December 1
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
Luke 1:5-7
Have you put away childish things? That is a question worth considering. As children, our motives are anything but altruistic. We study and get good grades to avoid being grounded. We do our chores and take on extra tasks to prove to our parents we can handle having a pet of our own. We go out of our way to show kindness so that we will be included in the right friends group. The reasoning of a child is often self-serving, chiefly concerned with personal pleasure and not the glory of God. Yet, we should not think like children forever. Pointedly the apostle Paul summarizes the normative experience of life and in turn applies it to spiritual maturity: When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways (1 Corinthians 13:11). Paul understood that a failure to mature spiritually leaves us like children attempting to serve God for what we may gain, which is actually not service of God, but of self.
Consider the spiritual maturity of Zechariah and Elizabeth. The parents of John the Baptist, Zechariah and Elizabeth were relatives of Jesus’ mother Mary. Zechariah and Elizabeth were both from priestly families, which Luke notes by saying that Zechariah was a priest from the division of Abijah and by noting Elizabeth’s origins from the daughters of Aaron. Zechariah’s priestly service required him to minister to God in the temple semiannually. However, Zechariah’s commitment to God extended beyond his priestly service. Zechariah and Elizabeth were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. What Luke is writing here is a cause and effect statement. Zechariah and Elizabeth were both righteous before God, which means, according to the witness of Scripture, that they possessed faith in God that rendered them justified in God’s sight. This declaration of their justification worked itself out in their practical adherence to the ethical standard of god for his people as they walked blamelessly. They lived lives unstained by this filth of this world.
It’s at this point that the reader expects to hear a word about the practical benefit of faith and obedience in the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Yet precisely where we are primed to see the temporal reward of faith, Luke presents a hard truth: they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Everyone in Israel knew the Scriptures: Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127:3-5) If the birth of children in a family is a sign of God’s favor, the absence of children was too often understood to be a sign of God’s judgment. Zechariah and Elizabeth had felt the weight of that judgment from society, even if not from God, is clear from Elizabeth’s response to the conception of their son John: Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people (Luke 1:25). In addition to the shame heaped upon them by their neighbors, they also would have lived with practical concerns. Who would care for them in their old age? If Zechariah died early, who would rise up and provide financially for Elizabeth?
Despite the difficulties and disappointments they lived with throughout their lives as a couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth persisted in their service of God and their obedience to his commands. Their motive for obedience matched their manner of obedience in spiritual maturity. They trusted God, therefore they obeyed him. Their obedience was not conditioned upon the conception of a child, the vindication of their reputation in the community, or even the provision of practical care in their old age. Their quiet adherence to God’s commandments in the face of such a great trial demonstrates that the obedience of faith is not about acquiring what we want, acknowledging what God is worth.
What does your practice of faith say about the worth of God to you? May God make us mature in Christ so that our motives are as holy as our manner of living.