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Morning Meditation
December 3, 2025
Reading: Luke 1:5-25
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth could not conceive, and they were both very old.
Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But 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 call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for 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 before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”
The angel said to him, “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. And 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 appointed time.”
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
Meditation by Glenn Beamer
When we turn to Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth, we typically cut to the chase and focus on Mary’s visit to Elizabeth when Elizabeth is pregnant with John. I would hazard a guess that if we polled 1000 Episcopalians, fifty percent or fewer of them could volunteer that Zacheriah was Elizabeth’s husband, and fewer still would remember that he lost his power of speech after learning that Elizabeth was pregnant.
Upon learning that they would be parents to John the Baptist, Zacheriah’s and Elizabeth respond to the Angel Gabriel in opposite ways. Zacheriah asks, “How can I be sure of this?” and doubts Gabriel’s joyous news. Elizabeth responds to her pregnancy with gratitude, “the Lord has done this for me…he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace.”
Most of us can understand Zacheriah’s response to the angel. Zacheriah and Elizabeth had been faithful to God, had pleaded for children, and had accepted their lot. After decades God answers their prayers. Zacheriah is scared and overwhelmed. Not only would Elizabeth bear a son, but the son would then proceed the Messiah in the spirit of Elijah. Elizabeth on the other hand responds with quiet grace.
It is the Angel Gabriel’s reaction to Zacheriah that I find most intriguing. Gabriel denies Zacheriah the power of speech until John is born. Zacheriah exits the Temple and can only gesticulate and write on tablets to communicate. The faithful Jews waiting outside the Temple inferred that because he could not speak, Zacheriah had a vision during his prayers.
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