Breaking The Silence
READ
Nine months of silence finally breaks.
Remember Zechariah? The priest who doubted Gabriel's message and lost his voice as a result? He's been unable to speak throughout Elizabeth's entire pregnancy, unable to explain, unable to control the narrative. Just watching, waiting, and trusting.
Now the baby is born. The neighbors and relatives gather for the circumcision and naming ceremony. Everyone assumes the child will be named after his father, as was tradition. But Elizabeth insists: "He is to be called John."
They're shocked. No one in the family has that name. They turn to Zechariah for the final word. He asks for a writing tablet and confirms: "His name is John."
Immediately, Zechariah's voice returns. And after nine months of enforced silence, he doesn't waste words on small talk. He prophesies. He speaks blessing and vision over his son, over Israel, over the coming Messiah.
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them."
Let’s take a moment to read Luke 1:67-80:
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
“He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”
“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
And the child grew and became strong in spirit and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
REFLECT
Zechariah's prophecy weaves together Israel's story—promises made to Abraham, mercy shown through generations, the covenant that seemed forgotten but never was. He declares that God is doing what He promised: sending salvation, rescuing His people from enemies, enabling them to serve Him without fear.
Then Zechariah turns to his newborn son: "And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins."
Think about what Zechariah is saying. His son won't be a priest like him. John will be a prophet—wild, unconventional, living in the desert, challenging religious systems. This isn't the comfortable, respectable future Zechariah probably imagined for his miracle baby. But it's the future God has planned.
Zechariah sees it clearly now. Those nine months of silence weren't punishment—they were preparation. They taught him to listen more than he spoke. They showed him that God's timing and ways are beyond human control or explanation. They humbled him into a posture of trust.
And now, with his voice restored, Zechariah uses it to point beyond himself and even beyond his son. He points to God's faithfulness, to God's promises, to God's redemptive work that's been unfolding for generations and is about to reach its climax in Jesus.
"Because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."
This is what preparation looks like. Not just John preparing the way for Jesus, but Zechariah being prepared to see and speak clearly about what God is doing. The priest who doubted becomes a prophet who declares. The man who demanded proof becomes a man who proclaims promise.
Here's what strikes me about Zechariah's journey: God used everything—the years of waiting, the impossible pregnancy, even the doubt and silence—to prepare him to be part of this redemptive story. Nothing was wasted. Nothing was meaningless.
The same is true for us. God is preparing you to be part of His redemptive work in the world. Every season you walk through—the waiting, the doubt, the silence, the breakthrough—is shaping you, positioning you, teaching you to see and proclaim God's faithfulness.
You might not see it yet. You might be in the middle of confusion or struggle or uncertainty. But God is weaving your story into His bigger story. He's preparing you for purposes you can't fully grasp yet.
As we near the end of this week of Advent preparation, Zechariah reminds us that preparation isn't just about getting ourselves ready for Christmas. It's about God getting us ready for the work He's calling us to. It's about learning to see His faithfulness, to trust His timing, to use our voices to point others toward Him.
The rising sun is coming to shine on those in darkness. That's Jesus—God's love expressed through the Incarnation. And we, like John, are called to prepare the way. To live lives that point others toward Jesus. To speak words that help people recognize God's work. To participate in the redemptive story that's still unfolding.
God is preparing you. Trust the process. Trust the waiting. Trust even the silence. Because when your voice returns—when your purpose becomes clear—you'll have something worth saying.
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
How has God used seasons of waiting or silence to prepare you for something you couldn't have anticipated?
What might God be preparing you for right now through your current circumstances?
How can you use your voice, your influence, your story to point others toward God's redemptive work?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
Father, thank You for Your faithfulness that spans generations. Thank You for the ways You prepare us, even through seasons we don't understand. Help us trust that You're weaving our stories into Your bigger story of redemption. Give us eyes to see and voices to proclaim Your goodness, that we might prepare the way for others to encounter Jesus. May Your tender mercy guide us into paths of peace. Amen.