5 There was in the days of Herod, king of Judæa, a certain priest
named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and he had a wife of the
daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6 And they were
both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and
ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 And they had no child, because
that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were _now_ well stricken
in years.
8 Now it came to pass, while he executed the priest’s office
before God in the order of his course, 9 according to the custom
of the priest’s office, his lot was to enter into the temple of
the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the
people were praying without at the hour of incense. 11 And there
appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side
of the altar of incense. 12 And Zacharias was troubled when he saw
_him_, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said unto him,
Fear not, Zacharias: because thy supplication is heard, and thy
wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name
John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall
rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the
Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be
filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And
many of the children of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord their
God. 17 And he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of
Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
disobedient _to walk_ in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for
the Lord a people prepared _for him_. 18 And Zacharias said unto
the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my
wife well stricken in years. 19 And the angel answering said unto
him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and I was
sent to speak unto thee, and to bring thee these good tidings. 20
And behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, until the
day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believedst
not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. 21 And the
people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marvelled while he
tarried in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he could not speak
unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the
temple: and he continued making signs unto them, and remained
dumb. 23 And it came to pass, when the days of his ministration
were fulfilled, he departed unto his house.
24 And after these days Elisabeth his wife conceived; and she hid
herself five months, saying, 25 Thus hath the Lord done unto me in
the days wherein he looked upon _me_, to take away my reproach
among men.
Luke is the gospel of gladness, of praise, and of prayer, of tender, human
interest, and of heavenly grace. It is fitting, therefore, that the
narrative should open with a scene in the Temple at the hour of incense
and with a divine promise which fills a heart with rapturous joy. This
promise concerns the birth of one who is to prepare the way for the
ministry of Christ, and this ministry forms the sum and substance of the
gospel story.
The time was “in the days of Herod,” called “the Great,” a monster of
cruelty, a vassal of Rome, who ruled the Jews with savage tyranny. The
political slavery of the people was only less pitiful than their spiritual
decline, for religion had become an empty form, a mere system of
ceremonies and rites. However, God is never without his witnesses and his
true worshipers. Among these were “a certain priest named Zacharias” and
his wife Elisabeth, who lived in the hill country of Judea, south of
Jerusalem. They “were both righteous before God,” not sinless but without
reproach, carefully observing the moral and also the ritual requirements
of the law. Yet godliness is no guarantee against sorrow or against the
disappointment of human hopes, and these pious souls were saddened because
their home was childless. This trial was peculiarly great among a people
who regarded childlessness as a sign of divine displeasure and it was even
more distressing to the hearts of the faithful who were yearning for the
birth of the promised Messiah.
Twice each year Zacharias went to Jerusalem to perform for a week his
sacred tasks. Finally there came to him a privilege which a priest could
enjoy only once in his lifetime; the “lot” fell upon him, and he thus was
chosen to enter the Holy Place at the hour of prayer and there offer
incense upon the golden altar just before the veil in the very presence of
God. It was the supreme hour of his life. As the cloud of perfume began to
rise, true symbol of accepted petitions, an angel appeared and assured the
startled priest that his supplications had been heard. For what had
Zacharias then been praying—for a son, or for the salvation of his people?
Were not both desires included in that supplication? As the representative
of a nation, the priest hardly could have confined his petition to what
was purely personal and private. Yet, as he pleaded for the coming of the
Messiah, there must have been in his soul the secret yearning of the long
years or the memory of that abandoned hope which he had always associated
in thought with the salvation of Israel. Many a minister of Christ has a
similar experience; in the very performance of his public tasks there
rests on his soul the conscious shadow of some private grief.
The angel declared that the prayer for national salvation had been heard,
and he gradually unfolded the contents of the divine answer; the Messiah
was about to appear, and his coming was to be heralded by a son who was to
be born to the aged priest. The angel spoke with great definiteness: the
child would be named John; many would rejoice at his birth; he would be a
Nazirite, and as such would take the vow of total abstinence from wine and
of complete dedication to God; as a consequence of this dedication he
would be filled with the divine Spirit and thus enabled to lead his people
to repentance. He would labor in the spirit and power of Elijah, calling
men to lives of natural affection and justice and preparing them for the
salvation which Christ would bring.
So surprising a message was too great to be credited at once by the
wondering priest. He had ceased to hope that the longing of his heart
could be fulfilled. He therefore asked for a sign by which he might be
assured that the blessed promise was true. The angel replied with a
statement of his own majestic power and the glory of his mission and he
granted to Zacharias a sign. This sign was at once a rebuke and a
blessing. It rebuked the unbelief of the aged priest, yet it strengthened
his faith. He was smitten with dumbness which was to continue until the
promise of the angel had been realized. Zacharias would not accept the
word of the Lord; he would not praise him for his goodness and his grace.
Therefore, his tongue was to be silent and he was to be unable to speak
until at last his lips were opened in glad thanksgiving. Unbelief is never
joyous; infidelity has no songs.
However, the sign suggests supernatural power. The faith of Zacharias and
also of Elisabeth will be strengthened by the very silence in their home.
So when the people in the court of the Temple waited for the priest to
reappear, when as he came they still waited for the usual benediction,
when they found that Zacharias had been stricken with dumbness, they
concluded he had seen a vision in the Temple, and he himself was assured
that the messenger had come from God. In due time the promise was
fulfilled; a new life came into being. Meanwhile, until it would be
evident that her “reproach” for childlessness had been taken away,
Elisabeth lived in strict retirement. She would not have others, by seeing
her, think that she was under divine displeasure at the very time when she
secretly knew that she was a special recipient of divine grace. She was
jealous for the glory of her God; she delighted in her hidden fellowship
with him. From the homes of such priests who can pray, and of such hearts
which can trust, there ever have been coming the great prophets of the
Lord.