“The angel answered, ”I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news” (Luke 1:19). And thus the season of good news had begun.
The obvious good news for Zechariah and Elisabeth was that their prayers have been heard. That was good news!
It was a bit late, according to our time frame…but it was good news.
God’s answer to our prayers is good news…even when the answer is “no” or “wait”. The good news is that God hears our prayers and answers them.
The Scriptures do not tell us much about her, but what we have will help us to get a picture of a woman who in many ways resembles most of us today. There are some common elements of life that Elisabeth and we share.
Elisabeth had a “mark”…something that made her stand out among the people. It wasn’t a physical mark…it was more of a social “mark” – an invisible mark but one that all people knew about. You see, she was barren.
People were talking…it was a disgrace.
It must have been hard for her to participate in different gatherings and functions. Probably she missed most of them.
Later Jesus encountered many people who had been “marked” by others…people who were “notorious”…for different reasons.
Her pregnancy was God’s favour taking away her disgrace.
She knew that God was good: she read about it; she must have listened to the teachings exposed in the synagogue; she lived as the wife of one of God’s faithful servants. But this…this was God’s favour to her. She had to let it out! She did…”The Lord has done this for me…” (Luke 1:25).
There is more to the good news delivered by Gabriel to Zech and Beth.
It was good news for them but it was also good news for the people of Israel and through them to the entire world. To you and me!
This season, may you be open to the good news that Jesus was born so that whoever believes in Him may not perish, but have eternal life!