Luke 1:5-255 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
Here's a little secret for you: I am both intrigued and annoyed by finding new things in old Scriptures.
It's intriguing because it often comes out of left field. I can read a passage a hundred times, and it feels fairly straightforward. The narrative is solid, there's an obvious application, and we can nod at the rightness of it and move on.
But then it's also annoying. Because is this actually a new thing? Why am I finding it now? What does it mean? Was it intentional? Am I reading too much into this? Am I just saying that I'm reading too much into this so that I don't have to pay attention? It's annoying because I can't let it go until I have all the answers.
I've read the book of Luke a dozen times, and parts of it even more. I've always liked the first chapter, but it feels like filler before we get to the good stuff. It's a Gospel, for crying out loud. It's about Jesus. Why get stuck on this pre-Jesus stuff about John the Baptist? And not even John. His dad.
I've focused on Elizabeth before, mostly because I was trying to figure out how she and Mary could be related. Elizabeth is a Levite. Mary is from the tribe of Judah. Sure, marrying between tribes happened. But we don't really get a clear answer. (I had to eventually abandon that line of inquiry. But it's on my list of questions.)
But I don't usually focus on Zechariah. He's kind of the goat here. He questioned God, lost his voice, blah blah blah. We know the story.
But then I looked closer at verse 23. "When his time of service was completed, he returned home."
It makes sense. He encounters an angel. Loses the power of speech. Goes home.
Except he didn't.
He completed his time of service.
I'm going to get very technical here. The priests were split into 24 divisions. Each division was responsible for service at the temple in Jerusalem twice a year. They would also all be required for service together for the three big festivals - Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. They would serve for a week and then rotate out to the next division.
(Incidentally, this can help us pinpoint a little bit when Luke 1 takes place. Zechariah is from the division of Abijah. They would have served during Passover (March-April), Pentecost (May-June), and Tabernacles (September-October). But this likely wasn't during a holiday. So if we assume that the divisions served in the same order and at roughly the same time every year, then this happened either during the tenth week of the year (May-June) or the 34th week (September-October). If you're still wondering where the 52nd week comes in, congratulations for noticing that, and you can rest assured that they added a week every three years to keep the calendar fairly even.)
So Zechariah's job is to serve in the temple two weeks a year. Every morning during the week of service, the division would cast lots to see who was doing which job that day. At some point in one of these weeks, Zechariah got the job of burning the incense.
It's a cool job. You had to make sure that the incense was always going, and you also had to burn incense before the burnt offering was presented. And there were a ton of priests, so your chances of being chosen for this particular job were quite small.
We don't know which day Zechariah was chosen. It could have been early in the week. It could have been later. But it was probably earlier. Because of that niggling little phrase when his time of service was completed. It implies that he stuck around for a little while after his angelic visitation. And if he was serving in the 34th week, then he likely stayed on for the Feast of Tabernacles. So for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, Zechariah was mute and still serving, living with this knowledge of what was about to happen and unable to tell his wife, who, we presume, would be most impacted by it.
Can you imagine that? You know something incredible is coming. You've been told about it, and you've been deeply affected by it. Do you tell someone? He couldn't speak, but he could still write. Did he try to explain it? How do you even begin to do that? Do you just sit with it, letting it inform your every thought and action? I'm sure all he wanted to do was run home to Elizabeth and share that their dreams were about to come true. You just need to get with the program already!
Except you can't. Because you still have a job to do. Just because you've been told that something amazing is coming, you don't automatically get a pass to ignore your current circumstances. Jobs still have to be done. Life continues to move around you.
Maybe that's why this stood out to me this time. I've been sitting in the Valley of Not Yet. Kinda feels like I've been here for years. And a few things have come along that made me question, "Is this it? Is this the thing?" And every time, the answer is "Not yet. Keep doing what you're doing. You're getting closer, I promise."
And it's hard. I like what it do. It's a cool job. But I keep getting glimpses of what's coming. I can taste it sometimes. It's hard to keep living in the present and take care of business. To be patient. I hate being patient. I am the worst at it. Sometimes I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest because I'm so ready to get to The Thing.
But I think this time is valuable. I need to keep doing my job and do it well. I need to pay attention to each moment. Because if I don't, who's to say I'll be ready for The Thing when it happens?
There's a reason the answer is Not Yet. It will keep being Not Yet until I finish what I'm supposed to be doing now.
What do you think? Reading too much into it? Or just another example of God putting the right words in the right order for the right time?
