Luke 1. The birth of Jesus starts with, the birth of John the baptist... huh? To me, someone who is kind of lazy and impatient, i used to never see why John the baptist was so important. But he was oh so important to God's plan. In fact, in Matthew 11.11 Jesus says "I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist." So there is something to this guy. The book of Luke gives us great insight to the miracle he was, much like the miracle of the birth of Jesus.
Zechariah and Elizabeth; righteous, priest, wife, loved God, but without child. Then Comes the angel Gabriel. The angel says she will have a child and they are going to name him John. Zechariah doubts, and God takes his speech until the baby is born. The baby is born, everyone wants to name it Zechariah, and the Lord grants him his speech back just in time to say, his name is John. A miracle.
Now, the point, this is the first story where we see Jesus interact with another person on earth... and he isn't even born yet. Mary (jesus' momma) and Elizabeth were relatives. So Mary the teenager, and Elizabeth the old woman are both miraculously prego. When Mary goes to see Elizabeth, her baby, John, while still in her tummy jumps and Elizabeth knows Mary is carrying the Lord of the universe. This is so weird...
I dont mean to drone on but read it. Luke 1. IT IS WEIRD. We will get to Mary and John and Jesus, and all the relationships there and what they might mean. but right now see this. MIRACLES.
God uses the weirdest people, from all walks of life. When I read Luke 1 i am blown away by the faith of these women. Neither should have been having a kid, yet both do, and do so while worshiping God. They believe he knows best.
Doesn't mean they weren't scared. confused. wondering what tomorrow held.
They believed. Do you?
good thoughts in your blog. made me think of this...
ReplyDeletesome say that elizabeth and zechariah are a good way for luke to start his story for this reason too. even though the Israelites had returned from exile, most of the people of that day still felt in exile (they had the land, but it was ruled by others and they were still waiting for the new covenant, new heart, and new king promised them by God) E & Z are kinda like a representative for all of faithful israel who had followed God but had seemingly not been blessed as a result (a baby, especially a son, was considered a sign of blessing by God...no son was seen as something wrong by that culture). zechariah means the Lord remembers...he is visited by Gabriel, meaning the Champion of God. cool symbolism even in their names. when God gives E & Z a baby (the baby prophesied to prepare the way) it is a sign that the 400 years of silence are over, God has heard the cry of his faithful people and he will now respond. similar to the 400 years of slavery to Egypt...although instead of freeing them from slavery to Rome (as most thought) he would free them from a slavery that is much deeper.