In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” (Luke 1:5-25 NIV)
Some things are too good to be true. Have you learned that? I get emails every day that say, “You’ve been selected to receive a free gift card!” True? Nope. Too good to be true. Or we get coupon packets in the mail from Valpak. Do you get those? I wouldn’t even open them, except they always say, “One of these envelopes has $100 inside!” So I rifle through all the coupons. Is it there? No. Too good to be true. Or, I’m ashamed to admit it, but one time I fell for one of those “get a free cruise if you sit through a condo presentation” gimmicks. Hours later, there was no condo, and no cruise. You know the old phrase: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!”
Do you think that’s one of the reasons why people are turning away from God? Christianity sounds too good to be true. Have you struggled with that? If you can’t believe an email about a free $25 gift card, what are the chances you really have the forgiveness of sins? If you can’t be sure about a free cruise to Cancun, what are the chances you’re really going to live forever in heaven? Do you see what I mean? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, right? Or is it…
Today we see that phrase put to the test. We have the very first story in the New Testament. The first people we hear about aren’t Mary and Joseph. It’s an old couple. Did you catch their names? Zechariah and Elizabeth. It’s hard to think of a nicer couple: “Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.” What a compliment! But they had learned that some things are too good to be true. They had been waiting for years for a baby, but nothing. They had their hopes dashed again and again. Some of us know what that’s like. Notice this: You can be a righteous believer in God and still not have children. Just like you can be a righteous believer in God and still get cancer. And still lose your job…
But in spite of their disappointment, do you know what Zechariah and Elizabeth did? They didn’t feel sorry for themselves. They didn’t become jaded. They kept on serving the Lord. Zechariah was a priest. The priests were divided into 24 divisions. Zechariah was in the priestly division of Abijah. Those 24 divisions took turns serving at the temple for one week. It was Zechariah’s turn. Of all the priests in his division, Zechariah was chosen to offer the incense inside the temple in Jerusalem. It was something to take his mind off of not being able to have children.
But not for long. As Zechariah stood at the altar, whom did he see? An angel of the Lord. Gabriel! Did you catch his response? A fist bump. “What’s up, Gab?” No way! “When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.” This is important: Even righteous and blameless Zechariah was terrified in the presence of God’s angel. Even if you were the most righteous person on earth, you still wouldn’t belong in the presence of God. Even if you were a blameless priest who served God at the temple, you still wouldn’t belong in the presence of God. Do you realize that? Sin—our sin—separates us from God. Zechariah was terrified.
But Gabriel said, “Don’t be afraid!” And then he shared some unbelievable news: “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” That’s some news!
Before we get to Zechariah’s response, I want you to think about this for yourself: Would you have believed it? Imagine that for decades you’ve tried to have kids, but you can’t. Now you’re old. When suddenly an angel shows up and says, “You’re going to have a son!” You talk about too good to be true! But that isn’t all. The angel adds that your son will be as powerful as the prophet Elijah. He will lead a spiritual reformation in the entire country of Israel. He will prepare the world for the coming Savior. Would you have believed it? It sounds too good to be true.
It did to Zechariah. He responded, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” He couldn’t believe it. And we can understand why! But I want you to notice what Zechariah does. God made him an amazing promise, and Zechariah said, “How can I be sure?” Did you catch it? The moment Gabriel stopped talking, Zechariah took his eyes off of God and immediately thought about himself. That’s why it seemed impossible! How often aren’t our doubts a result of hearing God’s promises, but then looking at us instead of at God?
That phrase, “How can I be sure?” is actually a Greek word that means, “How can I know?” But it’s a special kind of knowing. It’s not knowing facts. It’s experiential knowledge. Zechariah didn’t just want to hear the words. He wanted to experience it. “How can I know this by experience?” Does that sound familiar? We’re big on experiences today, aren’t we? “If I could just have a spiritual experience… If I could just experience it…” Be careful. That’s not faith! This story is all too familiar for me. I doubt God’s promises. It all sounds too good to be true!
