Real Stories about Real People

As I mentioned the last time one of the attractions I have for the book of Luke is it is an attempt to take the real information of what happened and arrange it in an orderly fashion. Luke wants us, as the audience, to know there are real incidents that happened. In other words these are real stories. Like the GEICO commercial these are "Real Stories about Real People".

We are going to look at one of those real people as we examine Luke 1:5-10.

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.
8 So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.

There are some good things going on in Zacharias and Elizabeth's lives at the point of this narrative and there are some downsides to where they are at.

First of all the good things:

• Zacharias was a priest
• Elizabeth also was of the line of Aaron (the priestly line).
• They were righteous before God
• Walking in his commands and blameless
  
• By lot he was chosen to burn incense in the temple (this was a once in lifetime privilege and honor)

What were the downsides

• Zacharias was from the hill country of Judah, the boonies or as we say in Maine, he lives out there in the willy-wags. If it wasn't a process to have the priests serve by division and lot he would never have been allowed to enter the temple to burn the incense.
• Zacharias and Elizabeth were without children. This is where the story becomes very real and personal. In this culture to not be able to have children was an embarrassment. At the time of the writing of the Gospels it is noted that Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous before God, but it was hard to feel this way without the blessing of children.

So Zacharias is now alone in the temple during a lifetime event where he gets to light the incense while all the people wait outside, probably all his family and friends in the big city to support him.

Then an extraordinary thing happens to Zacharias.

Luke 1:11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth

The angel appears and Zacharias is afraid. But God's messenger doesn't want Zacharias to be afraid. He wants him to have joy and be glad. He wants Zacharias to know that God has heard his prayers. God has a sovereign plan to for John the baptist to be born, to prepare the way for Jesus God's son. God could have chosen from the privileged priests that lived in Jerusalem or the cultured areas of Israel to bless with a child who would become John the Baptist. Instead he chose Zacharias and Elizabeth, an elderly, discouraged couple from up in the hill country to bless with the child they always wanted and prayed for.

Are there positive things in your life, along with challenges and discouragements? Do you wonder if God cares for you? Do wonder why His answers take so long? Maybe even now you have questions of God's love, His Compassion or even of His reality. Next week we are going to see that even Zacharias despite his devotion to God had doubts.

I encourage you to share your questions. This is a moderated blog if you would like to ask me a personal question about God, The Bible or the good news feel free to post a comment. If you have the option to leave it anonymous if that would make you feel more comfortable. I will be praying that you will truly know God's love and salvation in Jesus.