Christian Art | Love Revealed By Jesus Christ | Advent Of The Lord | Zechariah With Gabriel
Luke 1: 5-25 | Advent | 19th December Weekday (Audio Bible, Spoken Word)
5 ¶ THERE was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was 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 And it came to pass, that 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 burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time 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 when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer 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 shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
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 am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long 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: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.
23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.
24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.
Elizabeth – Mary’s cousin – and Zechariah are of noble ancestry. They have spiritual nobility also, following in all of the commandments and ordinances of the old Law in such a way that they are righteous before God. Zechariah is a priest, moreover. He serves God in the Temple, at the centre of Jewish society and faith. His son John the Baptist will go out to the wilderness to preach, but his journey starts here.
The whole multitude of the people pray in the courtyard of the Israelites while Zechariah performs the ceremony of incensing. It is the prayer of the entire Jewish people which is now to be answered with the gift of the Precursor. They have prayed for the salvation of the Jewish people; God’s response overwhelms and transforms this request, with a gift able, in the person of Jesus who will be announced by John the Baptist, to liberate and bring to eternal salvation the whole of mankind.
The response in the Bible to an encounter with an angel is typically one of fear. Angels, pure spirit and the messengers of God, who stand in the presence of God, are immeasurably powerful creatures, from our earthly perspective, charged with God’s grandeur. They represent, indeed, a glimpse of the heavenly home we live toward, when we shall live face to face with God. The angel Gabriel’s first words to Zechariah are, then: Fear not; do not be afraid. There is solicitude for Zechariah’s peace of mind, before Gabriel announces what God has decided will be.
The impact John the Baptist is to have on the people of Israel is to be extraordinary. The prophecies of Malachi are to be fulfilled:
BEHOLD, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
5 ¶ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (Malachi 3:1, 4:5-6)
Filled with the Holy Spirit, as he calls out to Jesus from his mother’s womb, John the Baptist will initiate a revolution in Jewish society. Social justice within the community will be restored, fathers and their children will be reconciled, and there will be a spiritual reawakening, calling the people of Israel back to a loving and obedient relationship with God.
John cannot doubt that the angel Gabriel comes from God – how could he? – but he is mystified as to how this can be achieved, given his and his wife’s age; they should be long past childbearing. He forgets God’s omnipotence, doubting the angel’s message as Mary Mother of God will not. It is for this he is silenced, until such time as he will recognize that God is almighty, at which point he may have his speech returned to him to celebrate this fact.
4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
5 For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth.
6 By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee. (Psalm 71)
Jesus tells us to be vigilant. In Christ’s time, when the Jews would usually wear long, flowing garments, it was the practice to hitch them up, to gird oneself, in order to be ready to perform certain kinds of work. To gird oneself, therefore, and to keep lights burning, meant to be ready for action. Before the flight from Egypt, at the moment of the Passover, the Israelites had to gird themselves, to be ready to be able to leave immediately (Exodus 12:11) [ … ]
The thought and value of martyrdom developed within the early Christian community as a response to persecutions Christians faced from the Roman Empire. Despite persecution, many early Christians remained steadfast in faith and were willing to endure suffering and even death rather than renounce their beliefs. This willingness to suffer for their faith came to be seen as a mark of Christian devotion and piety, and the idea of martyrdom emerged as a central aspect of early Christian theology [ … ]
Jesus has performed many healing miracles in his homeland, the area in the region of the Sea of Galilee – also known as the Lake of Tiberius and the Lake of Gennesaret. These miracles, or signs, have communicated something of the truth of Jesus to the people, who have responded to Jesus’ miracles and to his teaching. It is through the Sermon on the Mount and other teachings as much as through the healing miracles that people have responded to Jesus, recognizing in Jesus the answer to questions they have long asked, and prayers they have prayed for generations [ … ]
