Unbelief: Evidence of Our Need for a Savior
And,
behold,.thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season
—Luke 1:20 (KJV)
Even from the womb, John the Baptist served as a forerunner of the Messiah. God used John’s miraculous birth (i.e., being born to a barren couple) to foreshadow the miracle of Jesus’ birth. Specifically, Elisabeth’s pregnancy was used as confirmation of what the angel Gabriel had told Mary (Lk. 1:36), and then as a broader announcement of God’s coming mercy to all of the witnesses of these remarkable events (Lk. 1:67–79).
The miraculous birth of John the Baptist pointed to the coming Savior by exposing the sore need for Him. Zacharias, a pious and upright servant of God, had prayed many years with his wife for a child. Nonetheless, on the eve of an answer, Zacharias revealed his naked unbelief that God could or would grant his petition. His prayers had become ritualistic, without offering a promise of changing the circumstances of his life.
The priest’s crisis of faith was symbolic of his nation’s and our own. It isn’t in our Adamic nature to wholly trust and believe God. Unbelief, the gateway to sin, was the prison of humankind until Christ bestowed unto us the gift of saving faith in Him and the Father who sent Him.
behold,.thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season
—Luke 1:20 (KJV)
Even from the womb, John the Baptist served as a forerunner of the Messiah. God used John’s miraculous birth (i.e., being born to a barren couple) to foreshadow the miracle of Jesus’ birth. Specifically, Elisabeth’s pregnancy was used as confirmation of what the angel Gabriel had told Mary (Lk. 1:36), and then as a broader announcement of God’s coming mercy to all of the witnesses of these remarkable events (Lk. 1:67–79).
The miraculous birth of John the Baptist pointed to the coming Savior by exposing the sore need for Him. Zacharias, a pious and upright servant of God, had prayed many years with his wife for a child. Nonetheless, on the eve of an answer, Zacharias revealed his naked unbelief that God could or would grant his petition. His prayers had become ritualistic, without offering a promise of changing the circumstances of his life.
The priest’s crisis of faith was symbolic of his nation’s and our own. It isn’t in our Adamic nature to wholly trust and believe God. Unbelief, the gateway to sin, was the prison of humankind until Christ bestowed unto us the gift of saving faith in Him and the Father who sent Him.
© 2024 Created by Raliegh Jones Jr..
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