Read: Luke 1:5-80
Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary. When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. When his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After those days Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion (Luke 1:21-24, NRSV).
Thank God I’d learned to read. Not every woman gets the chance, you know. But I was from the priestly order of Aaron, and when I nagged my parents as a child, they found a way to make it happen.
Why was it so important that I knew how to read? Well, think about it. The only way my husband and I could communicate during the nine months of my pregnancy was by writing notes.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me back up a bit and fill you in on the story.
As my husband Zechariah himself said to the angel Gabriel, we were both “getting on in years.” Frankly, we’d given up on having children. There’s only so much disappointment you can bear, after all. But when Zechariah was chosen to offer incense at the sanctuary, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him that we would have a son, and we were to name him John. What’s more, he said that this child would be great in the sight of the Lord and would be good news for more than just the two of us.
So far, so wonderful. But my dear husband had to raise questions. That’s when Gabriel decided to strike him mute—at least until the words of the promise came true.
What woman has not, on occasion, wished her husband would be struck mute? But imagine my confusion when he arrived home unable to speak! He was obviously bursting at the seams to tell me something, but he couldn’t so much as whisper a word. Finally, I ran around to all the neighbors and collected as many writing tablets as I could get my hands on. Eventually, I got the whole story out of him.
Now do you understand why I’m so glad I’d learned to read? It would have been a long nine months trying to piece together that story using sign language!
Even when I did understand his words, I could barely believe they were true. But a few months later, I realized I was pregnant. And then my cousin Mary showed up for a visit, and well—let’s just say we had a lot to talk about.
Eventually John was born. (Yes, we named him John, even though everyone expected us to name him Zechariah after his father.) As soon as Zechariah wrote that message on one of our ubiquitous tablets, he was able to speak again—just as Gabriel had promised.
John is a teenager now and spends a worrying amount of time hiking in the wilderness eating goodness knows what. Zechariah and I are pretty old for dealing with a teen, but my friends tell me it’s not a picnic at any age. At least we can talk to each other about it. I really do appreciate Zechariah having his speech back. Among other things, we’d have gone bankrupt by this time buying all those writing tablets!
Ponder: The Bible says nothing about whether Elizabeth knew how to read, but it does reference Zechariah’s writing on a tablet to confirm John’s name. No matter how they communicated, how do you imagine their faith was tested during those nine months of waiting? What about after John was born? How has God tested your faith? What would you tell someone who is being tested?
Pray: Give us the resources we need to meet times of testing. Remind us that our faithfulness may have consequences beyond just ourselves.