Christmas time. A time, for some of us, when we make attempts to set aside all the fast paced craziness of this world long enough to reflect on life, on our surroundings and the year that has now past, on our futures. Sometimes there are those of us who, like a good mulled wine absorbs all the added spices and flavors, take the time to absorb and “mull” over the Christmas story. To swirl it around our glass and smell the fruity aromas of a time long ago. What must it have been like to step inside the shoes of those characters we read about year after year?
At the time the Christ-story takes place, Sadducees and Pharisees were considered to be the religious elite. Don’t you know that at some point they had to have recognize the voice of God was no longer being heard among them? And yet they continued on in the tradition they were taught, and that they themselves taught, as if it was; for years, decades, centuries… Until Zachariah was visited by an Angel.
A crowd of people and priests waited outside as Zacharias performed this once in a lifetime duty of presenting the incense. He now stood alone. In front of him, toward the veil that hung before the Holy of Holies, was the golden altar of incense. To his right was the Table of Showbread; to his left was the seven-branched Menorah, the only source of light in the room. Zacharias would have waited until he was sure that the incense was burning well. In reverence he would have bowed down in prayer and then left, except that an astonishing sight met his eyes. The angel Gabriel appeared to him, “standing at the right side of the altar of incense” (Luke 1:11). “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John” (verse 13).
From his gestures, the people understood that he had seen a vision while in the temple (verse 22). What a stir of excitement that must have caused, to think God might still be speaking, that He might still have a message for His people! The visitation had rendered Zacharias speechless, and now his wife who was well past what most would consider child-bearing years, was pregnant! I can only imagine the buzz and sheer excitement taking place. Then of course gossip must have also been circulating as well. Always the speculations! The mouth-to-ear whispers! The sideways glances. Was it a miracle or was it a hoax? What really happened in the Holy Place that day? Perhaps some of the gossip might have even spread by those elites who wanted to protect their “brand” – their privilege, and power, and their reputation as being the rightful “source”.
A short six months later the religious elite were stirred again, this time in the middle of the night by a bunch of shepherds wondrously claiming yet a second angelic visitation, announcing that a child had been born who would rule His people. Luke 2:17-18 hints to us, saying the shepherds had made known what the angels said, and all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.
For the first time in about 400 years, God was once again moving among His people; stirring, speaking. What did these religious elite do with the messages they had heard? There had to be some among them who were stirred enough to start researching scripture, trying to fit the pieces of the latest events together, don’t you think? It makes me wonder what became of those who knew, 30 years later, when John the Baptist began preparing the way and Jesus began His public ministry. What did they do during that 30 year span with the word they had been given?
Perhaps Nicodemus may have been one of those. In the book of John, chapter 3, we learn that he, out of fear of what the other elites might think, came to Jesus by night asking questions. Acknowledging that Jesus must have come from God, he was puzzled by Jesus’ teaching that one must be born again. Jesus response was one of surprise; “You are a teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things?”. Then Jesus gives us a clue to what might have happened to those who had heard the message of the angels some thirty years before. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “We speak only of what we know and testify only to what we have seen, and yet the word revealed was not received” (verse 11).
How many religious elites must have continued to allow the traditions of men to harden their hearts and silence their hopes, so as to not believe eyewitness testimony?
But God… I dare say there were some who heard the message those many years before who chose not to harden their hearts, but to believe. Enter the scene one Simeon and Anna, little known prophet and prophetess from Luke chapter 2 who speak over the baby Jesus and Mary, and “continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” (verse 38). There is hope! I can only imagine those who believed the angelic accounts telling their children about the “time when…”. Not only through the custom of oral tradition, but also through the choices they made and the life they lived. A life that would cultivate good soil in the hearts of their children, so they, too, could receive the word, a personal message just for them. And I can imagine, too, that just perhaps those children who heard such wondrous stories may have included the likes of Peter, Andrew, John, James, and the others.
What are we teaching our children? Among all of our annual traditions, may our children see Christ in us, the hope of glory!
Wishing you joy and peace this Christmas season!
Lisa
Check out my latest book! It’s a wonderful story of hope and miracles, released just in time for Christmas
Alabastersky 
Leave a comment