Luke 1:8-11 (ESV)
[8] Now while he was serving as
priest before God when his division was on duty, [9] according to the custom of
the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn
incense. [10] And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the
hour of incense. [11] And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing
on the right side of the altar of incense.
This was the time of day when the
people gathered for prayer. The incense was offered on a small altar in the Holy
Place placed at the entrance to the Holy of Holies. As the smoke ascended it
represented the prayers of the people of God. Commentaries indicate that
because of the large number of priests, this would have been a once-in-a-lifetime
event for Zechariah. Chosen by “random” by using lots, Zechariah was presenting
the prayers of the people when an angel appeared to him telling him that his
prayer (singular) had been heard (vs. 12). He and Elizabeth would have a son.
Zechariah and Elizabeth were elderly, according to verse 7, yet now their
prayer had been heard.
This passage raises so many questions.
If this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Zechariah is old, why wasn’t he
chosen earlier? He certainly must have had many opportunities to serve, yet the
lot never fell to him until now. Why did God wait so long to hear and answer
Zechariah’s and Elizabeth’s prayer? Why is an angel telling him this? Why doesn’t
he just find out that Elizabeth is with child and see that as an answer to his
prayer? Why does he need to be told, and why be told in a way that scares him half
to death?
But this is all about God’s timing.
The seemingly random choice by lots was guided by God’s hand. The timing of the
answer to prayer was in line with God’s plan. The promised Messiah’s birth was
about to be announced, but the one who would introduce him to the world needed
to come first. There are three key concepts in this passage. One is explicit, that
is prayer. The other two are implicit. One is the timing and sovereignty of
God. Zechariah was chosen by lot according to the sovereign timing of God. The other
is the compassion of God. He truly cared about Zechariah and Elizabeth. When we
begin to doubt the timing, sovereignty, and compassion of God we stop praying.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray
without ceasing.” We sometimes interpret that to mean that I am supposed to be praying
every minute of every day. That becomes a little difficult when what we are
doing requires our full concentration. The NLT says, “Never stop praying.” I
think that is more to the point. It is not that every breath should be a
prayer, although that’s a nice idea. It is that we must never stop praying, and
to do that we must first be convinced of the timing, sovereignty, and
compassion of God. Zechariah was an old man, but he was still praying. May that
be true of us as well.
Comments
Post a Comment