Scripture: Luke 1:5-7
During the rule of King Herod of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron. They were both righteous before God, blameless in their observance of all the Lord’s commandments and regulations. They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to become pregnant and they both were very old.
Thought for the Day: The writers whose material was compiled to make the Bible were really good storytellers. The set-up for the birth of John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus, starts in such a way that the reader might doze off before arriving at the first hint of conflict. A husband and wife living faithful lives under the Roman occupation would not have sounded like the setting of a story that would change the course of human history. For faithful Jews in the first century, these words would not have felt out of the ordinary. And even in the last line above, the shift in the story as the conflict begins to arise could be missed if the reader is not paying attention. But for those who were the original audience of Luke’s Gospel and knew the ancient stories of Israel, there would be an immediate connection. Many of those ancient stories started with issues of infertility, and the reader would see “Elizabeth was unable to become pregnant” as a not so well veiled hint of where this story is headed. And then place over it the reality of their age, and suddenly the reader is thinking about Sarah and Abraham whose promise from God appeared impossible. Yet it wasn’t just about a child being born. It was about God’s redemptive vision for the world moving forward in spite of obstacles. I imagine the mundane start to this story was intentional, for anyone in first century Palestine would have heard it as current, even personal. They might say to one another, “Well that’s just like our local priest and his wife.” The moment that happens, the audience members will go from simply being listeners to participants in what is to come.
Prayer: Draw me into the story of this Advent season. I desire to do more than the cultural Christmas. Draw me in, O Emmanuel, so the story I hear becomes the story I live. Amen.
CONCERT THIS SUNDAY NIGHT
