Today, let us peek into heaven. The great “I AM” is sitting on His throne. There is pure light, saturated with praise. An atmosphere of worship prevails. Adoring angels await his bidding.
God overlooks earth’s time line. The fulfillment of long awaited prophecies is at hand. The time for Malachi’s prophecy has arrived.
” Behold I send my messenger, And he will prepare the way before me”.
God’s attention zeros in on one particular couple. They are of His chosen people. Their righteous, blameless lives bring Him pleasure and yet He knows their deep sorrow of not being able to have children. His eye centres in on Zacharias especially. On this specific day he is the acting priest. He is serving in the temple by burning the incense, while the whole multitude prays outside. God not only sees Zacharais, he hears him. With God’s directive nod, Gabriel appears before Zacharais.
Luke tells us that Zacharias is troubled and fear fell upon him.
The angel speaks to him:
“Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord”.
Zacharias responds.
“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
He was earth bound. Habitual thinking such as; ” that’s just the way it is”, “it is what it is”, “things will never change” had withered his soul, becoming his reality. Stating it, was like throwing a wet blanket on this message from his heavenly guest.
“I am Gabriel, he says, who stands in the presence of God , and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.
But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”
And so it happened. Elizabeth conceived; rejoicing that God had taken away her reproach among men. Their family and friends rejoiced with them. Zacharias himself, once his tongue was loosed, praised God and prophesied of the great role his son John would play, stating;
“And you child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways.”
Six months later Gabriel is sent out again. Speaking to Mary, he tells her about Elizabeth, declaring;
“For with God nothing will be impossible!
The message of Christmas, the Christ of Christmas brings heaven down. The great “I AM” brings us to the present, restores the past, and becomes our reality.
I always do better in the spring; something about the strength of the sun infuses me with a new sense of purpose, renewed hope and much joy. In this emotional environment stress becomes more manageable and also the habits of my life. I like to credit spring and I do love spring, however these three gifts are actually generated in the heart.