When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.
- Luke 1:57-64

Christmas songs are essential to creating that perfect festive vibe. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire... deck the halls... All I want for Christmas... A whole genre which sets the seasonal mood.

This Advent, we’re leaning in with our own playlist—three Christmas songs from the Gospel of Luke: Zechariah’s song, Mary’s song, and Simeon’s song.

Let’s start with Zechariah. He’s a priest in the temple of Jerusalem, performing his sacred duties by offering incense on the altar. The rising smoke symbolizes the prayers of the people ascending to heaven. An angel appears, announcing that his prayers have been answered. What prayers? We aren’t told. Perhaps Zechariah had been praying for a child for himself and his wife Elizabeth, despite their old age. Or maybe his prayers were for the nation, for Israel’s healing and salvation.

The angel’s message reveals that God’s plan for salvation is unfolding through Zechariah’s family. His future son, John, will play a pivotal role in this divine story. Zechariah’s personal hopes have intersected with God’s grand narrative of redemption. Overwhelmed, he struggles to believe and asks for a sign. The angel responds by sealing Zechariah’s voice—and possibly his hearing—until the promise is fulfilled.

Why this response? Isn’t it natural for Zechariah to doubt that a couple beyond childbearing age could conceive? The angel’s action seems less like punishment and more like a sign of mystery. It strikes me that the promises given the Zechariah are sealed up in him in the same way that the prophetic promises of Israel are sealed up for hundreds of years. As the baby forms in Elizabeth's womb, so the promises of God come together in Zechariah's mind, and form his song of hope.

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.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick," the proverb says. This is wrong. Waiting can form us. Through it, we learn to wait for God and his marvellous designs, rather than the mere fulfilment of our often misguided desires. This doesn't always feel great at the time.

As Paul writes in his letter to the Romans: "Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."

Hymms of Hope: Zechariah's Song