Here's a little secret for you: I am both intrigued and annoyed by finding new things in old Scriptures.
It's intriguing because it often comes out of left field. I can read a passage a hundred times, and it feels fairly straightforward. The narrative is solid, there's an obvious application, and we can nod at the rightness of it and move on.
But then it's also annoying. Because is this actually a new thing? Why am I finding it now? What does it mean? Was it intentional? Am I reading too much into this? Am I just saying that I'm reading too much into this so that I don't have to pay attention? It's annoying because I can't let it go until I have all the answers.
I've read the book of Luke a dozen times, and parts of it even more. I've always liked the first chapter, but it feels like filler before we get to the good stuff. It's a Gospel, for crying out loud. It's about Jesus. Why get stuck on this pre-Jesus stuff about John the Baptist? And not even John. His dad.
I've focused on Elizabeth before, mostly because I was trying to figure out how she and Mary could be related. Elizabeth is a Levite. Mary is from the tribe of Judah. Sure, marrying between tribes happened. But we don't really get a clear answer. (I had to eventually abandon that line of inquiry. But it's on my list of questions.)
But I don't usually focus on Zechariah. He's kind of the goat here. He questioned God, lost his voice, blah blah blah. We know the story.
But then I looked closer at verse 23. "When his time of service was completed, he returned home."
It makes sense. He encounters an angel. Loses the power of speech. Goes home.
Except he didn't.
He completed his time of service.
I'm going to get very technical here. The priests were split into 24 divisions. Each division was responsible for service at the temple in Jerusalem twice a year. They would also all be required for service together for the three big festivals - Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. They would serve for a week and then rotate out to the next division.
(Incidentally, this can help us pinpoint a little bit when Luke 1 takes place. Zechariah is from the division of Abijah. They would have served during Passover (March-April), Pentecost (May-June), and Tabernacles (September-October). But this likely wasn't during a holiday. So if we assume that the divisions served in the same order and at roughly the same time every year, then this happened either during the tenth week of the year (May-June) or the 34th week (September-October). If you're still wondering where the 52nd week comes in, congratulations for noticing that, and you can rest assured that they added a week every three years to keep the calendar fairly even.)
So Zechariah's job is to serve in the temple two weeks a year. Every morning during the week of service, the division would cast lots to see who was doing which job that day. At some point in one of these weeks, Zechariah got the job of burning the incense.
It's a cool job. You had to make sure that the incense was always going, and you also had to burn incense before the burnt offering was presented. And there were a ton of priests, so your chances of being chosen for this particular job were quite small.
We don't know which day Zechariah was chosen. It could have been early in the week. It could have been later. But it was probably earlier. Because of that niggling little phrase when his time of service was completed. It implies that he stuck around for a little while after his angelic visitation. And if he was serving in the 34th week, then he likely stayed on for the Feast of Tabernacles. So for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, Zechariah was mute and still serving, living with this knowledge of what was about to happen and unable to tell his wife, who, we presume, would be most impacted by it.
Can you imagine that? You know something incredible is coming. You've been told about it, and you've been deeply affected by it. Do you tell someone? He couldn't speak, but he could still write. Did he try to explain it? How do you even begin to do that? Do you just sit with it, letting it inform your every thought and action? I'm sure all he wanted to do was run home to Elizabeth and share that their dreams were about to come true. You just need to get with the program already!
Except you can't. Because you still have a job to do. Just because you've been told that something amazing is coming, you don't automatically get a pass to ignore your current circumstances. Jobs still have to be done. Life continues to move around you.
Maybe that's why this stood out to me this time. I've been sitting in the Valley of Not Yet. Kinda feels like I've been here for years. And a few things have come along that made me question, "Is this it? Is this the thing?" And every time, the answer is "Not yet. Keep doing what you're doing. You're getting closer, I promise."
And it's hard. I like what it do. It's a cool job. But I keep getting glimpses of what's coming. I can taste it sometimes. It's hard to keep living in the present and take care of business. To be patient. I hate being patient. I am the worst at it. Sometimes I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest because I'm so ready to get to The Thing.
But I think this time is valuable. I need to keep doing my job and do it well. I need to pay attention to each moment. Because if I don't, who's to say I'll be ready for The Thing when it happens?
There's a reason the answer is Not Yet. It will keep being Not Yet until I finish what I'm supposed to be doing now.
What do you think? Reading too much into it? Or just another example of God putting the right words in the right order for the right time?
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