Throughout the story of salvation, God consistently chooses ordinary, often overlooked individuals to accomplish His extraordinary plans. From Mary, a poor young woman from a small town, to Zechariah and Elizabeth, an aging couple with no children, and John the Baptist, the son of nobodies, God’s pattern is to elevate the humble and use them for His glory. This truth is a reminder that no matter how insignificant we may feel, God delights in using everyday people to fulfill His purposes. You are not forgotten or unimportant in God’s eyes; He can use your life in ways you may never expect. [12:40]
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (ESV)
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
Reflection: Where in your life do you feel “ordinary” or overlooked, and how might God be inviting you to trust Him to do something extraordinary through you today?
Zechariah and Elizabeth were described as righteous and blameless, faithfully serving God even though they carried the deep disappointment of childlessness—a condition often misunderstood as a sign of God’s disfavor. Their story shows that faithfulness to God is not always rewarded in the ways or timing we expect, but God sees and honors those who walk with Him, even in seasons of waiting or pain. Their example encourages us to remain steadfast, trusting that God’s purposes are at work even when our prayers seem unanswered. [16:50]
Luke 1:5-7 (ESV)
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. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
Reflection: Is there a disappointment or unanswered prayer in your life where God is calling you to remain faithful and trust His timing?
John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth, set apart for a unique purpose in God’s plan. Throughout Scripture, God fills people with His Spirit to equip them for specific tasks—whether leading, prophesying, or creating. The Spirit’s presence is not about personal greatness but about being empowered to serve God’s purposes. Today, the same Spirit is given to all believers, equipping each of us for the work God has prepared for us to do. [27:23]
Luke 1:15-17 (ESV)
For he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.
Reflection: In what area of your life do you sense God’s Spirit prompting you to step out and serve, and how can you respond in obedience today?
Both Zechariah and Mary received astonishing promises from God through the angel Gabriel, but their responses were different. Zechariah doubted and was rendered silent, missing out on the initial joy of sharing the news, while Mary, though perplexed, responded with humble faith: “May it be done to me according to your word.” God invites us to trust Him even when His promises seem impossible or beyond our understanding, knowing that nothing is impossible with Him. [38:18]
Luke 1:34-38 (ESV)
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Reflection: What is one promise of God that you struggle to believe, and how can you take a step of faith to trust Him with it today?
The unfolding of God’s salvation plan is filled with “minor” characters—ordinary people who played vital roles in the coming of Christ. Just as God used people like Moses, Mary, Zechariah, and John the Baptist, He continues to use each member of the church today. Every believer, with their unique gifts and circumstances, is called to participate in God’s extraordinary work. Your faithfulness, no matter how small it seems, is part of something much greater than yourself. [46:11]
Romans 12:4-6 (ESV)
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them…
Reflection: What is one way you can use your gifts or serve in your community or church this week, trusting that God will use your ordinary faithfulness for His extraordinary purposes?
As we step into the opening chapters of Luke, we’re introduced to a cast of characters who, at first glance, seem quite ordinary—people like Zacharias, Elizabeth, and Mary. Yet, in God’s unfolding story of salvation, these “nobodies” become central to His extraordinary work. John the Baptist, in particular, is someone we might easily overlook, but Jesus Himself declared that no one born of women was greater than John. This should cause us to pause and consider why God would elevate such a seemingly minor figure to such a high place.
John’s story is a reminder that God delights in using the ordinary to accomplish the extraordinary. Zacharias and Elizabeth were faithful, good people, but not perfect or sinless. Their barrenness was not a punishment, but rather a stage for God’s grace to be displayed. When Zacharias is chosen by lot to serve in the temple—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—he encounters the angel Gabriel, who announces the coming birth of John. This moment is filled with both awe and irony: Zacharias, a priest trained for this very moment, is struck speechless for his unbelief, missing out on the initial joy of sharing the news with his wife.
