Friday, December 11.. St Luke 1:5-16 There was a long period of time from the last prophetic words of Malachi until the sudden appearance of the angel Gabriel in St. Luke 1. 420 years is a very long time to wait for God to speak again to the people of Israel It must have seemed a hard and often hopeless wait for many. But there were some who waited faithfully the revelation of God's Messiah. St Luke 1 tells of two people who were constant in faith, expectant in hope.
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. 7 And yet they had no child, because Elizabeth was infertile, and they were both advanced in years.
8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 Now an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice over his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit [m]while still in his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
* What were there names? (5)
* What did they do to remain hopeful of Christ's coming? (6 ... read Malachi 4:4-6)
Malachi 4:4 “Remember the Law of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with complete destruction.”
* Where was Zacharias when the angel Gabriel came to him? (9) What was he doing? (10) Why did the angel Gabriel come to him at the moment he was doing this? What, or rather Who, does incense represent?
*What did Gabriel tell him?
JSH+