February 22 - Zechariah & Elizabeth

February 22 - Zechariah & Elizabeth

The Gospel of Luke (or "ΤΟ ΑΓΙΟΝ ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ ΤΟ ΚΑΤΑ ΛΟΥΚΑΝ" - "Τhe holy good news (gospel) according to Luke" - yes, believe it or not, this was at the end of my first chapter in the Greek textbook) opens with the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah.

Have you noticed an interesting pattern in the couples that God has chosen to lift up in scripture? There is a lot of barrenness among them. Wow. Anyway ...

Both Elizabeth and Zechariah were descendants of Aaron, Moses' brother. This was probably quite an honor for them, because it meant that they were both from the tribe of Levites - the priestly tribe.

Luke 1:6 tells us that both of them were godly people, observing all of the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. There was no punishment from God, no reason for Elizabeth to remain childless and yet, she was.

When Gabriel appeared to Zechariah in the temple to announce the coming birth of his son, there were a few things that he said to the father-to-be and I wonder if these were transmitted to Elizabeth. "Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and a delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth." (Luke 1:13-14)

Now, Zechariah spent a long time in the temple because of this conversation with Gabriel, in fact he was in there so long that people became concerned. Then, when he emerged, he couldn't speak to them. He also couldn't go home until his time of service was complete. There were no cell phones (he couldn't talk anyway, right?) and the postal system was awful, so he had no way of telling his wife about the exciting things that had happened to him. But, not long after he returned home (Luke 1:24), Elizabeth became pregnant.

And goodness, but she was relieved! All of her shame was removed with this pregnancy.

When it came time to give birth, she named the boy John. No one would believe that was correct! It was tradition to name the child after the father. I wonder if people believed that she and Zechariah wouldn't have talked about this prior to the day of naming? As soon as he confirmed it, he was able to speak again. And speak he did - praising God.

This couple lived lives that honored God and they were given the gift of a child that would prepare the way of the Lord! Their lives were filled with joy of a boy in the household and the knowledge that he was going to mean so much to the world! What a lifetime together they had.