As For Me and My Family . . .

As for Me and My Family
Karl Evans

Zechariah considered himself lucky. He was a priest of Israel. That was enough, but he was more. A holy man, a son in a family of priests. In the very personal way of his ancestors, Zechariah chose to live his life as a very public priest.

Everyone around watched as he put his faith and his beliefs into every motion and word. His friends and neighbors honored his calling. Any priest could and often did fail as a man. The honor was for his calling. The calling came from the Lord.

Zechariah spent his hours and his will helping others. He gathered around himself any who were willing to struggle seriously with life. Their own relationships with family and neighbors, with the temple and with the Lord were their focus.

Together they worked out details of their own faith in action. These faithful Jews tried to be carefully proper in religious practice. As do any who are called to help order this part of life, Zechariah worked hard to develop patterns and habits of faith in action.

The sacrifices and other rituals were in Zechariah’s keeping. Helping his family and his neighbors work out their relationships with the Creator was his life. It was the holiest of callings. The prayers, songs and readings from the scrolls of the faith were his tools. These pieces of literature made relationships with the Lord real in the hearts of the people.

The nation of Zechariah was the holiest of nations. His language was the holiest of languages. The sacred hope of Zechariah was to use himself and his tools completely. His task was to build the Kingdom of the Lord with those tools. He lived to lead the community to deeper relationship with the Lord of the Universe.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were very aware this. They were most comfortable with his sacred portion. He had within his soul the sense and the responsibility of sacred events. The timing and shaping of the most ordinary, important and beautiful human activities were in his care.

Many priests do not have this inner excitement of the soul. It arises from close contact with the Divine One. Some of the priests who seemed most public around the temple were especially tepid with their sacrificial touch. Priestly wannabes often passed ritual sensitivity off as some sort of softness or even lunacy. Spiritual sensitivity taking hold of one’s life is a universally beautiful event.

Sometimes Zechariah felt wonderful ecstasy when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies. The only action – ever – in that room was the High Priest speaking the name of the Lord. This majestic act came only once each year. On the Day of Atonement. Knowing that was happening at that precise moment always gave Zechariah a bodily chill.

Sometimes Zechariah thrilled to the sacred chants of the temple priests. It was a high sacred moment when one of them approached the altar. The temple priest usually walked accompanied by two visiting priests. These men came from other parts of the world on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In the holy city each tried to serve at the temple as an act of faith. Serving two times each year at the temple was the standard.

Together they approached the altar slowly and solemnly. Together they offered prayers as they lit little bits of incense. The incense burned slowly and quietly. As it glowed, the scent lifted the whole environment while Zechariah's heart pounded within him.

Sacred events were Zechariah's full calling in life. More than anything else in life he wanted more than to lift his life to the Lord. It was his way to serve through the rituals of the temple, synagogue and home.

His heart quickened at all such times. Zechariah always preferred to be in Jerusalem. Whether he lived his days out in Jerusalem or not, his soul was there. Sometimes he watched the rituals in person if he happened to be in Jerusalem at the Temple on his semiannual duty.

If Zechariah stayed home in Galilee, he was still a priest. He earned his living trading leather goods at the market. But even in the market place, he lived the temple rhythms. His heart knew the sacrifice and prayer times at the temple.

At these hours his mind's eye filled with the vision of the priests. Zechariah could see them going about their duties a hundred and fifty miles away.

He even warmed to the ancient readings from Ezekiel and Isaiah at the appointed time. These sacred words told of the work of the priests in Babylonian exile six hundred years earlier.

Even the work of the priests of the Babylonian religion was exciting to contemplate. The Babylonians had held the Hebrews captive two hundred years. They had their own gods.
Babylonian life centered around the Ziggurat and the great temples of the enslaving people. But these men and women remained faithful to their gods and to their calling. The Jews knew these priests must be honored and respected as faithful in their way. The calling to be a priest is high in every religion of earth. There is a unity of the priesthood, even across faith lines.

Zechariah's calling as a priest of the One God surpassed any nationalist patriotism. The thought of any faithful priestly action moved his soul to new life.

On one of his duty weeks in Jerusalem Zechariah held the privilege of attending to the temple priest of the day. The temple priest skillfully organized the evening prayer and incense offering. The priest asked Zechariah to lead the procession to the altar. This was both an honor and a personally dramatic moment.

Zechariah walked stately along the aisle. The path carried him between the rows of a couple hundred Jerusalem residents and visitors who had gathered for the daily ritual. The Galilean priest carried the incense box at arms’ length in front of him. Zechariah walked intently and steadily toward the alter. As he walked, he chanted the old call to worship. These stately words echo even today through the assemblies of God's people.

"Prepare the way of the Lord!"
"Prepare the way of the Lord!"

Now the three priests stood in deep reverence at the altar. This is yet the holiest place of the holiest people. The holiest words spoken carefully by the priest expressed the holiest thoughts of humankind.

