Luke 1:14

You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth (Luke 1:14 NLT).

This is not only an extraordinary experience, but the message the angel gives Zechariah is almost too good to be true. Elizabeth and Zechariah won’t just have a son. They will have a son who will bring them great joy and gladness.

I can’t help but think about the impact of this moment. Zechariah goes into the Temple like any other time he has gone in during his entire adult life to perform the routine duties of his job, but then on this day he is given news that changes everything. Although we don’t have much background on this couple, we can assume that they have been living their lives in a certain amount of contentment and satisfaction, even without a child. After all, he is part of an elite group of priests, not just a common Israelite. Yet, now – in light of the realization of their destiny – what had seemed like a good life pales in comparison with their future.

This reminds me a great deal of my own life. Gennarino and I have lived an extraordinary life, riddled with moments of sorrow and joy, contentment and want, new adventures and mundane routines. We have had the privilege of being part of a move of God that was thrilling, stretching, and unique. We have also spent many years in wilderness experiences. Through all of it I have always felt the contentment of being in the place where God wanted us. Yet, in this move to Washington, I have had a renewed expectation of something great and grand that is about to happen and this verse reminds me that it can happen in the blink of an eye. One day I can go into work, like every other day of my life, and yet on that day everything might change. The profound point in all of this, however, is that the day before Zechariah entered the temple was just as ordained by God as the day he received the best news of his life.

I will live today with gratitude in my heart that all the days of my life are ordained by God, regardless of what might happen in the course of one of them.

Luke 1:13

But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John (Luke 1:13 NLT).

Talk about absolute vindication! For years and years, Elizabeth and Zechariah had endured the unspoken judgment of their community. It was a very common belief among that culture that if a woman was barren it was due to some sin that kept God’s hand of blessing from being bestowed upon her. And all the while, day after day, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, Elizabeth and Zechariah continued to serve God faithfully in spite of what others thought and perhaps even whispered or said out loud. They served AND they prayed, in spite of even the nagging doubts of their own hearts. I wonder how long it had been since their last prayer when their faith was forced to finally give way to the hard and harsh physical evidence that Elizabeth was no longer even able to bear children. And just as the ember of their faith still glowing in Elizabeth’s heart is starting to burn out, God shows up to answer her prayer – in spite of the physical impossibilities that had robbed her of that hope.

This is a joyous reminder that God is able to do the impossible, but by mere virtue of the fact that it is impossible, it will also seem totally insane. For a woman to get pregnant after she has passed through menopause is simply ludicrous. For a man to step out of a boat onto water and walk is crazy. For five loaves of bread and two fish to feed close to 10,000 people is irrational. For water to turn into wine is not something you could ever really convince anyone actually happened. For an innocent man to die a brutal death on a cross to purchase back mankind from the devil to God … well, that’s why the world thinks Christianity is insane, ludicrous, crazy, irrational, and why it is something we can never really convince people actually happened. Because when it comes to the miraculous and supernatural things of God, it is only by the power of His Spirit opening up blind eyes that anyone can see the truth. 

That day in the Temple, God opened Zechariah’s eyes to the truth of who holds the cards when it comes to life and death. And that truth would not just change Elizabeth and Zechariah’s life forever, but it would usher in the transformation of the world for all eternity.

Today I will stay mindful of the fact that my life looks pretty strange to people who don’t yet know the truth and my job is not to convince them of the truth, but to live it so that God can open their eyes.