December 3 | Waiting for Salvation | O Come, O Come Emmanuel | Barry Rodriguez

The book of Luke opens on a rather unremarkable character: an elderly priest named Zechariah. Although he and his wife were “righteous in God’s eyes,” they had been unable to conceive a child. Yet it is this priest who is told by an angel of the Lord that he will soon have a child destined to become the long-awaited prophet heralding the coming of God to the earth. Echoing the story of another elderly childless couple (Abram and Sarai), Zechariah must work through his initial doubt to come to a place of faith that God really means what he says. Upon meeting his newborn son, John (a.k.a. “the Baptist”), Zechariah taps into the language and imagery of Israel’s prophets to declare poetically what God is going to accomplish: salvation from Israel’s enemies, a prophet who will prepare the way for the Lord, and a light for those who sit in darkness (all promises from the prophet Isaiah). All his life Zechariah had been waiting for salvation to come. Now, through his unexpected son it was about to be inaugurated.