Do you know what would have happened if it had been Three Wise Women who visited Jesus instead of Three Wise Men?
They would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and brought practical gifts.
The three wise men are fixed in our minds as a Christmas tradition. They are on our Christmas cards; there have been poems and stories written about them; we sing a song based upon them. Every manger scene features them prominently, bearing their gifts from afar.
The three wise men are often portrayed as representatives of the three races of man as descended from Noah’s sons – Semitic, Indo-European and African.
In the sixth century a Latin document recorded their names as Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, although the source is unknown. Their relics are said to be enshrined at Cologne Cathedral.
As far as the wise men are concerned:
The Bible no where says there were only three wise men. We suppose there were three because there were three gifts – gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It seems somehow poetic to us that each wise man brought a single gift; but it’s all conjecture and not in the biblical text.
We most certainly do not know their names or their race or races, except that they were not Jews.
They weren’t kings; they were magi – pagan religious astrologers like the ones Daniel was among in the Old Testament.
Further, it is clear from reading the Gospels that, however many of them there were, they certainly did not arrive at the birth of Jesus. They were led by the star to a house when Jesus was a young child anywhere from one to two years of age.
Sorry to be the one to destroy your traditions.
The truth be told, three wise women did have more to do with the first Christmas than the famous three wise men. They are Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna.
Elizabeth was the wife of Zacharias. Barren into her old age, God granted her a child. She would give birth to John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. In the sixth month of her pregnancy, Mary the mother of Jesus visited Elizabeth and was greatly encouraged by her relative in her own virgin pregnancy.
Mary, of course, is the woman at the heart of the story. It would be more accurate to say she was the young girl – probably no more than fifteen or sixteen years of age.
The third woman is Anna. A widow who had dedicated herself to fasting and praying in the Temple at Jerusalem, she gave witness to the baby Jesus when He was presented for circumcision eight days after His birth.
These three wise women can teach us many things. I want to look at just three of the things they teach us, over the next three weeks:
Elizabeth will teach us that it is wise to wait.
Mary will teach us that it is wise to worship.
Anna will teach us that it is wise to witness.
Elizabeth waited:
She waited and waited to bear a child, but remained barren, and was well advanced in years and past the usual child-bearing age.
After she conceived, she waited another five months before showing herself pregnant with child.
Do you like to wait? Probably not! Not for trivial things; certainly not for more important things. Still, you often do find yourself waiting.
God waited some five-thousand years before sending Jesus to be born. He’s waited over two-thousand years since He was born.
Waiting is part of His program.
Waiting can have a positive spiritual impact upon our lives. We can gain from it, spiritually speaking.
In her long barrenness, Elizabeth had learned to wait for the Lord. In her pregnancy, she learned to wait with The Lord.
I’ll organize my thoughts around two points: #1 You Gain From Waiting For The Lord, and #2 You Gain From Waiting With The Lord.
#1 You Gain From Waiting For The Lord
Luk 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
Luk 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Luk 1:7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.
Luk 1:8 So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division,
Luk 1:9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
“Zacharias” served as a “priest.” There were in those days about eighteen thousand priests. They were divided into groups, called “divisions,” to serve on a rotating basis.
All the divisions, all the priests, were present at the Temple during Israel’s three great annual feasts. Then each division served twice more during the calendar year for one week at a time.
“Elizabeth” was the daughter of a priest. It was an honor for her husband – a priest married to the daughter of a priest.
To “burn incense [in] the Temple of the Lord” meant going into the holy place, out of sight of the people and just before the veil of the holy of holies behind which God’s presence dwelt among His people.
The priests on duty would draw lots to see who would have the honor of burning the incense. It was not just a great honor; it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Many priests never drew the lot to burn incense; and, once they did, they could never do it again in their lifetime.
What a momentous opportunity this was for Zacharias! Elizabeth would be so proud of him.
Think of what they both would have missed if they had let bitterness and self-pity at being childless overrule their serving God.
Be where you are supposed to be, doing what you are supposed to be doing, especially serving God. You don’t know when a moment might come that could change your life, or someone else’s.
If a moment like that never seems to come, then think like the psalmist who proclaimed, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked” (Psalm 84:10).
Inside the holy place, Zacharias had an angel encounter.
Luk 1:10 And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.
Luk 1:11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
Luk 1:12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
Luk 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
Luk 1:14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
Luk 1:15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
Luk 1:16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.
Luk 1:17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS TO THE CHILDREN,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luk 1:18 And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
Luk 1:19 And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.
Luk 1:20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”
Luk 1:21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple.
Luk 1:22 But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless.
Luk 1:23 So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house.
Here is a reminder you might want to write in the margin of your Bible: When angels tell you what is going to happen, don’t ask them any questions.
Gabriel got a little testy. Zacharias was rendered “mute.” The word and subsequent story indicate that he was deaf as well.
Before we concentrate on Elizabeth, look at Zacharias. Zacharias finished-out his service. He didn’t go out on a disability. Sure he was mute; but it didn’t really hinder him from completing his duties, so he was faithful to finish them.
Would you say he was hard core? It’s really just normal. It’s normal behavior for someone who considers their life a living sacrifice. They’re not looking for an out, but to stay in and be used by God.
So far we’ve seen that Zacharias and Elizabeth had married well; they had a good career; they were believers serving God faithfully… And they had a severe, lifelong trial.
It’s difficult, for sure, to be barren if you want children, but it’s hard for us to comprehend the reproach of being childless as a couple, and of being barren as a woman, in the Jewish culture of the first century. It was seen as a judgment from God.
