The Silence is Broken Text: Luke 1:5-25
Introduction: The Long Wait
History is not a random series of unfortunate events. History is a story, and it is His story. And like any good storyteller, God understands pacing. He understands the power of silence. For four hundred years, the heavens had been brass. Since the prophet Malachi laid down his pen, there had been no new word from the Lord. Israel was a nation under occupation, ruled by a paranoid, murderous Idumean puppet named Herod. The religious establishment was corrupt. The people were waiting, groaning, hoping. It was a dark and cynical time, not unlike our own.
And it is into this thick, oppressive silence that Luke begins his gospel. He doesn't begin with a thunderclap or a cosmic battle. He begins in a specific place, at a specific time, with a specific old couple. He begins with the quiet, faithful, and forgotten ones. This is how God always works. While the world looks to the palaces of power and the headlines of the moment, God is at work in the prayer closets, in the barren wombs, and in the hearts of those who have not given up hope. This passage is the first crack of light after a long night. It is the story of how God, after centuries of seeming inaction, began to move again to bring about the redemption of the world. And He began, as He so often does, with a baby.
We must understand that this is not just a quaint Christmas story about a priest and his wife. This is the overture to the symphony of salvation. It is a story about covenant faithfulness, the sorrow of barrenness, the shock of a divine encounter, the folly of unbelief, and the unstoppable nature of God's promises. It is a story that sets the stage for everything that is to come.
The Text
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and righteous requirements of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years. Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of the incense offering. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and HE WILL NOT DRINK ANY WINE OR STRONG DRINK, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” And Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands before God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and were wondering at his delay in the sanctuary. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. And he kept making signs to them, and remained mute. And it happened that when the days of his priestly service were fulfilled, he went back home. After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked upon me to take away my disgrace among men.”
(Luke 1:5-25 LSB)
A Righteous and Barren Remnant (vv. 5-7)
We begin with the setting and the central tension.
"In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and righteous requirements of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years." (Luke 1:5-7)
Luke, the meticulous historian, anchors us in real time and space. This is not "once upon a time." This is "in the days of Herod," a brutal and godless king. Yet even in such a time, God has His people. Zechariah and Elizabeth are not just any couple. They are from the priestly line, the spiritual nobility of Israel. He is from Abijah's division, she is a daughter of Aaron. They are the cream of the crop.
And they are "righteous in the sight of God." This is a profound statement. It does not mean they were sinless. It means they were covenant-keepers. Their lives were oriented toward God, and they sought to walk in obedience to His law. They were the faithful remnant, the true Israel that existed within the larger, often apostate, nation. They were the kind of people the whole system was designed to produce.
But here is the kicker, the great sorrow that hangs over their lives: "they had no child." In the Old Covenant, fruitfulness was a sign of God's blessing, and barrenness was often perceived as a sign of His displeasure, a public "disgrace" as Elizabeth herself calls it later. So we have a righteous couple with a condition that, to the outside world, looked like a mark of unrighteousness. This is a classic biblical pattern. Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Hannah and Elkanah. God loves to work through barrenness. He brings life out of death, hope out of despair, to demonstrate that salvation is His work alone. Their personal barrenness was a mirror of the national barrenness of Israel. The nation was spiritually dry, waiting for God to bring forth life.
A Divine Interruption (vv. 8-12)
God breaks into the story not in the palace, but in the Temple, during the routine of faithful worship.
"Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God... he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense... And an angel of the Lord appeared to him..." (Luke 1:8-11)
Zechariah is just doing his job. This was his rotation. And on this particular day, the lot falls to him. This was a once-in-a-lifetime honor for a priest, to enter the Holy Place, the inner sanctuary, and offer incense on behalf of the people. While he is inside, the "whole multitude" is outside praying. The rising smoke of the incense was a physical picture of their prayers ascending to the throne of God. This is the ordinary means of grace at work.
And then, the extraordinary happens. An angel of the Lord appears. After 400 years, heaven makes contact. And it happens right there, in the heart of Israel's liturgical life, next to the altar of incense. Zechariah's reaction is the only sane one: "he was troubled... and fear fell upon him." When the holy realm of God intersects with our fallen world, the proper response is terror. This is no chubby cherub from a Renaissance painting. This is a warrior-messenger from the court of the Almighty. This is serious business.
