God is Preparing the Way

So he was exhausted after working out of town all week from a trip that he was away from, and he entered into his modest home.

He was greeted by his wife and his kids and began to unpack a few things that he brought on the trip with him.

He didn't really say much.

All he wanted to do was just rest a little bit.

The journey home left him with one desire to simply unwind and enjoy the comforts of his home after being gone for a while.

To enjoy a good meal, a change of clothes, and to clean up a little bit.

The whole way home, his mind was occupied with the events that took place recently.

And all he wanted to do was relax.

His wife didn't really say much.

She simply gave him a gentle smile and greeted him tenderly and said, Welcome home.

Even though inside she really wanted to know about his trip, what he did, if he had been selected for that important task at work, she didn't really say much.

She could tell he was tired and she gave him some space.

She also wanted to talk about her week, to tell him all that went on and everything, all the details, and to catch up, but knew that now wasn't the right time.

Though it was later in the evening, the family waited for him to return before eating supper.

They gathered around the table and he blessed the meal before they partook.

He still hadn't said much, and his wife, being very perceptive, started to wonder if something unusual happened while he was away.

She thought to herself, maybe he wasn't selected again this time.

She knew how much he would have loved to have been selected and chosen for that important task at work.

Her mind continued to wander to herself.

Maybe something terrible happened on his way home, but surely he would have said something if it did.

Perhaps he made a mistake at work or someone dishonored him.

Whatever it was, she could tell something was occupying his mind.

He was home physically, but she could tell his mind was elsewhere.

He was quieter than normal, and his posture was more reserved in nature.

As the night progressed, she could tell he was withholding something from her.

And by this point, she desperately wanted to know.

Finally, all the kids were asleep, and most of the candles had been extinguished for the night, and the clear skies allowed for the bright moonlight sky to crack through the windows that were covered.

The town had quieted down, and most of the people had retired for the evening.

She could no longer remain quiet.

Without trying to make him feel uncomfortable, she tried to delicately plunge into the conversation, but it all just blurted out rather rapidly.

How was your trip?

Did anything exciting happen?

You seem preoccupied tonight.

What's on your mind?

Quickly realizing she had just bombarded him with a number of questions, she stopped and looked at him apologetically.

Silence.

Uncomfortable silence.

Well, he knew that she wasn't trying to intrude, but he was still trying to make sense of everything that had happened.

And he didn't know where to start.

Something was stirring deep with inside of him.

He was a priest.

And he had just returned from serving in the temple where they had been serving for the last week.

It was his division's turn to serve at the temple.

His priestly division served twice a year in the temple, and also with all the other priests on major religious holidays, such as Passover and Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles.

Of course, as a priest, he had faith in God.

However, at this point, God had been silent for 400 some years.

And like the other Jews, he wanted to be faithful to these religious practices of his people, and he wanted to honor God, even if it felt perhaps that God had forgotten about his people.

Well, deep down inside he knew that the scripture said God would never forget his people.

It was hard for him to really sense that God actually still cared, even after such a long time of remaining silent.

His people had experienced so much hardship.

Would Messiah ever come?

He wondered.

How long will they continue to live under this oppression?

When would God come and establish the divine kingdom?

Thoughts were racing through his head.

It seemed but a few moments, but by this time minutes had passed in silence.

Lovingly, yet with disappointment in her voice, she turned to him and said, I can tell you have much on your mind.

I'll let you get some rest now.

Good night.

And with that, she turned the other way in slight disappointment.

More silence.

Then he broke.

Wait, there's something that I want to share with you, he said in a real reverent manner.

I don't know how to make sense of it all, but God did something in the temple this week.

She continued, or she turned back toward him and he said, A fellow priest in our division named Zechariah was picked by the casting of lots to burn the incense in the altar in the temple.

Zechariah went into the temple to burn the incense while the rest of us stood outside and prayed.

And Zechariah went in to burn the incense, and we stayed, we prayed, and we worshiped.

And something peculiar happened to him when he was in the temple that day.

It made us all deeply wonder what did God do?

