Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth appear right at the beginning of Luke’s accounts for the Nativity. We find the account in Luke 1:5-25 and 1:57-80, and they became the parents of John the Baptist. The angel appeared to them and said that they would become parents. This in itself was a great surprise to them, for they were getting on and had had no children. Moreover, this child was no ordinary child, but he would prepare the way for the Son of God!
Before we start to look at Zechariah, there are a number of points to learn from this. The first is that God gets involved in our lives and changes the way things are, even if this looks impossible. But He does not just “bless” u, He also gives us a role in His purposes. If we look at God just as the supreme problem solver for our lives then we are missing the heart of the matter. For we were created for His purposes and are saved for His purposes. No also that it would be some 30 years before John would fulfil his task. Elizabeth and Zechariah had to prepare the boy for his future task. During that time nothing particularly significant would seem to be happening. For all tasks there is a period of preparation and the ones who succeed are the ones who are faithful in the time of preparation.
Now to the main thrust of this post. When told that he and his wife are to become parents Zechariah says “How shall I know this?” (Luke 1:18), he is rebuked by the Angel and struck dumb. We contrast this with Mary’s reaction to being told that she will be the mother of the Son of God, “Let it be unto me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). So we write off Zechariah for not having faith, unlike the wonderful Mary. Well I want to speak up for Zechariah. First of all, I can understand his reaction. They had been married for many years, and no children had arrived. How can things change now? By the way, this kind of puts the kibosh on the notion that first century people were gullible folk who would believe anything. However, let’s now go a little deeper, and there are three points to this.
Our unbelief or disobedience cannot stop God’s plans
The first point is that Zechariah’s unbelief did not stop John the Baptist being born. Our unbelief and disobedience cannot stop God’s plans being fulfilled. Let’s go right back to the beginning. What was God’s plan as set out in Genesis 1 and 2? We were to reflect His glory, being made in His image. We were to have dominion over the earth, and we were to live in joyful fellowship with the Lord. Adam’s sin seemingly messed all this up, but what is the end result as outlined in the Bible? We will be perfectly Christlike, we will reign with Christ, and we will enjoy the presence of God forever. God’s purpose is fulfilled despite our disobedience.
Then look at Abraham and Sarah. God told Abraham he would become the father of many. About ten years later nothing much had happened, so Sarah comes up with the plan that Abraham should sleep with the serval girl and have a child through her. How on earth they ever thought this was a good plan is beyond me, but we are all capable of incredibly stupid things. What was the end result? Abraham and Sarah had Isaac, and Abraham has indeed become the father of countless millions, with thousands being added to that number each day, and you and I, if we trust in Christ, are part of that number. Their lack of faith did not stop God’s plan.
And here we have Zechariah’s unbelief, but it did not stop God’s plan being fulfilled.
Our unbelief or disobedience matters
Although our unbelief or disobedience cannot stop God’s plan, our unbelief and disobedience matter. Adam and Eve’s sin has affected the whole of humanity ever since, it has had horrendous consequences, and we have all added to that sin. Abraham and Sarah’s sleep-with-the-servant-girl scheme had bad consequences. Zechariah was struck dumb for nine months.
It is infinitely better to obey that to disobey, it is infinitely better to act of faith than to live out of unbelief.
There is always a way forward, it is called faith
We have all disobeyed, we have all had unbelief. There are “small” things each day, but there are times when we make decisions or take actions (or fail to take actions) out of unbelief or disobedience that have long term consequences, and we can feel hopeless afterwards when we realise what we have done. But there is always a way forward.
When the baby was born the people asked Elizabeth what he was to be called. She said “John”, much to everyone’s surprise, for no one was called John in their family. Zechariah then wrote on a tablet, “his name is John”. At that point his speech was restored. The Angel had told him the child was to be called John, and Zechariah showed that he now believed God. Then look what happened, Zechariah began to prophecy. There was no sitting on the naughty step for a period, he began to prophecy and his words are recorded for us in Scripture. There was full restoration.
After Isaac was born there came the famous sacrifice Isaac episode. If we look at the text of Scripture, rather than listen to most sermons on the matter, we see that Abraham acted in perfect faith, he was willing to obey God without question, and he knew that Isaac would live. And at the end of it God approved of Abraham (Gen 22:15-18).
And all of us are commanded to believe in Christ, and if we do so we become children of God, completely justified, completely accepted.
So, let us be encouraged by the story of Zechariah. There is always a way forward with God, and it is called faith in Christ.
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