Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
We long for his coming. He is the fulfillment of desires so deep we don't entirely realize what they are.
And suddenly there will come to the temple
the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.
And yet, there is an element of danger to his coming.
Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
But who will endure the day of his coming?
And who can stand when he appears?
There is a quote from Narnia which comes to mind
“Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”The King who comes wants to make our life something which "will please the LORD as in the days of old, as in years gone by." This business is too important to let concerns about "safety" and "comfort" detract from it.
Zechariah experiences that interactions with this King are very much like playing with fire when he loses his voice as doubts the angels message. But he finds that the fire "is like the refiner’s fire". It plants obedience to the angel's command in his heart.
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.
And now that he is willing to acquiesce to God's will his tongue is loosed. Yes, there is danger. There is even hardship. But it leads greater goods. It is not safe, but this allows Zechariah to embrace God's will for his son which means that their hearts can be turned toward each other.
To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,
and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
It causes the whole hill country to recognize that God is moving. It causes them to lift their eyes up from circumstances to see God at work in their midst.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.”
Our King is coming and while he is by no means safe he is very very good indeed.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
Emmanuel is God with us. This is the coming King. We can't expect safety, so let us embrace danger on his terms.
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