The Looked Over Priest Who Prepared the Way for Jesus

In this Bible teaching, we explore the often-overlooked story of Zechariah in Luke 1 and discover how his faithfulness, misunderstanding, and expectancy prepare the way for the Advent of Jesus Christ.

Far more than background characters in the Christmas story, Zechariah and Elizabeth stand at the threshold of redemptive history, where God breaks centuries of silence and announces the coming of the Messiah. This study walks through Luke 1, drawing out theological depth, historical context, and spiritual application—showing how Advent is not merely about waiting for Christmas morning, but ultimately about our anticipation of Jesus’ second coming and learning to trust God’s promises when they feel delayed, improbable, or costly.

If you desire a deeper, Christ-centered understanding of Advent, the birth of Jesus, and how God prepares hearts for His redemptive work, this teaching will help anchor your faith in the faithfulness of God and the certainty of His Word.

Listen to + Download the Audio Study

Historical Shorthand

Luke 1:5– In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

• Shorthand reminder that Rome is in control (evil is controlling the land), things are oppressive, and that “everything” (especially the temple system at that time) was corrupt.⁽¹⁾

Zechariah

• Levitical priest
• Know nothing of his past or family or why he was named Zechariah
• “Zechariah” means: Yahweh remembers; Yahweh is renowned; the one in whom Yahweh remembers
  • his name invokes God’s personal and covenantal name … and recalls His promise and testimony to be faithful to His people
  • his name also points back  500 years to the prophet Zechariah … who wrote about the promised hope of a functioning temple and a restored kingdom community.
  • So Zechariah’s name came with a history, legacy, and hope for the future.
• Doug Greenwold – The mention of Zechariah’s name evokes prophetic echoes of Messiah’s coming, priesthood, kingship, glory and His enduring reign of peace and prosperity. … Growing up, Zechariah probably heard his father recount the significance of his name until he could recite that history backward and forward in his sleep. “Whom Jehovah remembers” would have been ingrained in his mind and embossed on his soul. Its legacy would be an imprint on his character that he could never forget, never deny, never walk away from: “The Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob always remembers, and had remembered his father too. And my name signifies all that, and more!” ⁽²⁾

Elizabeth

• “Elizabeth” means: God of the oath/covenant; a worshiper of God; my God has sworn; or “one who swears by God” … [Greek form of Elisheba]
• she came from a Levitical priestly family … important in the culture for a priest to marry the daughter of a priest to remain in the priesthood ⁽³⁾
• Elizabeth was also the name of Aaron’s wife (Exodus 6:23), which would have been another great name and legacy

Zechariah and Elizabeth

• Based on the culture of the times, when they got married, Zechariah would probably have been at least 20 and Elizabeth likely around 13. ⁽⁴⁾
• Assumption: a levitical marriage, with historic names, surely this is a marriage that God would bless (i.e., children)
  • The question is not if God would bless with children, but with how many … and specifically how man sons would they have to carry on the priestly role?
  • God is the giver of life; and children was evidence of His blessing and favor. To be childless (barren) was akin to declaring you were a sinner, out of favor with Yahweh, or that your family was under God’s punishment and judgment. ⁽⁵⁾
• Luke 1:6– And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and righteous requirements of the Lord.
  • Luke uses the present tense “walking blamelessly” (poreuō amemptos) …  they lived without fault
• Luke 1:7– But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.
  • In this simple statement is decades of pain, disappointment, hurt, frustration, and misunderstanding. ⁽⁶⁾
  • And in first century Judaism, this certainly doesn’t make any sense.
  • Inconceivable: they have no children, Zechariah had never been chosen to give the incense offering

Endless Waiting and Misunderstanding

• Luke 1:8–9– Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.
• Luke 1:5– In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah …

Priestly Service in the Temple

As Doug Greenwold wrote,

By this time in Israel’s history, the number of ordinary Levitical priests is estimated to be upwards of 20,000. For organizational purposes, the priesthood was divided into 24 divisions of approximately 850 priests each. Each division was further separated into six family branches, or clans. Through rotating the Temple work among these 24 divisions, each division would be on duty for one week’s service, then off for 23 weeks while the other priestly divisions served in their appointed order. While on duty, each of the family clans served for one day with all six clans joining together to serve on the Sabbath.

One of the obligations of each division’s service was performing the four mandated daily offerings and sacrifices. This included the incense offering in the Holy Place which, because of its location so close to the Holy of Holies, was considered to be the most coveted service for a priest to carry out. Since there were generally more priests in a division than might ever be able to perform the incense offering, a priest was allowed to serve once in his lifetime. As a result, a lot-casting system was established to allow God to select the priest He desired to honor with that service.