The Impossible Promise (vv. 13-17)
The angel's first words are a comfort, followed by an astonishing announcement.
"But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John.'" (Luke 1:13)
What prayer has been heard? No doubt, for many years, Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for a child. But in that moment, in that holy place, he was functioning as a priest for the nation. He was praying for the redemption of Israel. The angel's message is that God is answering both prayers at once. The personal and the corporate are intertwined. God's grand plan to redeem His people is going to begin in the home of this faithful, elderly couple.
The child's name is given: John, which means "Yahweh is gracious." This child will be a living sermon on the grace of God. And his destiny is laid out. He will bring joy. He will be great "in the sight of the Lord," not men. He will be a Nazirite, set apart for God from the womb. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, not for his own sake, but for his mission. And what is that mission? To be the great forerunner, the one who prepares the way for the Lord Himself. He will operate "in the spirit and power of Elijah," a direct and stunning fulfillment of the final words of the Old Testament in Malachi 4. The 400-year silence is over, and God is picking up the narrative right where He left off. John's job is to call Israel to repentance, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, to restore the covenantal fabric of the nation so that they are ready to meet their King.
A Priest's Unbelief (vv. 18-20)
Zechariah, the man of God, standing in the house of God, hearing a direct word from God, responds not with faith, but with doubt.
"And Zechariah said to the angel, 'How will I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.'" (Luke 1:18)
This is not the humble question of Mary, who asks "How?" in faith. This is the skeptical question of a man asking for proof. "How will I know this?" He is looking at his circumstances, his wrinkled skin and his wife's barren womb, instead of looking at the God who makes barren wombs fruitful. He is a priest. He knows the stories of Abraham and Sarah. And yet, he stumbles right where they did. It is a profound warning against professional religiosity. You can know all the stories and still fail to believe them when they show up on your doorstep.
The angel's reply is a sharp, authoritative rebuke. "I am Gabriel, who stands before God." This is the angel pulling rank. He is saying, "You are questioning a message that comes directly from the throne room of the universe." Because Zechariah asked for a sign born of unbelief, he gets a sign that is a judgment. "Behold, you shall be silent." The priest whose job it is to speak God's word and blessing to the people is struck mute. His mouth, which spoke doubt, is now closed. But this judgment is also a mercy. It is a nine-month quiet time, a forced meditation on the promise of God, insulating him from speaking any more faithless words.
The Mute Messenger (vv. 21-25)
The consequences of this encounter spill out into the public square.
"But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary... After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived..." (Luke 1:22, 24)
The people are waiting for him to emerge and pronounce the Aaronic blessing. But he cannot. He, the priest, has been silenced. He wanted a sign, and now he has become a walking, gesturing sign to the whole nation that something momentous has happened. God has visited His people.
And then, the word becomes flesh, so to speak. Elizabeth conceives. God's promise is not hindered by Zechariah's weak faith. God's purposes are sovereign and they will come to pass. Elizabeth, in faith, recognizes this for what it is. She secludes herself, not in shame, but in wonder. She declares that the Lord has looked upon her "to take away my disgrace among men." She sees this child not as a product of nature, but as a direct, gracious intervention from God to remove her reproach. Where her husband wavered, she believed.
Conclusion
So what do we take from this? First, God honors quiet, long-term faithfulness. Zechariah and Elizabeth were not famous. They were simply doing their duty, year after year, in a dark time. Do not despise the ordinary, mundane walk of obedience. That is the soil in which God plants His miracles.
Second, God's plans are not thwarted by our circumstances or our unbelief. Zechariah looked at his body and doubted. God looked at His promise and acted. Our faith does not make God's promises true; it is the proper response to the fact that they are already true. God's kingdom is coming, whether we get on board or not.
And last, this entire episode is a setup. John is great, but he is not the main character. He is the forerunner. He is the voice crying in the wilderness. He is the one sent to prepare the way. The breaking of the silence, the birth of this miracle child, all of it is designed to make the world hold its breath and look for the one who is to come. This is the alarm clock going off. The King is coming.