Luke 1:14

An angel of the Lord prophesied to Zechariah concerning the birth of his son, John the Baptist. “You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord.”

This was the greatest day in Zechariah’s life. Being a male descendant of Aaron, he was a priest, which was a great privilege. However, it is suggested that there might have been up to 20,000 priests at this time, and so there were divided up into 24 groups which served in in rotation.

The greatest privilege of all was for a priest to be chosen to go into the temple and burn incense at the time of the morning or evening sacrifice. Having burnt the incense, the priest would then emerge from the temple and pronounce a blessing on the people. This was such a great honour that a priest could only do this once in his lifetime - and many never got the opportunity at all.

The priest was chosen for this responsibility by lot. Just imagine the sense of anticipation as the choice was made, and the overwhelming sense of privilege and responsibility when you knew it was you! That’s exactly what happened to Zechariah.

Zechariah and his elderly wife, Elizabeth, had no children. At the time, this was seen as a matter of great shame and a burden that they had lived with for many years. So, when an angel met Zechariah in the temple while he was burning incense, and informed him that Elizabeth would not only have a baby but that their son would play a key role in God’s purposes for the world, it is hardly surprising that he was left speechless.

This wonderful account reminds us that we should never put a limit on what God can do. The idea of Elizabeth having a baby seemed ridiculous – but not to God. We must always leave our minds open to the new things that God might want to do in our lives.

Question – What surprising things has God done in your life?

Prayer – Lord God, help me always to be open to whatever you want to do, however surprising. Amen