This Christmas Eve, I want to point out a subtlety in the Christmas story.  This often unnoticed detail is a lighthearted, joyful and awesomely profound little piece of a story that is also lighthearted, joyful and awesomely profound.  Luke chapter one tells us about a righteous couple who honored the Lord faithfully.  Verse 6 reads:  "And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord."   This particular couple, though had been unable to have children and "were both advanced in days."  But, the man Zacharias had prayed  for a child.  We know this because verse 13 tells us that as Zacharias was performing his priestly responsibilities one day, that the angel Gabriel appeared to him and said:  "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John."  The angel proceeded to tell Zacharias some wonderful things about his son, namely that "he [would] be great in the sight of the Lord, and he [would] drink no wine or liquor; and he [would] be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.  And he [would] turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.  And it [would be] he who [would] go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Zacharias heard this news and performed a tremendous feat by managing to maintain consciousness.  (I'm impressed.)  However, this devout man faltered momentarily when he asked the angel "How shall I know this for certain?".  Because he did not believe the Word of the Lord, Zacharias' gracious chastisement would be that he would not be able to speak until John's birth.

Meanwhile, back at the hall of the Superfriends, (not really, I just think that every time I hear the word "meanwhile") Mary was next to be visited by Gabriel, who brought her the news that she would conceive and bear Jesus.  Mary went to stay for three months with Elizabeth and Zacharias.  Upon hearing Mary's greeting, baby John leaped in the womb and Elizabeth, "filled with the Holy Spirit", prophesied, declaring Mary's baby to be her "Lord".  In verse 45, Elizabeth spoke the words that I mentioned at the beginning of this narrative:  "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her from the Lord."  The part that just makes me laugh and, at the same time, marvel at God's absolute goodness, in that Elizabeth acknowledged that Mary was blessed because she believed what God had said to her.  All the while her husband was actively playing the quiet game for nine months (and winning handily), all because he had not believed what God had told him.  Now, the punishment for Zacharias' doubt was really nothing more than an inconvenience meant to teach a righteous man to remember to trust the Word of the Lord.  But, because Mary believed, she was blessed.  Elizabeth had the ideal vantage point to witness this quiet little story play out.

This Christmas, remember what Elizabeth witnessed, and probably chuckled at.  Remember that the Lord loves his people, even when we question.  Remember that, in love, He will correct our unbelief.  Remember that Mary, probably absolutely petrified with fear, just trusted God.  Merry Christmas.