Pastor's Note

 Dec. 1, 2021

What causes us fear? What is it that shakes our very being so that fear swells up in us? And what relieves us of fear?

In Luke 1, Zechariah the priest is doing his duty in the Temple of the Living God and fear falls on him. “There appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.  And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him” (Luke 1:11-12). 

What caused this fear? Zechariah was all alone in the temple and suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared. Did the angel silently slip out from behind the curtain in the Most Holy Place? THat room represented God’s presence here on earth. That action might make any of us shake in fear. Often fear is the result of a perceived threat. Somehow the presence of the angelic being, sent from God, caused a threat in this fallen creature - Zechariah.

What causes us fear? If we perceive threats to our livelihood, that might invoke fear. A sudden shift in the Dow Jones can cause signals of fear to resonate through the financiers who are watching the trends. 

How does God work to remove fear from Zechariah? First He gives a command through the angel: “Do not be afraid” (Luke 1:13). Such a command may not stifle the fear but it shows that God is not content with our state of fear. He seeks to alleviate it. 

Then the angel gives an antidote in the form of a gift. God is about to offer Zechariah and Elizabeth a miraculous blessing that will help him see that God has been listening all along. He has heard their tears and their cries for help. God knows that there have been many years of suffering from the lack of children’s voices in their house. And God cares. 

The part that strikes me in this account is that God’s personal care for his two children, Zechariah and Elizabeth, also matches up with God’s plan to have a forerunner for His Christ, the Messiah named Jesus. God lovingly provides a son through the miracle of regenerating Elizabeth’s womb. Zechariah and Elizabeth will now experience firsthand that God can do all things and do them well. Elizabeth becomes pregnant and God’s Old Testament prophecies of a forerunner now come to fruition in their household.

What are our fears? What causes those fears? What will God do to remove our fear? We can know that God does not desire for us to have fear. The Angels in Luke 2 also announce, “fear not!” There is good news of great joy for all creation, all mankind. John’s birth is just a precursor to an even greater event: the birth of Jesus. 

And there is the answer to how God alleviates our fears: “Jesus”. Jesus comes to drive away our fears. Jesus becomes God’s answer to the hurting and the lonely. Jesus is born to live for us and to die for us because God always hears our prayers and does answer. He did for Zechariah and Elizabeth. He will also answer our prayers, for Jesus’ sake - because Jesus earned that right for us.

Blessings to all of you in Jesus’ name!