Sitting in bed, uh shifting in bed a little bit, he continued on.

Well, he was in the temple, he took longer than normal to perform the task.

Honey, you know full well how all of us priests have been carefully instructed to perform this duty if we are so called upon.

And you also know how this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and that most of us, 18,000 priests, never have the chance to serve in the Holy Temple to present the incense.

Picking up where he left off, he continued, but by now, those of us worshiping just outside the Holy Temple, earnestly in prayer, well, we begin to feel the tension.

And uncomfortable anxiety begin to suddenly sweep through those of us praying.

Why was it taking Zechariah so long, we wondered?

The incense is offered twice a day, and everyone knows just how long it takes.

Some begin to speculate.

Did God bring judgment on Zechariah, perhaps his people?

Did God finally break after 400 years of silence and speak to him?

Some begin to whisper to one another, wondering if one of us priests should go in and check on Zechariah.

Oh, we know that doing so would have been a high offense.

But honestly, we did not know if Zechariah was okay.

Did the Lord strike him dead?

Was he sick?

Did he fall paralyzed in fear?

We did not know, and our minds raced frantically.

We were all crippled with fear.

And just when things couldn't get any more uncomfortable, Zechariah came out of the temple.

She clung to his every word as he continued.

Some of the crowd literally exhaled and sighed loudly when they finally saw him.

All of us were relieved when he came out of the temple and appeared unharmed, but of course, we didn't know what had happened to him and what had detained him for so long.

Even though he looked okay, Zechariah was noticeably different.

With his voice beginning to shake, he said, something happened to him in the temple.

And we have no idea what it was.

Expectantly, we waited for Zechariah to come out and pronounce Aaron's concluding benediction from the book of Numbers, but nothing.

He didn't speak.

Honey, he just stood there.

It was like he had seen a ghost or something.

She sat up in bed at this point, taking it all in, and he continued, moments passed, and then he finally started to wave his arms around and try to make signs to us.

He couldn't speak.

I don't know what happened in that temple that day, but he couldn't speak.

With a more perplexed tone to his voice, he added, I wonder if God was speaking to Zechariah.

If he was, then why wouldn't he let Zechariah speak?

God has been silent towards his people for so long.

Why would he reveal something to Zachariah and then not let Zechariah communicate with us?

I'm confused by what this all could mean.

In one sense, I'm fearful, but on the other hand, could God's spirit be moving like the days of old?

What does it all mean?

I must know.

I must find out what is going on.

Both were sitting up in bed by now.

There's no way either of them could fall back to sleep or go back to sleep.

With determination in his voice, he had continued.

In fact, as soon as a few things are taken care of here, I plan to travel to Zechariah's house to see what this all means.

I can't just wait here and not know.

Perhaps by now the Lord opened Zechariah's mouth and he can explain what has happened.

Well, a couple of weeks had passed, and the excitement of the events that took place seemed to slightly fade in the demands of the normal life.

Still in the back of his mind, he couldn't shake what had happened that day.

And he often daydreamed about what it all meant.

Rumors had spread that Zachariah's wife was expecting a child, even though she was well past the age of childbearing.

Not only had she been unable to bear children when she was young, but it was now physically impossible for her to have children.

So much buzz had been generated that it was sad that she went into hiding in seclusion to escape all the attention.

Well, no one really knows why she went into hiding, but some assume that it was because so many had kept bothering her, wondering what happened.

Who could blame people for seeking, though?

God hasn't done anything like this in hundreds of years.

Their story and what it all can mean caused a great curiosity among the people.

Certainly it would be a significant sign of God's blessing if God gave Zechariah and Elizabeth a child in their old age, and people wanted to know.

One morning the man said to his wife, I've heard rumors, I've heard these rumors that have spread throughout all the hillside of Judea that Zechariah's wife is expecting a child in her old age.

However, now she's in seclusion and not open to visitors.

I will need to, I want to go and to see Zechariah, but I will give them space.

If they are in seclusion, clearly they need some time.

Days, weeks, and months passed.