The lot-casting procedure was well prescribed. Those priests who had not been previously chosen in the family clan for this service would gather prior to the incense offering in the Chamber of Hewn Stone, located in Temple Mount. There they would position themselves in a circle with the leader of the family clan at the center. After required prayers, the leader approached a priest of his choosing in the circle and removed his headdress (turban). This act indicated where the lot counting would begin. As the headdress was being lifted, each of the priests in the circle simultaneously raised a hand in front of himself, pointing one finger upwards. The leader would then announce a self-selected number significantly greater than the number of priests in the circle, such as 187. The process of counting fingers would then start from one to 187, beginning with the priest whose headdress had been removed. Counting progressed around the circle from priest to priest until 187 fingers were numbered. The priest with the 187th finger was the one selected from the family clan to perform the incense offering that day. After decades of participating in this process (some consider Zechariah to be sixty years old when Luke introduces us to him), Zechariah never gets selected. Sometimes the count ended just before him, and sometimes just after, but never with him. … it is highly improbable that there were any other priests in the family clan who were childless, never selected for the incense offering and also as old as Zechariah. ⁽⁷⁾

Misunderstood

• In a culture who saw God’s favor based on behavior, to be childless, unchosen, and overlooked was the epitome of shame.
• They “looked” righteous, but obviously not.
• Some rabbis taught that while God chastened people out of love, there were two conditions that punishment could not be received or seen out of love: leprosy and childlessness. ⁽⁸⁾
• The misunderstanding and questions would have increased year after year as Zechariah returned to the Temple every 24 weeks and Elizabeth continued childless decade after decade.
• Luke 1:24–25 – After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked upon me to take away my disgrace among men.”
  • J.B. Phillips paraphrase: “the shame that I have suffered.”
• Misunderstood, hurt, and probably confused … yet Zechariah and Elizabeth lived faithful and righteous regardless of their circumstance.

Zechariah’s Encounter

• Luke 1:11–17– And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will not drink any wine or strong drink [Nazarite vow], and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous,to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
  • “John” means: Yahweh has been gracious; Yahweh has graciously given
  • Zechariah (the one in whom Yahweh remembers) and his wife Elizabeth (God has sworn an oath/covenant) will finally have a son (Yahweh has been gracious) and that son will prepare the people for the arrival of the Messiah and turn their hearts back to Yahweh (repent)
• Luke 1:18–20– And Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands before God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. “And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”
  • Zechariah is the first to hear of the Messiah’s coming … and yet because of his doubt in biology, he is “sworn to silence.”
• Luke 1:21–22– And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and were wondering at his delay in the sanctuary. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. And he kept making signs to them, and remained mute.
  • Part of the protocol of the incense offering was for the officiating priest to come out of the Temple and offer the blessing of Numbers 6:24–26:
    • Numbers 6:24–26 – Yahweh bless you, and keep you; Yahweh make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; Yahweh lift up His face on you, and give you peace.
  • The people would respond: “Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.” ⁽⁹⁾
  • This is the only time, that we know of, that the priestly blessing after the incense offering was not given by the officiating priest. ⁽¹⁰⁾
• Luke 1:23–24– And it happened that when the days of his priestly service were fulfilled, he went back home. After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived …

Nine Months Later

• Luke 1:57–67– Now the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had magnified His great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her. And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, after the name of his father. But his mother answered and said, “No, but he shall be called John.” And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” And they were making signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they all marveled. And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak, blessing God. And fear came on all those living around them, and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. And all who heard these things put them in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was indeed with him. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying …
  • Zechariah declares prophecy and raise (Luke 1:68–80)
  • Kevin D. Zuber– In one long sentence (1:68–75) Zacharias praised God for His work of fulfilling His covenant promises to David (1:69) and to Abraham (1:73). This work of “covenant fulfillment” was to be accomplished by the One whom John would one day announce and introduce to the world—this child (you, child 1:76). In the rest of the song (1:77–79) Zacharias highlighted the ministry of the coming One [Messiah] in terms of salvation, forgiveness, mercy, guidance, and peace. ⁽¹¹⁾

Advent

For Zechariah, Advent was the anticipation of his own son and the coming Messiah, but his life reminds us of five things …

1. Zechariah reminds us that God often chooses to work through the ordinary

• An older faithful couple living righteously day-to-day becomes the vessels through whom the forerunner of the Messiah comes forth
• The Messiah is birthed through a virgin young women in a small backwater town and laid in an unimpressive stone feeding trough 
• Jesus chose 12 rather ordinary and unimpressive disciples and then hung out so often with the ragtag commoners that it was a part of the elite’s accusation against Him (see Matthew 9:10–13; Luke 7:34; Mark 2:14–17)
• You and I
• 1 Corinthians 1:26–27– For consider your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong …

2. Zechariah reminds us of God’s faithfulness

• Zechariah (Yahweh remembers; Yahweh is renowned)
• God is faithful
  • Deuteronomy 7:9– “You shall know therefore that Yahweh your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments …”
  • Lamentations 3:22–23– The lovingkindnesses of Yahweh indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
  • Psalm 36:5– Your lovingkindness, O Yahweh, is in the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
  • 1 Corinthians 1:9 – God is faithful …
  • 2 Timothy 2:13– If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
  • 1 John 1:9– If we confess our sins,He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

3. Zechariah reminds us that God has perfect timing, even if it doesn’t look “right” to us

• Luke 1:5– In the days of Herod, king of Judea …
• Ecclesiastes 3:1– There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every matter under heaven …
• Isaiah 60:21–22– “Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may show forth My beautiful glory. The smallest one will become a clan, And the miniscule one a mighty nation. I, Yahweh, will hasten it in its time.”
• Galatians 6:9– And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
• Psalm 27:14(NKJV) – Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!

