A mediator between God and man
Zacharias
Zacharias was a priest of the course of Abia, chosen by lot to burn incense in the temple, when the angel Gabriel appeared to tell him he would father the forerunner of the Messiah. His story moves from doubt and silence to a great song of praise, joining the last days of the old priesthood to the dawn of the gospel.
“According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.”Luke 1:9
Who he was
Who he was. Luke introduces "a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia," and his wife Elisabeth, also of the daughters of Aaron. "And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless" (Luke 1:5-6). Yet they were old and childless, for Elisabeth was barren. While Zacharias served in the temple, "his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord," and there Gabriel appeared and announced that Elisabeth would bear a son named John, who would go before the Lord "in the spirit and power of Elias" (Luke 1:8-17). Zacharias doubted, asking how he could know this given their age, and Gabriel answered that he would be "dumb, and not able to speak" until the promise was fulfilled (Luke 1:18-20). When the child was born and Zacharias, by writing, confirmed his name would be John, "his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God" (Luke 1:64). Filled with the Holy Ghost, he prophesied the song known as the Benedictus (Luke 1:67-79).
His priesthood
His priesthood. Zacharias served in the ordinary faithful round of the Levitical priesthood at its very close, before the greater High Priest appeared. Burning incense in the holy place was a high privilege, granted by lot perhaps once in a lifetime, and it pictured the prayers of God's people rising to Him, "and the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense" (Luke 1:10). Into that setting of prayer God spoke. Zacharias was a righteous and blameless man, yet even he faltered in faith when the promise seemed too great for his years, and God gently disciplined him with silence, not cutting him off but teaching him. His muteness became a sign, and when it broke, it broke into praise. In the Benedictus he blesses God for visiting and redeeming His people, for raising up "an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David," and he speaks over his own son as "the prophet of the Highest" who will "go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways" (Luke 1:69, 76). His priestly voice announces the covenant kept.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. Zacharias stands on the threshold between the old and the new. He is a priest of Aaron's line, offering incense in the temple, and God uses that very moment to announce the coming of the One who fulfills all the priesthood. His son John would be the forerunner who cries, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). The Benedictus reads Christ's coming as the keeping of God's oath to Abraham and the raising up of salvation in David's house (Luke 1:68-73), showing that the whole old covenant, including its priesthood, was straining toward Him. The incense Zacharias offered, a figure of prayer ascending, points to the great High Priest through whom our prayers now rise, and to the golden altar before the throne (Revelation 8:3-4). Even his doubt magnifies the grace of the God who keeps promises we struggle to believe. The old priest fell silent; his son would be a voice; and both prepared the way for the Word made flesh.
Questions people ask
Why was Zacharias struck silent?
When Gabriel announced that Elisabeth would bear a son, Zacharias asked, "Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man" (Luke 1:18). For his unbelief Gabriel told him he would be unable to speak until the promise was fulfilled (Luke 1:20). It was a discipline and a sign, not a rejection, and it ended in praise when John was born.
What is the Benedictus?
The Benedictus is the prophecy Zacharias spoke, filled with the Holy Ghost, at John's birth (Luke 1:68-79), named from its opening in Latin, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel." It praises God for visiting and redeeming His people, for the horn of salvation in David's house, and it foretells John's role in preparing the way of the Lord.
Why does the angel appear during the incense offering?
Burning incense in the holy place, while the people prayed outside (Luke 1:10), was a sacred moment picturing prayers rising to God. It was a fitting setting for God to answer long prayers and announce the Messiah's forerunner. It also links the old priestly worship with the new work God was beginning in Christ.