The curious couple didn't talk much about Zechariah and Elizabeth over that time.

They knew nothing could be done to immediately quench their inquisitiveness.

They just needed to wait patiently.

Then one day around mid morning, a friend who was walking by in the street just outside their home, he said, Did you hear the news?

Zechariah, the humble priest, has received a son from his wife who was once barren and in her old age.

Can you believe it?

There's great rejoicing throughout the hillside of Judea.

And Zechariah, who has been mute since his service in the temple, can now speak.

He is praising God and he's telling everyone about this miracle and also about what God told him in that holy temple.

It's just amazing.

What could this all mean for our people?

Everyone is excited, and God has done something miraculous after all of these years.

A couple just stood there, absolutely amazed at what he just told them.

Before they could even respond, their friend turned and began to share the news with some other passerby.

Stunned, the man turned to his wife and he said, I was there that day when God revealed something to Zechariah.

I must go and see him and find out what happened now that he can speak again.

For months I've not been able to stop thinking about the events that took place, and I must see Zechariah and find out for myself.

He ran into the house and he grabbed a few things before leaving to find Zechariah.

As he left, he turned to his wife and he said, I'm not sure how long I'll be gone.

But when I return, I'm sure I'll have answers.

And with determination, he quickly walked off.

He scurried through the streets and he did his best to avoid the vendors and merchants who were aggressively trying to sell various things.

Finally, he located Zachariah's home and he waited outside a moment before going in.

He thought to himself, what will I even say?

I don't want to intrude, but I must know after all this time.

I've come all this way.

I must go forth, even though I don't want to be intrusive.

And finally, he mustered enough strength and courage, and he walked up to the door and knocked.

Zechariah opened up the door, and both desperation and relief in his eyes, he said to Zechariah, Please, please forgive me, Zechariah.

Catching his breath, he continued on, I'm terribly sorry to intrude, but your servant desires to know and see what the Lord has done for you.

Is it true?

Did your wife conceive in her old age and give birth to a boy?

Did the Lord speak to you when you presented the incense in the temple?

What did the Lord say?

What does this all mean?

Please share with me, for I've traveled this long way to see you.

Well, this wasn't the first time that someone had inquired in this way.

And Zechariah easily could have been frustrated with the constant interruptions.

He wasn't, though.

He genuinely was excited to share all that God had done.

Zechariah invited him in to visit for a while.

Settling down a bit, he asked Zechariah once again, please tell me what happened in the temple that day?

Zechariah's eyes lit up.

Gazing off a little as to get lost in the story all over again.

He then recalled the moment the angel appeared to him.

And he said, I was in the temple preparing the incense, you know, like we've been instructed to do as priests.

I looked toward the altar and suddenly an angel of the Lord was standing on the right side.

Instantly I was paralyzed with great fear.

Though the angel appeared on the right side of the altar instead of the left, which indicated God's favor, I was still gripped with fear.

I didn't know if I had done something wrong, if I had sin, or what.

In an instant, my life seemed to flash before my very eyes.

The man was held captive by his every word.

Speechless, he could barely believe what was being told.

He covered his mouth with astonishment, and Zechariah continued.

I'm sure it was but a moment, but it seemed like an eternity passed as I just stood there before the angel.

The angel, in a voice like I have never heard before, said, Fear not.

And in that moment I knew that God was not sending his judgment upon me.

The angel went on to tell me that my prayers had been answered.

For years I had cried out to God for him to bless me with the son, but he had closed Elizabeth's womb.

Of course I wanted a son to carry out my family name, but mostly I could hardly endure seeing my wife suffer the scorn and the shame of not being able to conceive a child.

Oh, how her friends would look suddenly look down on her as if she was some type of second-class citizen for not being able to have children.

And we could certainly sense our family wondering if God's judgment was upon us for something that we have grievously done, as if we have grievously sinned against the Lord, but you know what?

We have obeyed the Lord's instruction.

And we have been devoted to him, we have been faithful to him, and we have faithfully and carefully followed the Lord's commandments and his regulations.

