To Us a Son Is GivenSample

An Unexpected Visitor

It was quiet in Israel. Not an all-is-well kind of quiet, the kind that normally accompanies a time of peace. This was an unsettling kind of quiet. God had stopped speaking to His people through the prophets for several hundred years.

How startling, then, in the midst of this silence, for Zechariah to hear from God. He was told that Elizabeth would bear a son named John in her old age, and this wouldn’t be just any son. This son would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even while in Elizabeth’s womb! The silence in Israel would soon be broken as all would hear John cry, “Repent!”

Jesus would later call John the greatest of Israel’s prophets (Matthew 11:11). Neither Elijah nor Moses had the honor of being the best man to Jesus, the coming Bridegroom of God’s people. And to think, this future prophet would be born to a woman who was too old to have children.

Simple Summary

While serving in the temple, Zechariah had an unexpected visitor—an Angel of the Lord! The Angel told Zechariah that his wife, Elizabeth, would have a child and that this child would have an important part to play in God’s Plan of Salvation. The child’s name would be John, and he would be filled with the Holy Spirit. Like the Old Testament prophet Elijah, John would help Israel see that they needed to turn from their sin and trust in God.

Pray

Ask God to help you confess and turn from your sin as you seek to follow Christ faithfully.