Blameless, Yet Suffering

“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

Elizabeth and Zechariah could have been considered an ancient, religious “power couple.” Zechariah was a priest in Israel and Elizabeth, his wife, was a descendant of Aaron. Elizabeth even had the same name as Aaron’s wife in the Old Testament—her family was well aware of their position in the community. They were firmly entrenched in the priestly community and lived in a world where careful attention to God’s commands was essential and necessary for survival.

But despite such an honorable background, they were advanced in age and Elizabeth was unable to have children.

The situation that Elizabeth and Zechariah found themselves in was a very difficult one. Their inability to have children was likely wrenching emotionally, but in a religious community it would have also cast doubt on their relationships with God. Children were a blessing from the Lord (Ps. 127:3-5) and also a promise for those obedient to the covenant (De. 28:4). So the absence of the children for this couple implied that someone had a fault, or had done something wrong. To clarify this, the inspired writer noted that they both were blameless before God (Lk. 1:6). It is not that they had a good reputation publicly among people, which could have been a pretense, but that God bore witness to their blameless conduct.

But people are all too apt to attribute success in life as a sign of God’s blessing and adversity as a mark of His disfavor. In fact, often the reverse is true. Elizabeth and Zechariah’s lack of children wasn’t a signal from God that they were unrighteous, but instead pointed to a great blessing awaiting them. We know this because in Hebrew, the words that describe them as “advanced in age” are similar to the words used to describe Sarah and Abraham (Ge. 18:11). So we have a clue to what will happen for Elizabeth and Zechariah.

The suffering of the righteous is a common theme in Scripture, most notably with Christ, but we also see it with others. One such suffering is disgrace, in which a person suffers a loss of honor or reputation. Generally, disgrace occurs as a result of one’s actions. But in this case, Elizabeth and Zechariah hadn’t done anything wrong—even God testified for them! It is natural for us, as human beings, to want to be well thought of. But it is precisely in our faithfulness to God that we risk being dishonored or suffering shame. Mary, Elizabeth’s cousin and the mother of Jesus, experienced something similar. Jesus is the greatest example of this; He never sinned, but was subjected to the shame of crucifixion (Heb. 12:2).

But there is a glory which follows suffering righteously on behalf of God, in this life, and also in the world to come. God’s faithfulness resulted in Elizabeth and Zechariah having a child, who was John the Baptist. Now we understand the reason why their child was delayed—he was to be the forerunner for the Messiah. In their grief of watching friends, relatives, and even enemies bear children and enjoy fruitful lives, they could never have imagined what God had prepared for them. It didn’t cross their minds that they would have a son who would prepare the way of the Messiah, and would be His cousin. So great was John, that Jesus testified of him, saying “among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!”

There are several takeaways from this story:

1. God does things in His own timing, for His own purposes. God’s thoughts and actions are far outside of our comprehension. We all have things that we desire in life and we wonder why God hasn’t answered our prayers yet. It doesn’t occur to us that God has plans that are far beyond our wants and needs, or that His plans not only involve us, but also involve other people. It was perfectly normal for Elizabeth and Zechariah to want a child, and God planned to give them a son, but he was going to be an unusual child, a great blessing to humanity, and so he had to be born at a specific time. God’s delays sometimes accomplish great purposes.
2. You cannot know how God sees a person based on what happens to them. Far too often, people think that they have insight into what God thinks of others based on how the person is doing in life. They believe that God likes people who are successful, or are wealthy, or have a certain family life. This is especially true in religious communities, where temporal success is viewed as coming from God. But it is a mistake to view things this way. The Scripture teaches that God makes His sun to rise on the just and unjust (Mt. 5:45), and is kind to the ungrateful and to the evil (Lk. 6:35). It also teaches that the righteous suffer (1 Pe. 3:18) and those who do evil prosper (Ps. 73:3). It is impossible to understand God’s intentions towards others; God’s ways are unfathomable (Ro. 11:33).
3. Other people’s opinions are of little value. How do you think people treated Elizabeth and Zechariah? Remember, as a priestly couple without children, it would have appeared that God was withholding His blessing from them. How do you suppose religious people would have treated them? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but based on what we know, they likely faced some difficulties, either in dealing with people who pitied them, people who felt superior to them, or others who gossiped about them. But none of those opinions about them mattered; it was God’s view of them that was important. God didn’t think poorly of them at all; He thought so highly of them that He chose them to be the parents of the Messiah’s forerunner. God’s view of people is the most accurate.
4. Faithfulness to God always has a reward. To have been considered blameless at an advanced age means that Elizabeth and Zechariah had followed the Lord faithfully, for many, many years. Even while waiting for the blessing of a child. Even when their bodies could no longer bear children. But after all hope was lost, God, in His timing, gave them a son. There is a reward for serving God faithfully.