“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. 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 advance in years” (Luke 1:5-7).
Here begins the brief sighting of another key couple in the Jesus saga: Zacharias and Elizabeth. Their Biblical profile gives us three important details. They were faithful, barren, and they were old.
1) Faithful
They were faithful, righteous, blameless, living by the book. The kind of people you want for neighbors (who you could trust to babysit your kids.)
2) Barren
But they were also barren or childless. In that culture, everyone wanted children. Certainly, they had prayed for children. Zacharias knew how to pray. He was a priest. But God hadn’t given them what they asked for. Decade after decade they prayed, waited and dreamed. But there was never a “baby bump” to giggle over. There would be no baby shower for Elizabeth.
3) Age
Though Zacharias would’ve dedicated countless babies, he had never dedicated his own. Yet, they remained faithful in their service to God in spite of their obvious disappointment and shame (read vs. 25).
Yes, things were about to change for this lovely couple. We’ll see that in the next step of our “Advent Adventure.” But hover here for a while, and see what God saw. This pair was a match made in heaven. They were willing to keep following God’s call, even when they had to carry the burden and pain of disappointment.
We all carry some pain, but disappointment and unfulfilled dreams are some of the heavier burdens.
Thank you, Zacharias & Elizabeth, for teaching me how to keep walking with God, when dreams don’t come true, and for showing us how to be faithful in the long valley of disappointment.
