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. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
Luke 1:5-7

Have you ever felt forgotten by God? Imagine for a moment that you are Zechariah or Elizabeth. Not only did they come from great families of holy origin, but they lived their lives in such a way as to be referred to by God through Scripture as blameless.* They, like Paul, lived their lives in accordance to the law, and honored God.*

Though they came from great families and honored their families and God in the way with which they lived, they did not have children.* In the Hebrew culture of the time, barrenness was sometimes seen as punishment for sin, though this was hardly the case with Elizabeth.* Having lived a blameless life, she appeared to either be the victim of the brokenness of this world, or God had something more dramatic in mind.

Having reached “advanced years,” the discouragement and hopelessness of not having a child must have been great. It would have been easy for Zechariah or Elizabeth to think, “God has forgotten me.” The discouragement of their deferred hope would have been only magnified by the expectancy of each and every Jewish mother-to-be that asked, “could this child be the Messiah?”* Zechariah and Elizabeth seemed to have missed that opportunity for excitement and expectancy.

Further darkening the scene, Luke frames the timing of his Gospel message as during the rule of Herod. Herod ruled as the king of Judea, placed there by the oppressive leadership of Rome.* Herod was brutal and tyrannical.* It was a difficult time in history, to say the least.

In this dark political and emotional scene, we find two people serving God faithfully, even if feelings of being forgotten threaten their hope. Where do we find them? In the Temple.

Luke’s Gospel begins (v. 5) and ends (24:49-53) with mention of the Temple as if the Temple were bookends of his story.* Though Jesus challenged the religious rulers of His day, and though we see Jesus emphasizing heart-standards rather than religious standards (with heart-standards being the higher standard of the two), the hope of the Gospel begins in Israel, as a part of its culture, and nestled in the religious system of Judaism — not apart from it.

Eternal hope sprang fourth from this difficult place.

We can all relate to feeling forgotten. We can all relate to being in a season that feels that it would never end. We can all find ourselves questioning if anything good can come from the religious systems that seem to hurt us at times.

Jesus says, “yes.” Jesus says, “yes, I see you. Jesus says, “yes, there is hope.” Jesus says to you and I today, “yes, the hope of this world begins in my people.”

We are not perfect, but we don’t have to be. We must simply trust Him.

The Hebrew meaning of the name Elizabeth is debated to some degree, but scholars agree that its meaning includes trusting God.* What does Zechariah mean? It means “remembered by God.”* Coincidence? I think not.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to know that He remembers you. Perhaps today God wants you to look at the darkness of you situation and take hope: life can spring up even here. Maybe today God wants you to turn your eyes from your circumstances and back to Him. Perhaps today God wants you to trust Him.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

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*Bock, D. L. (1994). Luke (Lk 1:5–7). InterVarsity Press.
Garland, D. E. (2012). Luke (pp. 64–65). Zondervan.
Edwards, J. R. (2015). The Gospel according to Luke (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 31–34). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Liefeld, W. L., & Pao, D. W. (2007). Luke. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition) (Vol. 10, p. 54). Zondervan.
Bock, D. L. (1996). Luke (p. 48). Zondervan Publishing House.
Bock, D. L. (1994). Luke: 1:1–9:50 (Vol. 1, pp. 75–78). Baker Academic.
Nolland, J. (1989). Luke 1:1–9:20 (Vol. 35A, pp. 25–27). Word, Incorporated.