The Gift of Jesus Christ

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them

Luke 1:68

After my wife and I had our first baby in 2018, we waited for a two year period deliberately. After deliberately waiting for two years following the birth of our first child in 2018, we embarked on a journey to have a second, which ultimately took almost three years. Surprisingly, it happened at a time when we least expected. 

Those two years plus of waiting were very disturbing for us. We faced societal pressure, noise, and ridiculous jokes from different corners. People literally rebuked us for masterminding the delay and encouraged us to hurry things up although we already had one child. In those moments we came to appreciate the pain that people go through when they are childless in marriage. In Zachariah and Elizabeth’s case, the situation worsened by the fact that they were both very old (Luke 1:7). 

Finally, in their old age, God chose to prove his power over nature. He gave them in their old age what they spent their youthful energy trying to achieve; Elizabeth became pregnant according to God’s promise. Prior to this pregnancy, God had sent his angel to tell Zachariah about the future of the child. “But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John… And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1: 13 & 17). In other words, this child will come to prepare a way for the coming of the Messiah; he is the sign that the Messiah will come!

Nine months later amidst other events, Elizabeth gave birth and on the eighth day when it was time for circumcision and naming, a time came for Zachariah to make a speech; one would have expected him to sing a song of appreciation for the gift of the handsome baby after many years of waiting but no, Zachariah said “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn[c] of salvation…” (Luke 1:68-69).

Instead of thanking God for the blessing of the new child, he was grateful to God for the gift of the coming messiah and the redemption he will bring to Israel; he was grateful for the gift of Jesus. He saw the miracle of the child as nothing more than just a sign that the messiah will come as promised. Although he hadn’t seen him or tasted his redemptive work, he was filled with gratitude about the possibility of us being the beneficiary of the finished work of Christ. Unlike him, we are often more grateful for the gift of things than the gift of Christ whereas, it should be the other way around.

PRAYER