1. Listen to Podcast:
2. Growth Group Questions
A Tale of Two Marriages: Zechariah and Elizabeth
Luke 1:5-25, 57-66, 67-80
1. Barren: Parents unable to conceive is a common biblical motif (Gen. 11:30; 25:21; 29:31; Judg. 13:2; 1 Sam.
1:2). Why do you think this is? Elizabeth and Zechariah, despite being faithful servants of God (Luke 1:6),
were barren and deeply troubled by it (1:7). They were at a wall. Judging by Zechariah’s doubt (1:18), they
had probably given up. Are there any walls before you which you have given up hope of getting through? Or,
are there some past walls you look at in your rear view mirror which you have learned from?
2. Zechariah: How do you respond to doubt and correction? Zechariah offers us a good model. What is the story
of his doubt (Luke 1:8-18) and subsequent correction (1:19-20)? If Zechariah was less wise and less mature,
how might he have responded to the angel’s rebuke? How did he, in story (1:59-64) and in song (1:67-79)?
What advantages in life come to the person who is humble and teachable (Prov. 9:8; 17:10; 19:25)?
3. Elizabeth: After Elizabeth conceived, she exclaimed, “How kind the Lord is! He has taken away my disgrace of
having no children” (Luke 1:25). As glorious and comforting as John’s birth was to Elizabeth (1:58), her wells
of joy were not expended in this answered prayer alone. How was Elizabeth able take the focus off of her own
good news (lower case ‘g’) to rejoice in God’s Good News (upper case ‘G’) for the world (1:42-45)? How have
you fought the tendency to make your prayers and your whole Christian walk about what God can do for you?
4. John: Both Zechariah (Luke 1:76-79) and Elizabeth (1:43) recognized that their little story was part of God’s
grander narrative (1:15-17, 80). Their lives, like that of their son, were as those who ‘prepare the way’ (Isa.
40:3; Mal. 3:1). How have you been called to ‘prepare the way’ for the Lord to exercise His will both in your
own heart (Phil. 2:12-13) and in the world at large (2 Cor. 5:18-20)?