Enter one man in Luke 1, that played a great role in God's plan of salvation despite his disbelief in the fact that God was not going to give him the son that he prayed for.
Zechariah
Who was this man? He was a devout Jewish priest that ministered in the temple. He was the husband of Elizabeth who was the cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. And I would guess that his greatest accomplishment in life, was raising their son:
Why would I even suggest that? After all, wouldn't the fact that he was a priest in the temple be above being a father, in God's sight?
Well, as you may know, John the Baptist was no ordinary man in the bible. You see, his father Zacharias, as I stated, did not even believe it when an angel of the Lord appeared to him one morning in the temple to let him know that Elizabeth w was going to have a son. It was hard to believe, because just as Abraham and Sara had experienced having a child late in life, Zacharias and Elizabeth were old by this time as well and had no children. Why would God do the same thing for them?
Or better yet, the question should be, why would God not do the same thing for them?
After all, if we believe God can do anything, then why not? But he did pay the consequence for his unbelief and that was that the angel struck him deaf and mute until after John was born. That was probably not good, since he could not speak or hear and was was a priest in the Temple.
The thing that stands out past Zachariah's unbelief though was that God does not let anything, even sin, to stop his will. And in this case, as John's father raised him, he raised him raised him to know and love God. The bible tell us this about the special mission that God had for John:
And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Chris And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. John 1:19-27
It has been through the human Jewish priest father that came the one that would announce that our Lord and Savior would be arriving to save the world from its sin. What a mission they had. What examples of God's faithfulness they are to us.
Sometimes we don't think we can be good enough for God to use. But it doesn't matter who we are, what kind of parents we are or where our life has taken us, but that he can use any one he chooses for his glory. Even when we don't believe.
Thanks for coming, Friends. Have a blessed day!
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