Was it? Gabriel’s response is good for us to hear. You’d expect Gabriel to do a miracle. To show some kind of sign. That’s what Zechariah wanted, right? That’s what we want. “Show me a sign!” We’d expect Gabriel to say, “Are you having trouble believing, Zechariah? Then watch this—boom!” But Gabriel didn’t. He said, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.” No miracle. No experience. Just this: “I speak from God.” That’s all Zechariah needed to know. Even those impossible promises needed to be believed. Because they came from God. With God, it’s not too good to be true.
Zechariah had forgotten who was making the promise. Not spam email. Not condo companies. God! The God who created the world. The God who parted the Red Sea. The God who once made the sun stand still in the sky. That God! Was God good for it? Yes! If I make you promises, you should think, “We’ll see…” If God makes you a promise, you can know, “Yes, it’s true!” “No matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
People often live life on one of two sides. On one side, people doubt the message of Christianity. It’s too good to be true! Heaven? Come on. Angels protecting you? No way. It’s too good to be true! And the result? Troubled hearts—like Zechariah’s. On the other side, people claim that God will give you whatever you want! Wealthy? Yes! Healthy? Always! “If you can name it, you can claim it!” And the result? Troubled hearts, because that’s not how life works either. You can doubt God and end up troubled. You can claim great faith in God and end up troubled. What’s the difference? What’s the middle ground? It’s this: Ask, “What does God promise?” If God doesn’t promise it, like wealth or health, don’t expect it. But if God does promise it, believe it!
Do you know what God promises you? He promises you a hard life. “In this world you will have trouble,” Jesus said (John 16:33). Is that true? Yes. He promises you that people might hate you. In fact, Jesus says, “Everyone will hate you because of me.” But God also promises this, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). The Bible promises, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28). God promises, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). If anyone else spoke those words, they would be too good to be true. But not with our God. God keeps his Word. “No matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.”
When your hope is not based on what people say, but on the Word of God, then it’s not too good to be true. Have you heard of Pastor Timothy Keller? He’s a Presbyterian pastor from New York City. I have greatly benefitted from his books and sermons. A year ago, he found out that he has stage four cancer. In his words, suddenly it all became real. For 40 years, he had used God’s promises to comfort other people. Could they comfort him? The doubts came. Had he been wrong? Do you know what he was forced to do? Go back to God’s Word. It’s God’s Word that fills us with hope. Do you know what he says now? Facing cancer has been a blessing for his faith, because he has to look to God, not to himself. If God says it, it’s not too good to be true.
Here’s why: Did you catch the baby’s name? We skipped over it. What was the baby’s name? John. To us today, that’s no big deal. There are 12 million people named John right now in the U.S. But there was no one in Zechariah’s family named John. That name was hand-picked by God. Do you know what John means? “The LORD is gracious.” That’s what it all comes down to. The LORD is gracious. Why were Zechariah and Elizabeth going to have a baby? The LORD is gracious. Why was God sending John to prepare the way for the Savior? The LORD is gracious. Even as John preached repentance, what did his name promise? The LORD is gracious.
I hope you know that’s not too good to be true. Maybe you haven’t been righteous and blameless like Zechariah and Elizabeth, but the LORD is gracious. That’s why he sent the Savior—Jesus—to live and to die for us. Maybe you have doubted God again and again in your life, but the LORD is gracious. He doesn’t hold your doubts against you. Instead, he gives you his Word over and over again to encourage you. Maybe standing in God’s presence one day terrifies you, but the LORD is gracious. Jesus died on the cross to forgive you for every sin that separated us from God. Sound too good to be true? Not with our God! On the night before he died, Jesus told his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me” (John 14:1).
That’s what Elizabeth did. She heard the news and said, “The Lord has done this for me. The Lord has done this for me.” That’s what we most need to reminder at Christmastime: “The Lord has done this for me.” Who’s the one who “does it”—salvation, forgiveness, life—for us? Christ! So what is God looking for from you and me? It’s not the best Christmas light display. It’s to believe God’s promises for you in Jesus. From Christmas to the cross, “The Lord has done this for me.” With God, it’s never too good to be true. Because every promise God has made is “Yes” in Christ. Because the LORD is gracious. Because “the Lord has done this for me.” And for you.
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