As a young couple, they waited… And waited… And waited to conceive; but never did. They waited so long that they thought they weren’t waiting any longer – that it was too late in life to know the joy of children.
Suddenly, with the announcement Elizabeth would conceive and bring forth a child, they realized they were still waiting for God to act.
The average person will spend six months of their life waiting at stoplights. In total, you will spend about five years of your life waiting in lines and for various other things.
Waiting always seems such a waste that we not only have a hard time waiting for God to act; we have a had time believing God is using our waiting to further His purposes.
Elizabeth’s wait was for God to act so that she would conceive at just the exact moment her pregnancy could encourage Mary in her own struggle to understand how she, a virgin, could conceive.
I submit that if Elizabeth had been ordinary, and would have had many babies like the other ladies, her testimony would not have been so remarkable and effective.
So we see that her waiting for God brought both her and Mary great spiritual gain.
What are you waiting for? What has been withheld from you… Or taken away from you?
Whatever it is, you are waiting for God. Has He not promised to redeem the things of your life, and make all of them work together for your good?
The fact you cannot see how He will be able to do this does not mean He can’t or won’t. His promises cannot fail.
#2 You Gain From Waiting With The Lord
Elizabeth conceives:
Luk 1:24 Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months…
I realize, sometimes, gals who have had miscarriages will wait a while before letting others know they are pregnant. But five months? That’s unusual.
Why did she hide her pregnancy for five months? In a verse or two Luke tells us that Gabriel will visit Mary in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy with the astonishing news she will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Gabriel tells Mary that previously barren Elizabeth is with child as a sign to the young virgin that God is indeed working in her life.
Elizabeth commented on her keeping the pregnancy a secret in verse twenty-five when she said,
Luke 1:25 “Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
The Lord dealt with her. We normally use that phrase in a negative way, saying things like, Your father will deal with you when he gets home!
Elizabeth used it in an endearing way.
She realized that all her long years, through the sorrow and in the pain, God had been dealing with her. They had been days in which He had looked on her. There was never a moment in which He averted His gaze, or weakened His care. He had brought her to this one amazing moment that would forever take away her reproach among people, but more importantly, encourage Mary.
It was a Joseph moment. Not Joseph the husband of Mary, but Joseph the Old Testament patriarch. Sold into slavery by his brothers, Joseph rose to become the second most powerful man in the world next to the Egyptian Pharaoh. When he finally confronted his brothers he realized that though they meant it for evil, God had redeemed the situation for good.
Trusting that God was dealing with her, Elizabeth realized God had His own timing in her pregnancy and would wait with Him to tell her when to reveal it.
Here’s a thought. What we see as waiting is really God’s timing.
The entire Christmas story involves God’s timing. The apostle Paul wrote,
Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
“Fulness of the time” means in the perfect moment in human history; it means at the very time set by God the Father. It means everything was unfolding by God’s providence.
What do I mean by “God’s providence?” I’ll let Henry Thiessen define it:
“Providence” means that continuous activity of God whereby He makes all the events of the physical, mental, and moral realms work out His purpose, and this purpose is nothing short of the original design of God in creation. To be sure, evil has entered the universe, but it is not allowed to thwart God’s original, benevolent, wise, and holy purpose.
Does God’s providence cancel our freedom? No, it doesn’t. In His sovereignty God exercises a providence that is not determinism.
Thiessen went on to say,
God sometimes allows man to do as he pleases; that is, he puts no restraints in the way of man’s carrying out his wicked desires. God sometimes keeps a man from doing what, in his freedom, he would otherwise do. He uses circumstance, the influence of friends, and inner restraints to accomplish this purpose.
Sometimes he controls sin by allowing it to go so far and no further. Finally, God always overrules what man does in order to accomplish his own ends. He makes even the wrath of man to praise him.
God asked Elizabeth to remain hidden for five months for Mary’s sake. Elizabeth obeyed. It may have gone against every womanly instinct in her to obey… It may have gone against every desire she had to exonerate their family’s reproach… But she waited with God, and thus revealed herself at the perfect time in the greater story.
When Mary finally came to visit, Elizabeth uttered the first prophetic words of the New Testament. She realized that her own son, John, would play a vital role in the drama. She knew that her pregnancy, and John’s birth, could not have come at any other moment.
It may not seem like it to you, but you are part of a greater story. God wants to use you to minister to others and He has a perfect timing in doing so.
Your sphere of ministry may be somewhat small – only to a few people, like your own family and friends. It may be a greater sphere – to dozens or hundreds or thousands or more.
Though we put the greater value on the greater numbers, and on outward results, God doesn’t. The value is in our obedience; in our faithfulness. God takes our obedience and our faithfulness and multiplies it as He sees fit in a grander scheme.
People wait for all kinds of things. You see them camped-out for days to take advantage of Black Friday sales; or to be the first to see a blockbuster movie; or for a good seat at the Rose Parade.
We make fun of them, saying we’d never wait for something like that. But I’d wager that, for most if not all of us, there is something we would wait an extremely long time for – because at the end it was worth the wait.
The ‘end’ God has for you is nothing less than to awake in eternity in the likeness of His Son and your Savior, Jesus Christ. To reward you and say, “Well done, god and faithful servant.” To show you around the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, and give you the keys to the home He’s been preparing for you there.
This Christmas, learn to wait for God and with God.
Wait for Him, believing He is working things together for the good.
Wait with Him, having access to His throne of grace and mercy, and to every spiritual resource in heavenly places.