Before continuing on, he paused to take a drink of water, and Zechariah motioned to his friend if he wanted to drink as well.

The man was just captivated by what Zechariah was telling him and kindly gestured a decline.

Zechariah continued, when it was my time for our priestly division to perform our service in the temple, I had hoped deep down inside that the lot would fall on me and that I would be chosen to present the incense at the altar because I knew that if I was in the holy part of the temple, that maybe God might hear my prayers.

His friend interjected, but what else did the angel say?

You were in there a long time.

All of us worshiping outside, we were we were getting worried for your safety and well-being.

What else did the angel say?

Hardly able to hold his composure together, Zechariah replied, The angel proclaimed that Elizabeth would bear me a son.

A son.

He paused again for a long time and he gathered himself and he continued, both relief and joy overwhelmed me in an instant.

I could hardly process the news.

For years I had prayed for a son, but never an answer, and all of a sudden, an angel is before me in the Holy Temple telling me my prayers have been answered.

And not only will God give me a son in our old age, but this son of ours would be a great man of God.

The Holy Spirit would be upon him even as a child, and many would return to God because of him.

Quieting down a bit, he said, This son of mine, according to the angel, was to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

And he is to have the name John drifting off again as if to get lost in the story and basking in all that it means.

Realizing he needed to continue the story, he continued, he said, Of course, I started to wonder how is this all possible?

Not only has Elizabeth been barren her entire life, but now we are both old and unable to have children.

We are well past that age.

This news was just too much for me to handle, he said.

I barely looked at the angel, but when I thought about the situation, I asked him, How is this possible?

For we are both old.

He scrunched forward and he leaned in a little bit more to continue, and in an even more reverent voice, he says, I didn't mean to, but I knew I had wrongly doubted and crossed the line when I questioned the angel, and I said, How is this possible?

He proclaimed to me that his name is Gabriel.

Now almost in a whisper, he said, He told me that he stands in the presence of God.

The angel told me that God himself sent him to speak to me to share this news, but since I doubted, he told me the angel said that I would be unable to speak until the time that everything came into being.

The angel left and I was speechless.

I couldn't speak.

I just stood there in the temple filled with both joy and wonder.

I was completely caught up in the moment, and I didn't even realize those worshiping outside were still waiting for my return in order to offer up the closing benediction.

As soon as I remembered, I stepped out and everyone was just staring at me, just waiting.

And I couldn't speak.

Well, I tried to communicate what had happened, but the only thing that people really understood was that God revealed something to me when I was in the temple.

So I began to wave my arms around and I tried to sign to them what had happened.

Well, you were there, he said to his friend.

You know how confused yet excited, excited everyone was when I came out, unable to give the closing benediction, the closing prayers, according to our custom.

I waved my arms to dismiss everyone.

People really didn't know what to do, but eventually went on their way, wondering what had happened.

So when our week of priestly service had concluded in the temple, I returned home to Elizabeth.

Zechariah continued, he said, It wasn't long before the rumors started.

Word spread, and people in our village knew something happened when I was in the temple, and people wanted to know.

They started making assumptions of what it was.

Shortly after I returned, Elizabeth became pregnant, just like the angel said, and word spread there as well.

And overwhelmed by everything, Elizabeth went into seclusion for five months.

And for five months we waited with great expectation as the child grew within her womb.

His face lifted, and an off centered smile came across to Face and he said gently, you should have seen Elizabeth grow glow with delight when she was pregnant.

There was something awe-inspiring that happened to her.

Her disgrace from not being able to have children was lifted, and uh, since this happened in our old age, it was a clear sign of God's blessing on us.

For years we endured the scorn of not being able to have children, but God has finally lifted up his humble servants for his glory.

Chuckling to himself, he said, She loved and she treasured motherhood even from the beginning as a child grew within her womb.

The man sat there in awe of the entire story, just taking it all in.

However, as marvelous and wonderful as it was, he was not prepared in the least for what Zachariah was going to share with him and tell him.

So Zachariah continued.

