Glorious Day

Examining the Christmas Story from the joy of different people involved

1 - Elizabeth and Zechariah

1 - Elizabeth and Zechariah

Luke 1:5–19 NIV

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 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. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 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.” Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” The angel said to him, “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.

Both Elizabeth and Zechariah had ‘the right stuff’ when it came to God ()

They were both ‘righteous in the sight of God’ and obeyed God blamelessly

Mary, we don’t know much about her initial start, beyond she was poor - the offering she gave at the temple was the one you were supposed to give ‘if you couldn’t afford the normal offering’

The problem Zechariah had was in how he responded - ‘How can I be sure of this?’

He’s basically saying, ‘I know an angel of the Lord just appeared to me IN THE TEMPLE with A MESSAGE FROM GOD - but how do I know for sure what you’re saying is true?’

This was the guy that should have known better!

And the angel responds appropriately. He doesn’t tell Zechariah anything that would answer ‘how can I be sure?’ - he literally just responds with, ‘I am Gabriel, and I stand in the presence of God, and I’ve been sent to tell you this’. The response to ‘how do I know for sure?’ is ‘You know that I am from God - that’s how you know it’s true’.

This is a message that should have brought them great joy.

Doubt cripples joy

Now, the angel came with a specific message for Zechariah, about not only a child coming, but that what that child would accomplish

John was fulfilling a specific role the jews were waiting for - a ‘precursor’ to the messiah, someone to make ‘the roads straight’.

Luke 1:13–17 NIV

But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 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. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 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.”

You can see the change in elizabeth when she gets visited by Mary

Luke 1:39–45 NIV

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Those who believe the Lord’s promises will be blessed.

See the key words she’s using here. ‘Favoured, blessed, joy’.

Now, Zechariah and Elizabeth here are held up as the two sides of this same coin. Doubt, and trust. Zechariah ‘had the right stuff’, he was even called blameless before God. But he doubted God’s words. Elizabeth was also held up to that same beginning, but she believed that the Lord would fulfill the promises made to her.

God calls each of us to respond to His promises

Some of his promises are general ones we find in the bible. Some are specific ones He’s spoken to each one of us. But it’s our choice here how we respond - are we going to respond in doubt, or in joy?

2 - Mary

3 - The shepherds and The Wisemen

4 - Simeon and Anna

5 - The World