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Could I be Zachariah? God speaks and claims an impossibility will now be true and the first words out of his mouth are “Are you kidding me? Do you expect me to believe this? I’ve got 2 reasons why you are full of …. junk. I’m old. My wife is old.”
A couple of other interesting thoughts for me - when angels show up the first words out of their mouths are “Fear not!” They must be the 2nd most intimidating being in the universe. There isn’t an account in scripture where an angel is seen and the human doesn’t immediately fall down. (Okay, I just thought of one. Sodom and Gomorrah - but the consequences of that are brutal.)
If you can’t say anything nice, you’re not going to say anything at all. To Zachariah’s credit - it appears that the 9 month sabbatical for his vocal chords didn’t leave him bitter.
One more theme that I think we’ll see in Luke - the outsiders. Luke seems to elevate how Jesus embraced outsiders. Shepherds, women, Greeks, tax collectors - all are painted favorably in this book. It is a book truly written for a lover of God.
Tags: angels, Gospel of Luke, Zachariah
2 responses so far ↓
1 rob // Mar 25, 2006 at 10:00 am
You can’t be Zachariah. He quit talking. You, on the other hand, can’t stop.
All kidding aside, I think we are like him in many ways. Sometimes I wish he’d pop me like that…but then again, no I don’t.
2 lanie // Mar 27, 2006 at 9:37 am
I agree that we are all capable of being like Zachariah. Imagine spending much of your life hoping and praying, and asking others to pray for you, and never getting what you and your wife desparately want. Then imagine an angel coming in, after you and your wife are well beyond childbearing years, and telling you that you will have a child. I would definitely be just like Zachariah. It doesn’t make me proud, but that is human nature, I suppose.
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