By Collin Ross
Who among us hasn’t wondered if God really hears our prayers? My five-year-old son recently asked me this—“I can’t see Jesus. So what if he’s not listening to me? And what if I pray for no bad dreams, but I have one?” On more than one occasion, he has asked that we pray for a second or third time, just in case Jesus missed it the first time around.
I thought of my son and this important question as I meditated on the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Luke begins by telling us that both Zechariah and Elizabeth were “righteous in God’s sight, living without blame” (Luke 1:6). What an introduction! These two were as faithful as they come. And yet, their lives were characterized by daily heartache. Every day that Elizabeth went to the well or Zechariah to the market, they’d pass the throngs of children who were playing, singing, and working. And every day they’d be reminded of what they did not have.
It’s a good reminder for us all: Even the righteous suffer hardship in this life. Our sufferings need not be indicative that there is something wrong with our relationship with God. So often we jump to unhealthy conclusions that if we’re going through something difficult or painful, then God must be angry with us. But Elizabeth and Zechariah were righteous in God’s sight and still endured decades of hardship and sadness. God wasn’t angry with them. In fact, He was with them every step of the way (as we’ll see in this story).
When Zechariah entered the temple on his appointed day of service, the angel that met him spoke the words that so many of our hearts need to hear: “Your prayer has been heard” (Luke 1:13).
Now, remember: Zechariah is old, well past normal childbearing years. And yet, evidently he and his wife had not given up praying for a child. What a remarkable faith they must have had to believe that their God could still deliver their greatest hope! They were still praying, and God was still listening.
But more than one prayer was being answered here. In Luke 1:10, we are told that “the whole assembly of the people was praying outside.” What do you think they were praying for? What was the single greatest prayer of Zechariah’s peers and indeed the whole people of Israel? They longed for God to come to them and bring His promised Kingdom. The salvation of God’s people was their prayer. And when Gabriel showed up that day in the temple, he brought a word of comfort to the priest and his wife but also to the whole nation. Their prayer had been heard, for God had “raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David” (Luke 1:69).
The birth of John is cause for joy, but the coming of Jesus is cause for worship.
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