City Life Starter

Written by Efe Abbe

The Word

⁵ 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. ⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷ But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

Luke 1:5-7 ESV

¹¹ “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

Reflection

Zechariah and Elizabeth were committed to the true God, yet in their day anyone observing could have questioned their uprightness because they had no children. Even now, our tendency is to infer: uprightness brings blessing not barrenness. Yet, let us consider the mystery of how God was working out His purposes in this story.

God had always purposed that Zechariah and Elizabeth would be John’s parents – John who was prophesied to be the one to prepare Israel for the Messiah’s arrival (Isaiah 40:3-5; Malachi 3:1). Neither the long and painful years of barrenness nor the fact that they had no idea yet that they were part of the fulfillment of prophecy negated God’s plan.

The Bible contains other stories when prolonged barrenness was a precursor to a timely birth as the fulfillment of one of God’s promises (see footnote). One story was that of Abraham and Sarah, another childless couple, advanced in years yet blessed and promised by God to have descendants as numerous “as the dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:16).

When we consider that Zechariah and Elizabeth were two of Abraham and Sarah’s innumerable descendants, Luke, in his details about John’s birth, is doubling down on God’s commitment to accomplish His purposes, even through our long years of painful disappointment.

Application

The Bible is a grand story that tells us repeatedly that nothing in history could stop God’s plan for humanity’s salvation – Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection. The same God who intimately wove salvation’s details did all that to get us back to Himself so that now, in Jesus, not even our seasons of barrenness, weakness, doubt, or insecurity can undo God’s glorious plans for us. He who called us is faithful and will empower us to be faithful to Him.

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for who You are: eternally good, holy, and committed to accomplishing Your plan to rescue us to Yourself, from our sin. Thank You for being all powerful to accomplish Your purposes.

---

Footnote

^{a: Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 12; 13:14-18; 15-21); Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 25:20-26); Rachel (Genesis 29:31; 30:1-2; 22-24); Manoah and his wife – Samson’s parents (Judges 13); and Hannah – Samuel’s mother (1 Samuel 1; 2:1-11).}