Luke 1:5-23 - Homiletics

Zacharias and his vision.

Notice some features in the sketch that is given of the priest and of that which happened at the altar of incense.

I. IT IS A PICTURE OF THE SOUL WAITING FOR GOD . That waiting which is emphasized in the Old Testament Scriptures as one of the essentials of piety. How beautifully are the words—"More than they that watch for the morning, my soul waiteth for the Lord;" "It is good that a man should beth hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord"—illustrated in the life and attitude of Zacharias and Elisabeth! Year on year they had waited in their hillside home, asking the blessing of a son. Apparently the hope had set in heavens that were only brass. But one thing was ever bright and real—their faith in the living God; and they walked in all his commandments and ordinances blameless. "Our wills are ours to make them thine." It is easier to consent to God's will when the demand is to act, than to consent when the demand is simply to wait, to direct our prayer to the Eternal, and look up. One of the lessons which we are slow to learn is, "Walk humbly with thy God."

II. THE PASSAGE BEFORE US REVEALS THE HEARER OF PRAYER . ( Luke 1:13 .) "Thy prayer is heard." Was this the prayer for the son? Or was it the priestly prayer, offered at the altar and through the incense, for the hope and salvation of Israel? Both, it may be, are included. For it is noteworthy that in the two scriptural instances of intense longing for a son—that of Hannah and that of Zacharias—the blessing to the individual is associated with blessing to the whole Church of God. The prayer of faith has interconnections with the purpose of God far beyond our power to estimate, and the doing is "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." "Thy prayer is heard;" the answer often looks a great way back. Matthew Henry quaintly says, "Prayers are filed in heaven, and are not forgotten though the thing prayed for is not presently given us. The time as well as the thing is in the answer; and God's gift always transcends the measure of the promise."

III. Again, LET THE FORM OF THE ANSWER RETURNED SPEAK TO US OF THE REALITY OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD . (Verse 19.) "The angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God: and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to bring thee these good tidings." The same presence as that we meet in the Book of Daniel. Gabriel is the angel for the greatly beloved, the angel with the glad tidings; he who afterwards bore the most wonderful of messages to the Hebrew maiden. Our ideas are very confused as to the holy angels. There can be no doubt that the tendency of thought in our day is to narrow the sphere of the supernatural. Formerly, it dominated over thought and action; the influence of spirits and occult spiritual forces was brought in to account for much that is re£erable to laws and powers in nature. Nowadays men are occupied in tracing "natural law in the spiritual world." But who can accept the truth of this first chapter of St. Luke's Gospel and doubt as to the reality of a spiritual universe encompassing the material? And if there be such a universe, why should it seem incredible that spiritual presences should, at sundry times, be declared to men—that Gabriels and Michaels should "at God's bidding speed and post o'er land and ocean without rest;" "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation"? The spiritual mind can have no difficulty as to this. It will recognize in the vision of Zacharias a truth for all. Where there is the praying heart there is "the angel on the right side of the altar of incense."

IV. Finally, THE PUNISHMENT RECORDED IS ONE OF MANY WARNINGS IN SCRIPTURE AGAINST THE UNBELIEF WHICH WOULD LIMIT THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL . "How can these things be?" "Whereby I shall know this?" are questions ever rising in the heart. The good priest had waited long. When expectation failed, he bowed his head to God's will. No doubt, one to another, he and his wife, now "well stricken in years," had often recalled the word to Abraham concerning Sarah's laughter, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" But when the trial actually comes, the faith falters. Cannot we understand this? We limp when we should walk and not be weary. "Thou shalt be silent … because thou believedst not." Is not the constant result of unbelief spiritual silence? And the closed heart is followed by the closed lips—"silent … and not able to speak." "Lord, increase our faith."