Zechariah and Elizabeth were good, godly people. But God had not fulfilled their deep desire for a child. Their yearning invites us into the ethos and pathos of Advent.
In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.
Zechariah and Elizabeth were good, godly people. But God had not fulfilled their deep desire for a child. Their yearning invites us into the ethos and pathos of Advent. It helps us get in touch with our own longings, for ourselves, for others, and for our world.
After establishing the timeline for his narrative by mentioning King Herod, Luke introduces a Jewish priest named Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, who was also from a priestly family (Luke 1:5). In terms of social status, Zechariah and Elizabeth were tops in their culture.
Except for one giant problem: they had no children. In a society that prized children and family, Zechariah and Elizabeth would have felt deep personal sadness over their inability to have children. But their situation was even more complicated and painful given the tendency of people in their day to associate children with divine blessing. After all, God had once promised that if the Israelites would keep his ordinances, he would “bless the fruit of [their] womb” such that there would be “neither sterility nor barrenness among you” (Deuteronomy 7:12-14). So, if Zechariah and Elizabeth were childless, what did this say about their personal integrity?
Yet, according to Luke, both Zechariah and Elizabeth were “righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord” (Luke 1:6). Thus, their failure to have children was a conundrum for them and for those who knew this godly couple. If they were truly so righteous before God, why had God not blessed them with at least one child?
I can only imagine how hard it was for Zechariah and Elizabeth to be childless, especially given the fact that they were way beyond childbearing age (Luke 1:7).
When we attend to the personal and cultural situation of Zechariah and Elizabeth, we’re better able to enter into the ethos and pathos of Luke’s Gospel. It begins with unfulfilled longing, with perplexing questions about God’s faithfulness, and with a dramatic picture of a broken world. A couple that honored God had not received the blessing they wanted most from him. Their barrenness wasn’t just physical. Surely, they felt barren in their souls as well.
Zechariah and Elizabeth invite us into the ethos and pathos of Advent. In this season we get in touch with our longings, including those that are painfully unfulfilled. We wonder why God can be so confusing, why we have to wait so long for God’s blessing, and why that blessing sometimes never comes. We ache, not only for ourselves but also for people in a world broken by sin and injustice. The situation of Zechariah and Elizabeth beckons us to get in touch with the pain and suffering of others. We join them in their heartfelt prayers: “Why, Lord? How long, Lord?”
In Advent, easy answers don’t satisfy. True answers don’t come quickly. So, we wait, looking to the Lord. And then we wait some more.
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