Well, one day Elizabeth's relative, Mary, came to visit.

As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby inside of Elizabeth leaped.

Finally, or filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth excitedly proclaimed in a loud voice, she said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy.

Silence.

The man thinking and wondering to himself, what could this mean?

Zechariah looked straight at him, trying to get a read on his face to see if he truly understood what was being told to him.

Finally, Zechariah just interjected.

He said, Do you realize what this all means?

Do you realize what I just said?

The man wondered to himself.

Again, he was trying to catch up.

He's trying to process it all.

Well, finally, Zechariah just jumped in again.

He said, Well, Messiah has come.

And my son John is to prepare the way for Messiah, our great God, after being silent for all of these years.

He has heard our cries.

He has sent Messiah to save us, to rescue us.

Both men were on their feet by now.

They were literally jumping up and down, rejoicing over this great news.

And again, Zechariah never tired of sharing this news.

And after a time of rejoicing, he left Zechariah and began his journey home.

And as he traveled, he hardly noticed his surroundings.

The deep blue skies, the warm, bright sun, the beauty of the rolling hills, the birds chirping nearby, the various animals scurrying about.

He usually took in the sights, but not today.

He hardly noticed them, for he was deep in thought about his conversation with Zechariah.

Messiah had come.

When he had finally arrived home, his wife greeted him and said, Well, what did you find out?

He smiled and said reflectively, there's a lot I need to tell you.

But know this: God is preparing a way.

Messiah had come.

Christmas.

It's time for us to reflect in the beauty and the wonder that our Savior was born.

And that's why we're doing this.

That's why we're reflecting on Advent.

We'll spend the next number of weeks doing that.

It could be captivating to imagine what it would have been like for these events to unfold.

Think of the long suffering of the Jews and their desire for God to rescue them from their oppression.

Sometimes it could be easy for us to forget that the people in the Bible experienced real life issues.

And this morning I wanted to illustrate this story in a narrative form, filling in a few of the details of what it might have been like in order to paint a picture of the expectancy that the Jews have for coming Messiah.

Now, naturally, many of these details I preserve from scripture.

You can find it in Luke chapter 1 and 2.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

And obviously, there's some parts of the story that added for us to kind of look at this from a different angle, to think about what would it have been like for Zachariah and Elizabeth to hear these news?

How would it have affected the people around them, the people in their community?

What would it have been like for these events to unfold that we could become so wrapped up in the familiarity of these stories that we forget that these were real people impacted in significant ways by real events that had a rippling effect?

And a lot of times we could become so familiar with the story, we just jump right in and we immediately want to just pull lessons from it to apply to our lives without realizing and taking a step back.

There's a lot that's going on in these stories.

There's a lot that's going on in these narratives.

And so wanted to take some time to unpack it, to talk about it, to maybe look at it from a different angle.

And now, having explored this story in the announcement of John's baptism in his supernatural birth, what are some of the things that we can learn from this story?

Why is it important for God to give us this story?

And what do we learn about the character of God through this story?

Well, a couple of things here as we wrap up our time together.

The first thing is that I want us to remind us that we see from the story is that sometimes God's word could sound too good to be true.

Like Zechariah standing in the temple, and God announces you're going to receive a son in your old age, and your wife is going to bear you a son, and he's going to be a great man of God.

Like Zechariah, we could hear the good news of the gospel and go, man, this sounds too good to be true.

This is really hard to take in and to believe and to trust.

Much of the time we only see things from our perspective, like Zechariah did.

He only saw his perspective, the limitations, the barriers.

But God was proclaiming something greater.

Think about the gospel for a moment, what the gospel means, the gospel message.

Sometimes it could be hard for us to believe and to trust this is really the way it is.

This is how God said it is.

To think that God created a perfect world for man to live in.

And he gave clear instructions on how to live within this perfect world, that man could not live up to those standards, and he disobeyed God.

And sin entered the world and cursed the world and men for all generations to follow.

God provided the law in the Old Testament, and no one was able to live up to that standard.

