forward to being falsely accused of rape and spending years in prison? Was it fair that Jeremiah spent time in jail for speaking the word of God? How fair is that? Jesus’ disciples faced lives of persecution, torture, & execution.

When Jesus said, “Come to me, everyone who is burdened and weighed down, and I will give you rest, take my yoke on you and learn from Me, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”, He was not talking about an easy, light life – He was talking about not burdening His followers with a load of rules and regulations. When He talked about our life on this planet, He said, “In this world you will have trouble…” Why is that? Why should the life of a God-follower be a life of disappointment and trouble?

Well, we just spent the last 5 weeks talking about the secular worldview – it is hostile toward God, it rejects His sovereignty and His design. This world is hostile toward God and God followers – when you and I decide to follow Jesus, and “come back to the heart of worship,” like we sang about this morning – we set ourselves up for spiritual and cultural war – and a life of trouble – “but,” Jesus continued, “be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” That’s His promise.

Zechariah received a promise from God, too. The angel said, “Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son…” And what a son! They were going to give birth to the forerunner of the Messiah – the one who was going to prepare the way for the Lord! Before the “Son of David” would be born to Mary, a “son of Aaron” was going to be born to Zechariah and Elizabeth. It strikes me that in each of those cases I sited earlier, where the parents were thought to be barren, the child ended up being of outstanding character. God takes that unfairness, the source of grief, and uses it to make their birth more remarkable and the blessing of it more valuable to their parents, and to show that when God keeps his people waiting long for mercy he sometimes is pleased to reward them for their patience by doubling the value of it when it comes. Their source of disgrace was to become their greatest source of blessing. In fact, 30 years later, Jesus told a crowd of people that, “Among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater then John the Baptist.” Elizabeth’s “disgrace” was transformed into her greatest blessing!

Now I can almost hear the wheels turning in some heads…”Sure, these people in the Bible got it good – but not me!” You sound jut like Zechariah! Look at verse 18, “Zechariah asked the angel, ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.’” Zechariah had given up hope – I mean, here’s an angel standing right in front of him, telling him what’s going to happen, and he says, “Naaah, not me! I’m an old man, and I’ve been around long enough to be cynical and skeptical.” You know, contrast his response with Mary, who was too young to doubt. When the angel came to her, she asked, “How’s it going to happen?” not “How can this happen?” She needed to know her role, what did she need to do? Zacharias’ disappointment with God had left him convinced that God was either unable or unwilling to answer his prayer. He was so stuck on his circumstances, he was so used to living in his disappointment that he wouldn’t believe the promise of God when it was right in front of him…SOUND FAMILIAR?

But Gabriel was not one to put up with contempt for the promises of God. Think about this for a moment, Gabriel stands in the presence of God. He had been eyewitness to the plans and working of God. Gabriel was very likely one of the angels with the Lord when He delivered a similar message to Abraham and Sarah centuries earlier – and had heard Sarah laugh at God’s promise of a child to her. He has to be completely amazed by human beings’ lack of faith in the God above all gods. Here is a priest of Israel, inside the temple of God, speaking to an angel who stands before the throne of God, and the man doubts! So Gabriel hits Zechariah with a penalty – he takes away his voice. Again, don’t just let that slip by you as you read this account. Remember that this man is a priest – his vocation, his source of purpose, pride and prosperity is his ability to speak – praying, counseling, interceding, settling disputes, and providing judgment.

We can choose to doubt God’s ability; we can choose to be pessimistic about our blessings; we can be cynical about how God is treating us, but let me warn you, those attitudes come with a price! They do not escape the bewildered gaze of the angels in glory, they do not escape the attention of the Lord of hosts, and our contempt for Him and His promises may result in us being humbled and broken in His presence. Zechariah was left publicly and professionally impotent, because He didn’t believe God could or would address his personal impotency.

But God did not, and does not, punish without purpose – The Bible tells us that God punishes those He loves (Hebrews 12:6) – for their own good. In this case, Zechariah’s penalty for his pessimism of the promise of God results in a heart filled with praise.

In verse 67, we read that after the birth of his son, when the friends and neighbors had gathered for the child’s circumcision and the bestowing of his name, they were going to name him after his father. But when Elizabeth told them that the child’s name would be John, they didn’t believe it, so they motioned to Zechariah (maybe he had lost his hearing, too?). Zechariah got a writing tablet, and wrote out, “His name is John.” “Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed and he began to speak, praising God.”

All the years of pain and pessimism, followed by months of penalty and punishment, were erased in an eruption of praise to the Lord. Zechariah obeyed the Lord, he fulfilled what he had been told to do by the angel he had doubted, and in that moment, the Holy Spirit filled him, and he sang out a praise song to the Lord!

Can I share with you an observation I’ve made? Throughout scripture, the only recorded songs of praise at the birth of a child are sung by parents who overcame impossible obstacles or years of frustration. Now that doesn’t mean that the millions of people who gave birth over the centuries did not love and cherish their children – or that each birth is not a wonderful blessing – but what I see is that there is a direct correlation between the trial and the triumph, there’s a link between the problem and the praise.

Practical

“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way for Him, to give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins...”

Let me ask you a question – what do you think Zechariah expected for his son – this prophet of Israel? This one that the angel said would have power like Elijah and proclaim truth to the people of Israel…Do you think that Zechariah looked at his son, and thought, “You, my son, will live alone in the dessert, you will wear the skin of a camel and eat bugs. You will be hated by my fellow priests and Pharisees and you will be killed by the king of Israel”?

NO! Of course he didn’t think that! My point is this – we don’t know God’s plan for us or anyone else. We think we do - we have this idea of what God’s plan for our lives should be, but it’s most likely wrong – because His ways are not our ways. Even after he had seen the angel, experienced 9 months of silence, and seen his elderly, barren wife give birth to a miracle child – the reality of John’s future was certainly not what Zechariah thought it was going to be.

Life certainly didn’t go the way Zechariah had thought that it would, but that didn’t mean that he was outside God’s will – God’s plan for him was hard and painful and frustrating – but it was God’s plan.

Zechariah didn’t know – Joseph didn’t know – Mary didn’t know – But God Knew!

[i] Henry, Matthew. "Commentary on Luke 1". "Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible". <http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/MatthewHenryComplete/ mhc-com.cgi?book=lu&chapter=001>. 1706