Two thousand years ago, Christ came to ransom the nation of Israel as well as become the perfect sacrifice for the entire world, yet He did something so much more amazing than that. He cared about the individual. Through the fulfillment of His Great Story, He has also penned millions of individual small stories that, while insignificant in the world’s eyes, have been so very precious in His own.
Zechariah was continuing in faithful obedience, burning incense before the Lord in the temple. As a descendent of Aaron, he had always sought to obey the divine directives of the law, even following the jot and tittle of marrying within his own tribe. Both Zechariah and Elizabeth were “righteous” and “blameless” before the Lord. Still, the highest form of stewardship between God and man, the opportunity to give birth to an immortal soul, had been denied them. Having laid their petition before the Lord thousands of times, their aging bodies seemed to testify against their faith and God’s will. They, however, remained undeterred from following God wholeheartedly.
As the fragrance ascended heavenward from the altar of incense – representing the praise of His people – God’s representative came down to announce Zachariah and Elizabeth’s reward for their sacrifice of daily obedience. The great messenger angel, Gabriel, appeared before the priest, declaring that his prayer had been heard. Zechariah probably assumed the prayer to which Gabriel was referring was his priestly prayer on Israel’s behalf. Surely Gabriel smiled when he explained that not only was God great enough to deliver the masses from the effects of sin, but He was also good enough to answer this couple’s long-awaited prayer for a child. Zechariah and Elizabeth would be immortalized as the parents of John the Baptist, the prophet who would make straight the pathway of the Lord Jesus Christ. What an important lesson for us to remember two thousand years later.
We serve a God who sculpted the Swiss Alps, dug out the unsearchable depths of the oceans, and drew some lines in the dirt and called them the Nile, Amazon, and Mississippi Rivers. As the crashing waves came roaring and billowing unimpeded toward land, He exclaimed, “Here and no farther!” and they immediately bowed and humbly crept back into the womb of the sea. This same awesome God, however, has counted each of our individual hairs. Although He is so vast, He is also so specific that He sees a little sparrow falling to the ground. This is our God.
While the birth of Jesus Christ serves as a cataclysmic manifestation of the purposes of God, the quiet details of the Christmas story remind us that every single prayer that each saint sends into the throne room is heard by a loving Heavenly Father. Prayers that may be minimized or even ridiculed by man are treasured by God. He is able to answer our prayers just like He did for Zechariah and Elizabeth.
As the Messianic prophet, Isaiah proclaimed:
Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God,
the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is
weary? There is no searching of his understanding. – Isaiah 40:28 (KJV)
And as He told Daniel:
Then said he unto me, “Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that
thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before
thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.” – Daniel 10:12 (KJV)
- small children believe Santa Claus sees their Christmas lists and checks them twice, how much more should God’s children rejoice in the truth that our Heavenly Father hears all of our dreams, hopes, disappointments, and cries for help. May God give each of us the faith to believe that all of our prayers are heard, not just at Christmas time, but all year long.
Merry Christmas from ICHE
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