A Loss of Hope

Luke 1:1-25; 57-80

Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.” Luke 1:18

As we enter the season of Advent and take time to reflect upon what the birth of Jesus means for us today, it is natural to re-read the scriptural accounts.  Some stories we know well, while others are far too often overlooked.  The story of Zechariah and Elizabeth is vitally important to the story of Jesus, because of the divine action in the birth of John the Baptist.

Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were considered “righteous” and “blameless” before the Lord (1:6), despite not being able to have children.  The scriptures tell us that Zechariah had prayed to God for a child (1:13) but they in their advanced age were childless.  As a temple priest, Zechariah would have been seen as a leader in the community but because they had no children there would have been some people who would have questioned Zechariah and Elizabeth’s faithfulness to God.  In those days (and today) children were seen as a blessing from God.  But it was also true that not having children was a point of shame and disgrace, particularly for Elizabeth (the women always get blamed!) (1:25).   They may have prayed for years for a child and yet nothing changed. 

When the angel comes to Zechariah with the news that he will have a son who will be an instrument of God’s work, he should have been thrilled. After all, God heard the prayer and was delivering.  Instead Zechariah responds with doubt and disbelief.  “How will I know this is so?” (1:18). He is asking for a sign from God in order to believe.  If anyone should be able to have faith or believe in the mysterious ways of God it should be a priest or religious leader.  But Zechariah has lost hope. He has lost a sense that with God all things are possible; that just because a situation may seem desperate or bleak God can and will bring redemption and transformation.  Zechariah has lost hope and asks for a sign.  The angel silences him and he is then unable to speak until after the child is born. 

When we lose hope and cannot believe in the promises and presence of God, we live in a silent and devoid world.  We can no longer hear God’s voice or receive the good news. Hope is not wishful thinking or naïve.  Biblical hope, a God-filled hope, is the belief that God can and will turn suffering into redemption, a belief that despite all outward appearances God will heal a broken world, a belief that God’s love is stronger than hatred or division or greed or anything else that divides us.  Hope is a choice to believe despite the evidence to contrary, and despite the long and arduous wait. 

Zechariah lost hope in the midst of waiting.  He lost hope waiting for a messiah and could no longer see what God was up to.  I pray that we all might maintain hope and reminder Paul’s words:

We also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not disappoint us. Romans 5:3-5