4. Zechariah reminds us to live righteously, even in an ungodly age

• Luke 1:6– And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and righteous requirements of the Lord.
• Titus 2:11–12– For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age …

5. Zechariah reminds us there is great hope in what is to come

• In Zechariah’s day, things were dark, evil, and corrupt … and God seemed “silent” amidst it all. Yet Luke starts the record of Jesus with Zechariah and Elizabeth and the birth of John

First coming … second coming

• The First Advent of Jesus, our Messiah, fulfilled over 300 prophecies
  • The statistical impossibility is staggering
  • “Texas Silver Dollar” analogy: the odds of someone fulfilling even 8 prophecies by chance are like blindfolding someone and sending them off to wander Texas filled two feet deep with silver dollars, having to choose a marked coin in their first pick.
  • 10 Pennies: number 10 pennies 1-10. Put them in your pocket and the odds of pulling out the coin marked 1 is 1-in-10. The odds of pulling out the coin marked 2 after pulling #1 goes up exponentially (1-in-100). If all the way up to penny 10, odds are 1-in-10 billion.
• The second Advent of Jesus (His second coming) some scholars say there are upwards of 2000 prophecies that will be fulfilled
  • If there was hope in Jesus’ first coming, how much more in His second?
  • Revelation 22:7, 20– “And behold, I am coming quickly. … Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
  • 2 Timothy 4:8– In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
  • Philippians 1:6– For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
  • Hebrews 10:24–25– And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
  • 1 Thessalonians 4:18– Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Advent is not merely a celebration of Jesus’ first coming but a reminder to continually be expectant and longing for His return

• Titus 2:13 – … [waiting and] looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ …

FOOTNOTES

(1) Herod is also the rebuilder and political controller of the great Temple in Jerusalem. The mention of his name is a reminder that the current Temple high priesthood, who hold their Temple “franchise” subject to Herod’s continuing approval, are not only illegitimate3, but corrupt. // Doug Greenwold, Zechariah and Elizabeth: Persistent Faith in a Faithful God, A Digging Deeper Faith Study (Gaithersburg, MD: Doug Greenwold, 2004), 9.
(2) Doug Greenwold, Zechariah and Elizabeth: Persistent Faith in a Faithful God, A Digging Deeper Faith Study (Gaithersburg, MD: Doug Greenwold, 2004), 10–11.
(3) Joachim Jeremias, “Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus”, p. 214.
(4) See James C. Martin, “The Gospels in Context”, self published, 2002, pp. 33 & 34 … as quoted in Doug Greenwold, Zechariah and Elizabeth: Persistent Faith in a Faithful God, A Digging Deeper Faith Study (Gaithersburg, MD: Doug Greenwold, 2004), 14.
(5) See John Hastings, “Dictionary of the New Testament”, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1973, p. 844. … and James Orr, “The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia”, Volume I, Eerdmans Publishing 1957, p. 406
(6) With incredible economy of words, and with sudden, new and unexpected information, Luke packs decades of pain, disappointment, hurt, frustration, self-doubt and misunderstanding into one sentence, with the word “barren” being the most arresting. // Doug Greenwold, Zechariah and Elizabeth: Persistent Faith in a Faithful God, A Digging Deeper Faith Study (Gaithersburg, MD: Doug Greenwold, 2004), 18.
(7) Doug Greenwold, Zechariah and Elizabeth: Persistent Faith in a Faithful God, A Digging Deeper Faith Study (Gaithersburg, MD: Doug Greenwold, 2004), 17–18.
(8) Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, vol. 1 (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1896), 494–554.
(9) Alfred Edersheim, “The Temple”, p. 115. … as quoted in Doug Greenwold, Zechariah and Elizabeth: Persistent Faith in a Faithful God, A Digging Deeper Faith Study (Gaithersburg, MD: Doug Greenwold, 2004), 31.
(10) When it came time for Zechariah to say this blessing, he opened his mouth and nothing came out! As far as we know, this was the only time the blessing at the end of the incense offering could not be uttered by the officiating priest. Talk about instant notoriety. Suddenly this oft-passed-over priest is the “talk of the Temple,” and this news will soon travel back to his own village. // Doug Greenwold, Zechariah and Elizabeth: Persistent Faith in a Faithful God, A Digging Deeper Faith Study (Gaithersburg, MD: Doug Greenwold, 2004), 31–32.
(11) Kevin D. Zuber, “Luke,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1558.

Photo Credit: created on AI

---

Join the Conversation

Question: What are you most excited for advent (Jesus’ first AND second)?

» Leave a response below the video on YouTube(click here) …

The difficulty with podcasts is that they are typically one-sided—so I encourage you to head over to the deeperChristian YouTube page and leave a comment on the video study to join in the conversation. And don’t forget to subscribe to the channel while you’re there!