Scared Speechless!

“Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” Luke 1:3-4 Who is Theophilus that Luke would write an account for him? I ‘Googled’ Theophilus to see what may have been discovered concerning this person. There are many interesting theories, but no definitive answers. He may have been a priest, he may have been a Roman authority, or the one I like best is he may have been Paul’s lawyer who defended him in Rome during his trial. The reason I like this one best is because of the wording both in Luke and in Acts regarding Theophilus. “Most excellent” could easily be attributed to a lawyer or judge (just as today we say, “Your Honor”. Also, Luke says he “investigated everything” which sounds like lawyer language. And he decided to “write an orderly account” which would be the information a lawyer would need to best be able to defend his client. There are reasons the other theories could be true as well and I guess we will never know. But for whatever his reason, Luke has investigated and is recording what he found concerning this movement began even before the advent of Jesus’ birth.

Luke has decided that the story begins with Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, both descendants of Aaron and upright in the sight of God. They were getting up in years and still had no children. Zechariah is chosen by lot to burn the incense. Luke 1:5-10 Zechariah has an experience that will change him (and the world) forever. An angel appeared to him. “When Zechariah saw him, he was gripped with fear. 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 give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people in Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous – to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’” Luke 1:12-18 What an awesome promise – a child, filled with the Holy Spirit from birth who will lead the people of Israel back to God – in the spirit and power of Elijah!

“Zechariah asked the angel, ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.’” Luke 1:18 Gabriel didn’t like being questioned! Zechariah was asking for a sign and he gave Zechariah a sign all right. He took away his ability to speak until the birth of the baby – nine whole months of sign language!

So many times I have wished for an angel to come and tell me something about the future – to help me make a good decision. But every time in the Bible when angels show up, they have to start with, “Do not be afraid!” I went to Biblegateway.com and put in the phrase, “do not be afraid,” and found that the exact phrase appears 65 times in the NIV Bible. The words “not” and “afraid” appear together 108 times. So I wonder, if an angel actually appeared to me, would I be afraid? More than likely, I would be very afraid. It is not an everyday occurrence and new things kind of make me uneasy anyway.

But the bigger question for me is how many times do I believe when God tells me something and how often do I ask for a sign? Can I learn to discern God’s voice in my life and respond or do I need to ask for a sign constantly for reassurance. It seems to come back to that big TRUST question. Do I trust God and take him at his Word or do I constantly question and seek reassurance. The angels didn’t silence Gideon when he put his fleece out. Judges 6-7 What is different about Zechariah? Maybe it is the context of the whole thing. Zechariah was not being asked to do something huge like Gideon was. Zechariah was simply being given a promise. God’s reassurance for Gideon was to help him believe he could do what God was asking him to do. Zechariah wasn’t being asked to do something huge – just to accept a promise and trust that God was behind it. The angel being there should have been sign enough for him that the promise would come true. Zechariah should have bit his tongue. I know – that’s easy for me to say since I have the end of the story and can see that the angel’s promise did come true. I’d probably be scared speechless too and want some reassurance.