And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.
Luke 1:20
Although Zechariah was described as a righteous priest who walked blamelessly with God, he was not altogether sinless. During the hour of prayer in which he burned incense an angel of the Lord appeared to him. The angel told Zechariah that his wife was destined to conceive and give birth to a son (Luke 1:11-17). Zechariah responded in disbelief, saying, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years” (v.18). As an apparent rebuke for his disbelief, the angel responded, saying, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time” (Luke 1:19-20). Those who prayed outside during this angelic encounter waited on Zechariah to exit the temple, so that he could provide the priest’s customary blessing over them; however this day, when the priest appeared, as Luke 1:22 records, “he was unable to speak to them.”
Let’s compare this event in Luke’s first chapter of the silenced priest, Zechariah, to the scene of Jesus in the last chapter of Luke’s Gospel by looking at one scholar’s observation, saying, “The first chapter [of Luke] pictures Zechariah the priest coming out of the temple speechless and unable to give the customary blessing to the people. The last chapter shows Jesus, our great high priest giving his disciples a parting blessing (Luke 24:51).”[1]
Even a righteous and blameless priest like Zechariah was in need of a Savior. He, along with all other Old Testament priests, were merely “types” of things to come.
A “type” in the language of theology, is a special example, symbol, or picture that God designed beforehand, and that he placed in history at an earlier point in time in order to point forward to a later, larger fulfillment.”[2]
According to Hebrews 8:5, the Old Testament priests, like Zechariah[3] in Luke 1 “serve as a copy or shadow of the heavenly things.” A couple chapters later, in Hebrews 10:1, the author declares that the priesthood, along with its sacrificial system, were simply, “a shadow of the good things to come.” These statements should cause the reader to ask, “What exactly are these “heavenly” and “good” things that the Old Testament priests, like Zechariah, point us to?
The answer to this question can be summarized in one name: Jesus. The OT priests, and the Mosaic Covenant that they worked under, pointed to the ultimate high priest and a better covenant to come. A brief outline of the book of Hebrews displays that Jesus serves His people today as a more superior priest in a more superior priesthood who gave a more superior sacrifice than any who preceded him. Having already examined Zechariah the priest’s disbelief and how it displays one example of his inferiority to our high priest Jesus, we will now look at the superiority of Christ’s priesthood. Hebrews 7:26-28 explains (in part) why Jesus is a better priest than Zechariah or anyone before him, saying,
“For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.”
What we just read in Hebrews 7:26-28 displays eight truths about our high priest, Jesus:
- Holy (v. 26)
- Innocent (v. 26)
- Unstained (v. 26)
- Separated from sinners (v. 26)
- Exalted above the heavens (v. 26)
- Sinless (v. 27)
- Appointed by God (v. 28; cf. v. 21)
- Perfect forever (v. 28)
These attributes display the superiority of Jesus’ priesthood, a priesthood that comes with demands on the believer’s life. Some of these demands are also shown in the book of Hebrews. In Hebrews 10:19-25, the author tells us that the basis for our obedience to the priest is the perfect sacrifice the priest gave: Himself, saying,
“Therefore, brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
In the above text we see the phrase “since we have a great priest over the house of God” (v.20). The word “since” in Hebrews 10:20 acts as a conjunction, meaning that it connects two or more items in the text together. Here, the fact that “we have a high priest” is connected (by the word “since”) with three commands that begin with the phrase “let us.” The author of Hebrews is effectively saying, “Since we have a superior high priest, let us do what he commands . . .” and there are three things this high priest commands of us in this text and they read like this:
Since we have a great high priest over the house of God:
- Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
- Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
- Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.[4]
So, how is that Zechariah the priest points us to the second coming of Jesus? It is right there in Hebrews 10:25. The priesthood that Zechariah participated in was a “type” that pointed to Jesus’ priesthood, and Jesus’ priesthood commands that you obey him by encouraging one another, “as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25). The word “Day” here refers to the time when Jesus comes back to “bring salvation to those who await him” (Hebrews 9:28). The priesthood of Christ demands that believers abide by the “let us” commands in Hebrews 10. In an effort to obey these commands, it is important that believers know that they are not left to their own power to fulfill such commands. For, unlike Zechariah or any Jewish priest, Jesus is both the priest and the sacrifice. And the results of Jesus’ offering of himself is that Christians have access to the power of the Holy Spirit, who enables us to obey all of God’s commands. So, when we read in the Bible the phrases “you shall” or “let us,” we must be aware that we already have the power through the Holy Spirit to obey whatever God of us. This power is something that only Jesus, not Zechariah, or any other priest could ever provide for God’s people.
So, when you come across Zechariah’s priesthood as you read the story of the first coming of Christ this advent season, reflect on how the weaknesses of the first priests and priesthood project the need for a superior priest, a need which was ultimately fulfilled through the first advent of Jesus.
[1] Elmer L. Towns and Ben Gutierrez, eds., The Essence of the New Testament: A Survey (B&H Publishing: Nashville, TN, 2012), 76.
[2] Wayne Grudem, C. John Collins, and Thomas R. Schreiner, eds., Understanding the Big Picture of the Bible: A Guide to Reading the Whole Bible (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2015) 15, accessed from https://app.wordsearchbible.lifeway.com.
[3] Remember, even though Zechariah appears in the New Testament Gospel of Luke he is still a priest operating under the old covenant.
[4] It is fitting that we notice the term “us” here. Our faith is corporate, not private. Personal faith is biblical and should not be confused with “private” faith, which is not a biblical concept. Your priest requires you to live your faith in the context of Christian community.
The Twelve Days of Advent 