Zechariah was to light the incense at the great altar. But the faithful man, lost in spiritual sensitivity before the altar, seemed unable to move. It was as though he were frozen in time and space.

The temple priest was prepared for this. The guild of priests knew the embarrassing possibility. They knew one day some priest from a far land might get stage fright and be unable to serve. When the priest sensed a frozen moment, he covered the clumsiness. Easily he stepped around the frozen priest. The priest took the match from the hand of Zechariah and touched the incense with it.

The patient priest could not know the fullness of the vision of the faithful Zechariah. Zechariah stood, eyes wide-open but unseeing. A brilliant vision came before him at the altar. This vision shaped his entire life in a quick ritual moment. Somehow he knew in this time that Elizabeth would bear a son. The son would be one for whom they had prayed in earnest hope. They knew God would answer.

Zechariah also knew his son’s name would be John. This would be a surprise, for John was not a name from his own family. His inability to speak now told him he would be mute from that day until the day John was born!

Zechariah was immediately lifted high by the vision. For nine months it didn't matter he couldn't speak. Elizabeth would have a son. That would have brought pleasure and excitement enough to the elderly couple. The greater thrill was that this son would be a holy priest, perhaps even the high priest!

Both Zechariah and Elizabeth were of the Levitic priestly line. That meant their son would have an opportunity to become the high priest of the nation. True, it was somewhat a political office. It was certainly the highest office in the world in the minds of these faithful lovers.

The most difficult condition for a high priest of the nation was met in the marriage of Zechariah and Elizabeth. The high priest had to be the son of a man and woman who were both of priestly families. This possibility alone would validate every part of their lives together. It would give sacred wings to their love!

The second condition for the high priest had to do with commitment. Many men who might be candidates were simply not willing to serve. The high priesthood had sunk to a low level now. The reign of Herod and the occupation by Rome had been hard on the priesthood.

Herod the Great, the alien king, had installed his own high priest. Rome recognized this man as the legitimate voice of the temple. They only wanted to pacify Herod. Recognition by the people as the only meaningful high priest meant extreme danger. It probably would bring certain death. Herod would tolerate no opposition. A high priest and his family must face this as a matter of ordinary life.

On the other hand, Herod could name any man as high priest. Then the priests and lay people of the Jews could and would reject him as legitimate. This would replace the spiritual realities of the temple with politics and rebellion. Zechariah and Elizabeth knew all this. Their faith moved them to go beyond the danger and support their son toward his calling.

The son was born, Zechariah called him "John."

"John?" Elizabeth and many friends of the family were puzzled. "Why have you chosen that name for your son? There is no one else in the family by that name. Have you lost your sense of reason? Is your tongue not working properly?"

Zechariah could only smile and answer "The Lord has told me his name should be `John'. That is all I know." From that day forward, Zechariah could speak again.

For the next twelve years, Zechariah and Elizabeth and the local rabbi, Simeon, schooled him well. Simeon taught John to read the scriptures of the ancient days. Elizabeth told him all they knew about the covenant between God and the people Israel. Zechariah talked through with him the matter of righteousness and holiness.

Zechariah and Elizabeth realized their special calling. Each day they spent hour after hour pouring through all the prophetic teachings about the Messiah.

What is most important, they knew the Messiah was yet to come. They talked as a family about what the Messiah would mean to Israel. They shared visions of the world after he did make his appearance.

The family talked about the Messiah also being a priest. They planned what the family and Israel must do to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. This conversation placed an additional strain on their lives, but it was a good strain. It helped them deal with the stress of living under the Herods and the Romans.

Israel as a nation must constantly prepare itself for the coming of the Messiah. Their son might be the one who would lead Israel in its preparation for redemption. If so, surely Zechariah and Elizabeth would have great responsibility. On their shoulders would rest preparation of their son for his life's work.

They raised their son to be at peace with God. Elizabeth said they should prepare the way of the Lord. They could do this by building into their family an ability to love. Their commitment must be to righteousness. Their call was to serve the Lord without reservation.

In the evenings the family talked of their faith. Young John began to form in his heart deeper feelings about preparation for the Messiah. The maturing youth began to see the radical nature of his call to be the voice of the Lord. He was called to serve without concern for the danger to his own life.

As the years passed, Zechariah often took John along on his duty weeks in Jerusalem. As his father before him, the boy sensed his calling. Young John always found himself caught up in one spectacular moment in the daily life of the temple. At this high sacred point the priest walked down the aisle of the Temple chanting:

"Prepare the way of the Lord!"
"Prepare the way of the Lord!"

John sometimes stood hidden deep in the crowd. At other times he was near enough to touch his father's hand. Often he could close his eyes, sensing nothing but the grace of the ritual. Now, instead of the priest singing, it was the sound of a majestic angel crying out:

"Prepare the way of the Lord!"
"Prepare the way of the Lord!"

Always the lessons of the faith ran through his heart in these words. These spoken moments of living faith were precious. They were stronger to him than all the reading from the scriptures. Reading and lifting the covenant required hours of concentration. Deep questions from the synagogue class stretched his mind. John took all this very seriously.

