Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The Book of Luke 1:11-20 (NIV)
11Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. 14He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.[b] 16Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." 18Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." 19The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time."
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Very interesting how Luke starts his Gospel by telling how John was born. Again we can clearly see that John was born "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
What Gabriel did to Zechariah is kind of harsh although I'm sure Zechariah didn't mind later on. It is so easy for us to bring up humanly difficulties when the Lord speaks to us. But the Lord makes impossible possible.
I'm not all that different from Zechariah. I pray that I'll accept and trust the Lord's words rather than speaking "How can I be sure of this?" and start bringing up questions using my narrow mind.
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