And that law was pointing to Messiah and our need for God.

God promised Messiah to come, that he was to be born, and that's why we celebrate Christmas.

That's why what we're doing now.

And that he was to live a perfect life and ultimately die on the cross.

That's why we sing Man of Sorrows this morning.

To keep the reality of why Christ came before us.

Well, that rugged cross, my salvation.

And that as Jesus lived the perfect life, that he would die on the cross, our perfect sacrifice, bearing the full wrath of God.

And that for those of us who believe and trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we stand forgiven.

And that those who do not will spend an eternity separated from God.

That's the gospel.

Sometimes we begin to wonder what does that look like?

How does this all fit together?

Can I believe it?

Can I trust it?

Like Zechariah, we stand before God in His Word.

We wonder, how's this all going to come together?

Do I trust it?

Do I believe it?

But we learn that God always comes through and accomplishes what His Word says.

One of the other lessons we learn from the story is the importance of patiently waiting.

Especially when it comes to waiting on God for answered prayer.

I mean, think of Zechariah and Elizabeth.

They cried out that God would grant them a son.

And how many years did they pray that prayer?

Some of you have been patiently waiting for my sermon to end here.

Patience.

It could be tough.

Some of you have been patiently waiting for a loved one, a family member to come to know the Lord.

Some of you have been patiently waiting, wondering when is God going to answer prayer that my son or my daughter or mom and dad or brother or sister is going to give up their addiction and not be bound to it anymore.

When is God going to answer that prayer?

It could be tough in our day and age to wait on the Lord.

It doesn't say this in Luke, but I often wonder if Zachariah continued to pray for a son even in their old age, or did he give up after they they reached the age where it wasn't physically possible?

Did he give up?

Or was he continuing to pray?

I don't know.

I don't know if I would have kept praying.

God answers prayers.

We patiently wait on him in his own response, in his own way.

Not necessarily how we see it, but he does answer prayers.

And often he takes our struggles and he uses them for his glory.

We can't always see that from our vantage point.

We don't see from God's perspective.

So we must patiently trust the character of God.

Another point we're reminded of in the story is that God fulfills his promises in Scripture.

We see that.

He had promised coming Messiah, and even though the Jews had waited for so long, Messiah had come.

It's important for us to remember that.

Being in this part of history, the church, we are now waiting expectantly for the Lord's return, right?

For thousands of years now, the church has waited.

Lord, when will you come again?

When will you come and fulfill Scripture saying that you will return and bring your people to yourself?

Have we become like the Jews, dishearted?

Maybe even questioning and wondering?

Or are we expectantly waiting?

We can't wait, God, for you to come to fulfill scripture.

God always does.

We learn that.

We've seen that.

We see that in the Old Testament, and He will continue to do so.

And so we can take that away from this story and be reminded of it that God fulfills His word.

And finally, one of the things that we learn is just like John's life was set aside to prepare the way for the Lord, we too have been given a mission as a church.

We too have been given a mission to continue to spread the gospel, to continue to take the message that we just got done talking about, the gospel message, and share it with others.

That's our mission.

Like John had been set aside, the church is set aside to carry out that mission until he returns.

And so a recap: God fulfills his word always.

We can bank on it.

We saw this in Zechariah's story, and we see it throughout Scripture.

We also learn that patiently waiting can be tough.

May we find encouragement from Zechariah and Elizabeth's story.

And like John was sent to prepare a people for the Lord.

We too, the church, are here today to continue God's work until He returns.

May we be faithful to that mission and that calling.

Amen.

Let's pray and then we'll close with a closing song.

Heavenly Father, we want to be faithful to your calling to carry out this mission, to spread the good news of the gospel.

We trust in your word.

Give us faith to trust even more.

Even when we can't see from our perspective what you're doing and all the details, may we trust in you.

Thank you for speaking to us and giving us your word that we might learn from it and that we might learn about who you are and your character and that we could trust it.

Be with us now as we go.

Minister to our hearts, encourage us and challenge us to live faithfully unto you because of your great work in our lives.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.