There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. (Luke 1:5-7)
The infant Lord was not born to an old woman or to an old couple. But an old couple played a part. They bore a child, John, who would 'prepare the way' for the Lord's saving ministry. Elizabeth supported the pregnant Mary for three months. Mary must have been desperate for someone to believe in her sacred call to bear the Lord, even though she did not 'know a man'. Elizabeth affirmed her, sharing in the wonder of her own babe in utero, a gift to 'her who was called barren'.
Is it an accident that Zacharias' name means 'Jah has remembered'? Or that Elizabeth's name means 'God has sworn'? This old couple represents the hope of what the Lord can do for us — the belief, in spite of great and long-standing evidence that could cast doubt, that the Lord does not forget us, and that He is faithful to His promises.
Zacharias and Elizabeth are described as 'both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless'. Taken in our totality, none of us is blameless, or righteous. But that part of us that can hope and believe, and make efforts to walk in the commandments — that part of us is the Zacharias and Elizabeth in us. (The Lord prepares in us a Remnant!) In this couple lies our hope of the Advent. Their child John is the inspiration behind life-change. "'Prepare the way of the LORD'" he cried, "'Make His paths straight'. … [B]ear fruits worthy of repentance!" (Luke 3:4,8)
Prepare the way for what? What does 'the Lord' in this story represent? The Lord's Advent to us is the spirit of love, and the wise insight that attends love. Our efforts to be righteous and to repent indeed prepare the way for us to experience the spirit of love, but when this spirit comes we know that it is simply a gift: unmerited, undeserved, free of the complications of pride or ownership.
The Lord is not born to the 'old us', to the part of us that has laboured and sometimes pined for reward. Our past experience and history do enable us to appreciate the miracle of the Lord's 'birth' in our lives, but this birth is more miraculous. It is given to a new and virginal affection, one that is freshly married, with unfettered hope of what lies ahead. The Lord is born to an innocent outlook, youthfully unconcerned about the future (— the notion of that future not being prejudiced by experience).
But here is the paradoxical thing. The Lord cannot come to us apart from our efforts, apart from our concern to prepare the way, apart from our placing our feet, one after the other, in the path of His 'commandments and ordinances'. This is a part we need to actively play — year in and year out, through times of want and seeming abandonment. … At the same time, we must look to His coming, and trust in His promises, and be ready to welcome Him when He comes!
May this lovely couple, 'Yah has Remembered' and 'God has Sworn', be with you as you look to the Lord's coming. And may you rejoice with them at His blessed birth!
