⁵ In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

If you lived in these days, there is no doubt that you would have heard of Herod; he was the King of Judea.  However, unless you lived close by or worked with or were related to one of them, chances are that you would not have known of Zechariah or his wife Elizabeth. 

Now some say, “Zechariah wasn’t that insignificant.  He was a priest!”  But at this time priests like Zechariah were a dime a dozen.  There were tons of priests.  I read recently where there were more priests than there were tasks to perform.

There was, however, only one King of Judea and that was Herod.  So his position and his notoriety far surpassed that of any priest.  Many believed him to be far more significant than a guy like Zechariah, but not in God’s economy.

In Lk. 1:5, Luke glosses over Herod to center upon this priest.  We learn in this passage that Herod is a pawn.  Though he was the king, he was a pawn in the plan of God, and this unknown individual—this unlikely priest—this guy who was overlooked by most was God’s chosen instrument.  

Later in this same chapter we find another unlikely person in God’s redemption/Christmas story.  Luke tells us,

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.  Luke 1:26-27

Once again we see that the Christmas story is an unlikely story.  This time, instead of appearing to an old man, Gabriel goes to a young woman.  Instead of appearing to a priest in the temple of Jerusalem, he goes to a betrothed virgin in a lowly city called Nazareth, and instead of giving news about the coming of the messenger of the Messiah, Gabriel tells Mary of the coming of the Messiah.

So there are some substantial differences in these two accounts with one notable similarity.  Mary, like Zachariah, was an unlikely person who was used in a mighty way by God.  Mary was a teenage girl from the no-name hick town of Nazareth.  She was an unknown, inexperienced and unimportant teen from the middle of nowhere.  She, by the worlds standards, was a nobody, yet she plays a key role in God's story.

Though many in those days viewed Mary as being insignificant and ordinary—not worthy of mentioning," in God’s story, she is is a lead player.  This goes counter to the ways of our world.  What dominates the news in our world are the goings on in Washington, the social statuses of celebrities in Hollywood and the lifestyles of the rich and famous.  But what do we know about the faithful? 

That is who God is concerned with.  He is concerned with what is going on in the lives of His faithful followers—in the lives of His children.  God is concerned with those whom he has chosen as His instruments—those who are making him known and advancing His Kingdom.

Though the world may view you and me and other believers as being obscure and insignificant, in God’s economy kings are pawns and the unlikely are His chosen instruments.