While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”
Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”
Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out of the sanctuary, wondering why he was taking so long. When he finally did come out, he couldn’t speak to them. Then they realized from his gestures and his silence that he must have seen a vision in the sanctuary. When Zechariah’s week of service in the Temple was over, he returned home. Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. “How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”
When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son. And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her.
When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!”
“What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.” Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.
Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills. Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.
~Luke 1:11-25, 57-66 (NLT)
Zechariah was literally dumbstruck instead of wonderstruck!
When we are full of faith, we believe and obey God. Then our lives are full of wonder and awe.
When we are full of doubt, we question, procrastinate and disobey God. Then our lives are full of darkness and silence.
Zechariah’s doubt manifested itself physically, representing what happens to us spiritually. “Dumb” means unable to speak. Spiritually, when we are disobedient God appears to be “dumb” before us…we don’t hear him speak. The principle is this: you won’t hear God speak when you are full of doubt or disobedience. You are dumbstruck and we don’t see, hear, or experience the wonder of God.
The moment Zechariah obeyed God and told others the boy’s name would be John, his tongue started working again! God rewarded Zechariah’s obedience with something wondrous. This again is a physical manifestation of a spiritual truth: God speaks most clearly and most often to those who believe and obey.
We all face the same choice daily: whether to believe or doubt, whether to obey or not. When doubt and disobedience reign we live spiritually dumbstruck lives. When faith and obedience reign we live wonderstruck.
Hmm…Which one sounds better? How do you want to be “struck” this Christmas?
I must be Zechariah because I had a very similar nine-month-experience with the coming into the world of the man whom I am the father, the author of this piece, Alan the Baptizer. Exactly eight days before his mother brought him forth, I turned 42 years old. Reminiscent are the being in the temple, the message from God, the thrusting of faith, being God’s hand servant, and watching God do what He purposed to do in the world in His fullness of times.