Then came the day they ordained John a priest. He was now a special man. Legally and in the eyes of the religion, he was set apart. He was not just an adult male. That ceremony had come three years earlier at his twelfth birthday. Today he is ordained as a priest in the nation Israel.

For John, fasting for the required thirty days before the ceremony was not bad. He had fasted earlier in his life. The strong young man was all right with the rigors of going without food. John rather enjoyed spending his fasting time in prayer and in meditation. The new priest was obsessed now with the events of this day. He knew his own responsibilities as a priest.

John had always looked ahead to the next few years. He would spend his time learning the rituals and practices of temple service. Then he would be ready to take his turn at the high place.

But in these early days of fasting and preparation, John had become aware of a very different plan for his life. This plan did not seem to come from within himself. He felt it came from his relationship with the Lord. It showed itself as a self awareness vision. The plan would take him in directions away from temple service and ceremonial purity.

John walked slowly to the cool tiled pool in the Essene community. His heart was comfortable here where his ordination was to take place. His warm eyes met his father’s. Zechariah was now a very old man, but his faith was warm.

John's ears – but not his heart – were hearing the tender prayer-psalms of the Essenes, the pious and faithful ones. These were prayers for purity and faithfulness and simplicity. They focused his mind and heart again on the old, old words of the temple chants.

Even in Zechariah’s late years his voice was strong and disciplined and clear. John stepped slowly into the cool waters of the pool. As he did, he heard his father's voice as if again ringing from the steps of the Temple.

"Prepare the way of the Lord!"
"Prepare the way of the Lord!"

Now the waters of the Pool of the Purification were feeling cool on his feet. Carefully the personal helpers among the priests and laity moved to him. They began to ritually strip him of his robes and his loin cloth. Pausing only for a simple prayer, John was aware at once of the Temple call to prepare the way of the Lord. With that in his heart, he plunged naked into the cool waters of the Pool of Purification.

The determined young John, a Man of the Lord, knelt on the bottom of the pool. A priest ran his hand over John's back and head to be certain the clear waters of the Pool of Purification covered it completely.

The waters came over his body and released him from the forces of gravity and from his own past. John felt himself lifted now. He was not aware whether he was buoyed by something ordinary or other worldly. It might be the physical buoyancy of his body in the waters, by the Spirit of the Lord, or by his own commitment. John knew full well his was a special role in the world. It was a role no one else could fill. Somehow the Lord would use the waters of this Pool of Purification. With them the Lord would release both John and the nation from the sins of the past.

Somehow within John there was a way of knowing sacred things. John knew he would not die until he had seen the Messiah, the Chosen One of the Lord. John would live to greet the One who would redeem the world.

John would see - perhaps even be a catalyst for - the making of the new relationship between the Lord and the People. Then this new way of living would last until the end of time.
John knew it was God's grace which redeems. He also knew it is a person’s responsibility to live the pure life after the redemption. More, it had been the grace of the Lord which had chosen John. He eagerly answered his own call. John was read for his own role. He could and would announce the coming of the Messiah to the world.

His Spirit now felt calmed by the waters of purification. John rose to come out. Here was the new man, baptized by water and purified by grace. He dried himself carefully in the sun. The boy-man who would be priest then wrapped the towel around himself. His mother had prepared a soft white cloth especially for this sacred event.

One of John's mentors among the priests of the Essenes led him to the cupboard where the scrolls of scripture were kept. These scrolls of the laws of Moses and of the Prophets were open to his choice.

John was surprised to feel his hand taken by his father. Zechariah gently squeezed it. Then with great determination he placed it gently on the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He firmly but gently pressed the young hand against the document of hope and expectation. The Teacher of Righteousness served as leader of the Essene community. Now he repeated the words said over all priests at their ordination, even to this day.

"Take the authority to teach and to declare that which you find in the Scriptures. May the Lord defend you with righteous strength and heavenly grace."

Again the voices of the community around John rang with the old words. They were the sacred call heard in the temple and in the temple of John's heart.

"Prepare the way of the Lord."
"Prepare the way of the Lord."

Zechariah and Elizabeth spread John's robe around his shoulders. The parents held him in a family embrace for a moment. They kissed and shared huge tears.

As the three held each other, Elizabeth's mind wandered to the first days of her son's life. Those first painful days were filled with humbling awe at the new life. The mother both reveled in and dreaded the prospect of future threats and hurts. Even when she held him as an infant, there was a special quality about him.

John went to greet each spiritual brother or sister in the little Essene community. The young priest hugged each individually. As their faces touched, John heard only words of personal and community support.

As each held John for a moment, one could hear a little prayer and personal request for the new priest.

"Prepare the way of the Lord!"
"Prepare the way of the Lord!"

Then John returned for one last quietly ecstatic embrace with his parents. Now committed and ordained, the new priest stood for a moment alone. Then the would-be high priest of the nation Israel walked slowly off into the desert.