The scene has been set for the next stage. Zechariah is in the temple, offering the incense, and the people are outside, praying. It is a scene that must have occurred before, and a scene that was likely occurring without any great expectation that anything in particular will happen at this point. And yet it is at this point, in the midst of an ordinary day that events begin.
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.”
An angel appears, an angel of Yahweh. In the OT such appearances herald a new chapter in God’s saving plan. An angel appears to tell Abraham and Sarah that they will have the promised child. An angel appears to rescue Isaac from being sacrificed. An angel appears at a bush to tell Moses to rescue God’s people. An angel appears to a frightened man threshing grain in hiding to announce that he will be the next rescuer of Israel. An angel appears to a childless mother to tell her that her child will deliver Israel.
But by their very nature such appearances are rare. They don’t happen every day. And so Zechariah is “startled” – literally “troubled”, and fear “fell upon him”. An angel is a messenger from God. An angel reflects something of God to the people they speak to – so fear is a natural reaction. When God comes close, people tremble. But, as so often the angel says “Do not be afraid”. These words (I’m sorry to say) do not come 365 times (let alone 366) in the Bible, but they are said a lot. The angel has not come to condemn, but to answer Zechariah’s long unanswered prayer.
Zechariah and Elizabeth are to have a son – and they are to call him John. God’s long silence has been broken. Not since the time of the judges has a child’s birth been heralded in this way. This child will bring joy and delight to his parents, and rejoicing to many in Israel. He will be great before God. He won’t drink alcohol – he will be totally dedicated to God, and from even before he is born the Holy Spirit will fill him.
This child will bring back people in Israel to Yahweh – and he will fulfill the role of the prophet at the end of Malachi – turning parents back to their children, and children to their parents. He will make ready a people prepared for Yahweh – he will prepare the way for Yahweh himself to come.
This child will be great, and this child brings joy – but this child is the one who prepares the way for God himself to come. This child heralds that God has come back into action. The years of waiting are over, and God himself is getting ready to come.
Most days won’t be days when an angel shows up to give new direction. Zechariah though doesn’t need to go anywhere different to encounter the angel. Like Moses before him, Zechariah is doing what he should be doing – and God breaks in. Most of the time, in our ordinary lives, God doesn’t show up in spectacular ways. But every so often he does. Are we ready? Are we eager to see what God doing something different looks like this day?
The role of the new child to be born in this story is one that we can take heed from too. Are we ready to be a part of preparing the way for people to meet with God? Are we praying to be filled with the Spirit of God so that we can point towards this God too. We may be in a day that feels very much like the day of small things.
But are we ready, are we waiting, and are we expectant that God might step into visible action in our day?
Joshua's Tree Rooted 