DECEMBER 9TH
The Christmas Waiting room
Luke 1:5-25 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. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
Few things in life are worse than sitting in a waiting room. Whether in a hospital or before a job interview, there is a sense of tension and unknowing that is both uncomfortable and boring. These can be difficult and stressful situations, and you may find yourself in one of life's waiting rooms even today; waiting to hear back about a job, a college application, a medical test, or waiting to meet someone to spend the rest of your life with. If you've found yourself in one of these situations, you might have some idea of how the Jewish people felt waiting for their promised savior and Messiah. They had been waiting for hundreds, if not thousands, of years from the time the promise was first given to Abraham.
To draw some comparison, lots of children today hear the story of Santa Claus and wait anxiously for him to bring gifts on Christmas Eve, peering out the window to catch a glimpse of hooves. For thousands of years, children in Jewish families were told of a true story far more wonderful and awe-inspiring. They learned that God would one day send a Messiah as their deliverer, who would set the people free and rule over the entire world. They waited anxiously for Him, but as centuries passed and Jewish people were subjected to captivity, foreign oppression, and persecution, no Messiah appeared. Just before the birth of Christ, they had been sitting in the waiting room for 400 years of silence: no whisper from God, no prophecies, or miraculous signs pointing to a savior... nothing. Zechariah and Elizabeth had been in their own waiting room throughout their marriage. For decades, they had prayed that God would bless them with a child, and for decades their arms and Elizabeth's womb had remained empty. Zechariah and Elizabeth probably felt deflated and hopeless, much like the nation of Israel as a whole; they were weary of praying and losing hope that God would respond. They were perhaps wondering if God was even listening at all. This is exactly when an angel suddenly showed up in the midst of that waiting room.
"Your prayer has been heard," the angel said. If you've ever felt as if your prayers were being spoken to an empty room or unlistening audience, you know how encouraged Zechariah must have been when he discovered God had heard every word. God also had not been idle or forgetful during those years of silence. He was preparing a way. God had marked the birthday of Zechariah's child on His calendar even before he and Elizabeth were married- before they were even born! Throughout their long years of praying, God had been moving in the events of the world to bring Zechariah, Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary, Caesar Augustus, and the entire nation of Israel to this exact point in time when everything would align perfectly for His plan of salvation to be set into motion. Even when you feel as if you've been in the waiting room of life and God has forgotten about you, let today's passage show you that while we are waiting, God is working. God is always moving. During those 400 years of silence, Jews were tempted to lose faith and find their own way, but this would have been a mistake. God had already confirmed His reservations regarding His son on earth. His arrival date was already set on the calendar even before the creation of the world. Christmas proves to us that God never forgets His promise and always keeps His appointments.
To draw some comparison, lots of children today hear the story of Santa Claus and wait anxiously for him to bring gifts on Christmas Eve, peering out the window to catch a glimpse of hooves. For thousands of years, children in Jewish families were told of a true story far more wonderful and awe-inspiring. They learned that God would one day send a Messiah as their deliverer, who would set the people free and rule over the entire world. They waited anxiously for Him, but as centuries passed and Jewish people were subjected to captivity, foreign oppression, and persecution, no Messiah appeared. Just before the birth of Christ, they had been sitting in the waiting room for 400 years of silence: no whisper from God, no prophecies, or miraculous signs pointing to a savior... nothing. Zechariah and Elizabeth had been in their own waiting room throughout their marriage. For decades, they had prayed that God would bless them with a child, and for decades their arms and Elizabeth's womb had remained empty. Zechariah and Elizabeth probably felt deflated and hopeless, much like the nation of Israel as a whole; they were weary of praying and losing hope that God would respond. They were perhaps wondering if God was even listening at all. This is exactly when an angel suddenly showed up in the midst of that waiting room.
"Your prayer has been heard," the angel said. If you've ever felt as if your prayers were being spoken to an empty room or unlistening audience, you know how encouraged Zechariah must have been when he discovered God had heard every word. God also had not been idle or forgetful during those years of silence. He was preparing a way. God had marked the birthday of Zechariah's child on His calendar even before he and Elizabeth were married- before they were even born! Throughout their long years of praying, God had been moving in the events of the world to bring Zechariah, Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary, Caesar Augustus, and the entire nation of Israel to this exact point in time when everything would align perfectly for His plan of salvation to be set into motion. Even when you feel as if you've been in the waiting room of life and God has forgotten about you, let today's passage show you that while we are waiting, God is working. God is always moving. During those 400 years of silence, Jews were tempted to lose faith and find their own way, but this would have been a mistake. God had already confirmed His reservations regarding His son on earth. His arrival date was already set on the calendar even before the creation of the world. Christmas proves to us that God never forgets His promise and always keeps His appointments.