Luke 1:21-25 Zechariah returns to Elizabeth

Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary. When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. When his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, “This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.”

Zechariah’s life was transformed by the experience he had in the sanctuary. Not just a vision of the angel Gabriel (who at this point was probably more real to Zechariah than the people outside), but a vision of his own future, raising a son with a holy purpose, seeing God at work in the world. We too can be transformed by the same vision – of God fully present in the world, working through people inspired by a holy purpose, and of a saviour living and dying to redeem us all. We are called then to look at the world and try to see it as God does; to find His love and purpose in each day and to let that shape our choices and priorities.