Never Too Old

 Hey everyone. 

Welcome back.  Luke 1:5-25 tells the story of the priest Zechariah, who, while serving in his priestly duties, is informed by the angel Gabriel that in their old age he and his wife would have a son and that he was chosen by God for a special mission. Here is my translation of verses 5-13: 

5 During the time of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, from the division of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, who was among the daughters of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all of the commands and requirements of the Lord. 7 However, they had no children, because Elizabeth was infertile, and they had both grown old. 
8 As Zechariah’s priestly division was on duty in the temple and in the presence of God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the customs of the priesthood,  to enter the temple of the Lord and offer the incense.  10  An entire multitude of people were praying outside when the time came to offer the incense. 
11 An angel of the Lord appeared, standing to the right side of the altar of incense. 
12 Zechariah trembled when he saw the angel and he was quite overcome by fear. 13 But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will give birth to a son, and you will call him John.

There are many lessons that we can learn from these few verses, and I want to start by understanding who Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth were, and how great it is that they were chosen for this very special event.  We learn from verse 5 that Zechariah was a priest of the division of Abijah, and that Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron also.  They had a great heritage.  We also learn that they were righteous people.  The word used to describe their walk with God was ἄμεμπτοι (amemptoi) which means 'blameless.' According to Luke they walked 'blamelessly in all of the commands and requirements of the Lord.' So we see that they are a couple with the right bloodline, and they were a couple of the highest spiritual character, but sadly they had not had any children, and now they had grown old, past the normal child-bearing years.  

Darrell Bock tells us that the lack of children was often seen as a reproach from God. (Bock, 78.) In Lev. 20:20-21, the Law mentions some specific sins, that if committed, the couple will be kept childless.  Other OT verses indicate the same thing. Did Zechariah and Elizabeth wonder what they had done wrong that God had chosen not to bless them with children?  It's possible.  Roberts Stein tells us Luke may have told of their righteousness so that readers would understand that their childlessness was not a result of their sin. (Stein, 74)  Now, looking back, we can see that God was not punishing them, but rather holding them for something special.  He was about to take their sad situation, and use it to complete His purposes and bring glory to Himself.  In a situation reminiscent of Abraham and Sarah, God takes a couple who are well past the child-bearing years and give them a baby.  We can now see that they were not under the reproach of God and in fact, were a part of His master plan all along. 

All right. What is our takeaway from this story? Well, first of all, we are never too old, or too broken to be used by God for His purposes.  God performed a miracle for this righteous couple, and they played a part in God's grand design, in spite of their advanced age and the appearance of being punished by Him.  Until Gabriel appears, their story is kind of sad.  For us, no matter how difficult or tragic our story has been, God can still use us for His purposes and His glory. Just let us all walk righteously before him. 

Tom 

Bock, Darrell L. Luke Vol. 1 1:1-9:50. Grand Rapids, Mich. Baker Academic, 2008.

Stein, Robert H. The New American Commentary: Luke. Nashville, Tenn. B& H Publishing Group, 1992.