• 

Day Twenty of Advent

Scripture

“And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying... ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us..., as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant..., to grant us that we...might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness...’”

— Luke 1:67-79

Devotional

Trouble is that sometimes even prophets quit holding their breath. Take John again, rotting away in Herod’s dungeon before the gluttonous king lopped off his head for a party favor during his fifty-fifth birthday bash. John, the one who leapt in his mother’s womb when the fetal Jesus was near him, now has his doubts. “Are you the one, or is there another?” John asks from his prison cell. What’s a doubting prophet to do? Why, listen to the Great Prophet, of course. “The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, and good news is preached to the poor. Believe,” came Jesus’ reply. “God has kept His promise.”

What do we do in our doubt? In dark moments we ask, “What if Jesus isn’t the One?” And God in His mercy sends a whole parade of prophets who scream and flail and sometimes whisper, “Jesus is the one.” And in His mercy God the Father sent the One who seemed maddest of all—Jesus, the Great Prophet, who says to us again and again, “Believe. God has kept His promise.” Now, if we only had ears to hear.

Prayer

Give us ears to hear, Lord, in the darkness of doubt, that You are the One. Forgive us when we fail to listen to our true and faithful Prophet, Jesus Christ. Amen.