Characters at the Cradle: Zechariah’s Prophecy, About What?

by David Chadwick

We are looking at the characters at the cradle, the people who found their lives intersecting with the life of Jesus, with divine precision. Each person carried a unique role and responsibility and stewarded his or her place in history with great purpose.

Zechariah was one of those characters. In spite of his initial unbelief, which left him deaf and mute for a season, he allowed his time in silence to shape him and refine him for what was to come with the birth of John. Once Zechariah’s speech was restored, he was filled with the Spirit and began to prophesy. About what, you might ask? So many things! Let’s take a look over the next few days.

In verse 70, Zechariah spoke of Jesus being the fulfillment of all the prophecies in the Old Testament. There were 300 plus prophecies in total, all of which were perfectly fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is the connection between the Old and New Testaments. He is the one who ushered in the new covenant of grace to his people.

The birth of Jesus ushered in the long-awaited Messiah to save Israel from its enemies. His birth sounded the alarm that Rome’s oppression would not last forever. Through his birth, all the enemies of Israel for all of time would now be judged by God for their anger and fury against God’s chosen people.

My dear friends, you may not like Israel, but they are still God’s chosen people with whom he made an everlasting covenant for the salvation of the world. Every nation, for all of time, will have good and evil. We must live in this ongoing tension until Jesus’s return. But this does not change the fact that Israel has always been and will always be an instrument of God’s plans for the earth.

Jesus extended mercy to Israel, not giving them what they deserved. Fulfilling the holy covenant that God made with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, Zechariah gave a reminder that through Jesus, God would make them a great people and a great land (Luke 1:72-73).

Through Abraham, the nation of Israel would be formed. From his “seed,” through his lineage, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Delivered from their enemies time and time again, these people were set apart to serve the Lord in righteousness and holiness for all their days (Luke 1:74-75).

Through them, the Israelites, the nations of the earth, would be drawn to God as they witnessed how blessed these holy people were by their holy God.

Characters at the Cradle: Zechariah’s Prophecy, Speech Restored

by David Chadwick

This week, we cover Zechariah’s prophecy found in Luke 1:67-79. This passage is powerful and full of revelation and insight. If you remember where we have been, Zechariah’s words come on the heels of Elizabeth’s prophetic exclamation in verse 42, Mary’s song of praise in verses 46-56, and the birth of John in verses 57-66.

Zechariah is coming off his nine months of silence. Because he expressed words of doubt and unbelief when the angel Gabriel had told him that he would finally have a son named John, Zechariah was rendered mute and deaf.

By the time John arrived, everyone thought the name of the boy would be “Zechariah,” after his father. You can imagine everyone’s surprise when he wrote “John” on the tablet. At that very moment, his speech and hearing were restored. Immediately. Miraculously.

These verses lay out Zechariah’s words after nine long months of listening, observing, thinking, and praying. Not to mention all he had just seen through the miraculous birth of his son. Imagine what you would say after such a long time of silence!

When his speech and hearing were restored, Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel.” His silence was broken with praise to God. Pent up praise exploded from his mouth. Zechariah was a front-row witness to an answered prayer and to God’s will being accomplished and knew the only proper response was to give him all the glory.

Why praise? Because God was visiting his people after 400 years of silence! The Lord had redeemed his people. What started through the angel Gabriel’s appearance to Zechariah in the temple continued through the birth of John, who would be a forerunner to the Messiah, and then finally to the birth of Jesus, placed in Mary’s womb as the Savior of the world.

In verse 69, Zechariah talks about how God has raised up “the horn,” which is always a symbol of strength and power. Picture a horn on a rhinoceros, full of brute force. This is what salvation through Jesus would mean for God’s people. As prophesied in the Old Testament, Jesus would come through the house of David and bring salvation to the world.

How great is our God!

Characters at the Cradle: John the Baptist, Awe and Wonder

by David Chadwick

“And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, ‘What then will this child be?’ For the hand of the Lord was with him.” Luke 1:65-66.

When Zechariah’s voice returned, he started blessing God for all that had happened to him and Elizabeth. He was incredibly grateful for the birth of his child.

The text goes on to tell us that all the neighbors were filled with fear. The “fear” talked about here is not dread or being afraid. On the contrary. It’s the awesome respect that one has for another. It’s a holy awe. This is what I felt toward my dad growing up.

This large, godly man caused me to revere him in every way. Proverbs 1:6 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Our society and nation have forgotten the fear of the Lord. The reverence of God has become non-existent. To some, he is often treated as a best pal or buddy. For others, he is treated as a genie in a bottle to whom people only go to get their needs met.

When God does a mighty work like miraculously bringing John the Baptist into the world, people are forced to come face to face with his divine grace and mercy. And the fear that this produces is good! It should make us want to love, serve, and worship our Daddy in heaven even more!

When people thought about John and his arrival, they began to wonder about his future. “What would this child be?” They knew the hand of the Lord was upon John, and they could already sense it was for something great.

They were right! This special child went on to be the forerunner for the life and ministry of Jesus, as prophesied in Malachi 4:5. John the Baptist was the beginning of the inauguration of God’s kingdom through Jesus. He would go on to baptize Jesus and point people to his earthly ministry.

Find Jesus and you will find his kingdom. Find his kingdom and you will hunger to find your place in his story. You will hunger to see the kingdom of heaven come on earth as it is in heaven. His will is to give us glimpses of glory here on earth until the King named Jesus comes again!

Awe and wonder filled the hearts of all who heard the news of John the Baptist’s birth.

I pray that awe and wonder will swell in each of your hearts this Christmas season!