God-Sent

Luke 1:57-68

It’s time to start thinking about Christmas.

Photo by Kyle Loftus on Unsplash

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him. Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. - Luke 1:57-68

It is the time in our church calendar when we go back to the beginning, before Jesus was born, when Elizabeth and Zechariah were about to become parents.

It is a break with tradition, and Zechariah’s initial stubbornness made him unable to speak for months before the birth.

The name John supposedly means, The Lord is gracious. It was the name Gabriel gave Elizabeth, so it is the name given to the son who will lead the way to Jesus for so many.

The Lord is gracious.

John is providing a path to salvation through Jesus. In a way, he is performing a similar role as the angel sent to Lot’s family in Sodom and Gomorrah. God sends a messenger to give us a path away from death and toward life.

So, who are the modern-day messengers that most of us will ignore?

If we are to learn from the past, God’s choice is not going to be someone we would expect. Who would expect a man who lives in the wilderness to be a prophet of the Lord?

I think we need to recognize God in everyone, for we have no way to know who is God-sent and who is not.

But that is hard work, seeing God in everyone. It is so much easier to see evil.

More to come...

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