John’s calling is unique. He is filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb, set apart as a prophet in the spirit and power of Elijah, fulfilling the ancient promise from Malachi. Yet, his greatness is not in his own merit, but in his role as the forerunner to Christ, preparing hearts for the coming of the Lord. The narrative then shifts to Mary, another ordinary person chosen for an extraordinary purpose. The angel’s greeting to her—“favored one”—underscores how God’s favor often rests on those the world overlooks.
Both John and Jesus’ births are miraculous, and their stories are intertwined. They likely grew up together, sharing family ties and a deep spiritual connection. Their lives remind us that God’s redemptive plan is woven through the faithfulness of ordinary people. The church today continues this pattern: a body of ordinary individuals, each with unique gifts, called to participate in God’s extraordinary mission. Our faithfulness, even in small things, is part of the ongoing story of God’s salvation.
Luke 1:1-38 (ESV) — (You may want to read the whole passage, but especially focus on verses 5-25 and 26-38.)
Malachi 4:5-6 (ESV) — “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
So many of the characters in the Bible, if they were not involved in the salvation story, they would have been forgotten to history. If David had never become king, he would have just been a shepherd. If Abraham had not been chosen by God to become the father of the nation of Israel, he just would have been another guy from the land of Luz that died. Mary was a nobody. She was a poor lady that was betrothed to a man. She wasn't even—well, legally she was married, but she was not even anybody's wife in an official sense. She was just another person. Elizabeth, Zacharias, again, same thing. These are just ordinary people amongst crowds of people God picked for seemingly no specific reason. [00:05:12] (42 seconds) #OrdinaryToExtraordinary
When it talks about John receiving the Spirit, I was like, how in the world does a baby receive the Spirit of God? And as I started looking back and just sort of thinking through this, there are many people in the Old Testament that were filled with the Spirit for a reason. Because God picked people, from our perspective, seemingly at random, to fill them with the Spirit of God for the purpose, like an express purpose, for an express time, for his plan to continue to go forward. [00:26:13] (30 seconds) #BetrothalTruths
This idea of filling of the Spirit is not new. There were many prophets that were filled with the Spirit of God. And I think that I would lump John into the same thing. John was filled with the Spirit of God as a baby, and he is called a prophet in the likeness of Elijah. So I don't think this is a, he believed as a baby, and he was filled with the Spirit of God in the Christian sense, so much as it's sort of the Old Testament sense of filled with the Spirit of God. [00:27:50] (26 seconds) #FavoredAmongOrdinary
When we think about the word engaged, there's other translations used, the word betrothed, or some other such word. I think that it's important that things are translated as precisely as possible. In my opinion, not as any sort of language scholar at all, I don't actually like the translation using the word engaged, not because it's actually factually inaccurate, but it leads the reader to perhaps arrive at false assumptions. [00:34:15] (29 seconds) #MiraculousBirths
If you were married, you're a girl from a small town, seemingly a nobody, and then all of a sudden you get greeted with greetings favored one. She ponders, like, that is the weirdest way to greet me. I'm a teenage girl who's betrothed from a small town. I have nothing. Why am I anything important? And he goes on to explain why. And it talks about how she's been found favored, how she's going to conceive in her womb, and she's going to have a son named Jesus, and all these amazing things. [00:37:42] (30 seconds) #ChurchCalledToServe
God makes these big promises to ordinary people oftentimes. Like, when you think about Abraham, and you're going to be the father of many nations. And I'm like, I don't even have kids. I don't understand. He's saying, you're going to be the mother of this baby. I'm like, but how is that going to happen? Kind of like that God throws those things out there to challenge their mind, and in a sense, challenge their faith. [00:38:41] (23 seconds) #FaithfulInTheOrdinary
The first thing is you have the proclamations of two miraculous births of two extraordinary people. Now, obviously, Christ is the greater of those two for so many reasons. But as I pointed out in the beginning, and we'll see, I don't know if we'll actually see it in Luke. I didn't, I couldn't see that for certain. That John was no, he was no slouch in the eyes of God, in the eyes of Christ. You have these two men who have so much in common. They are, they share similar family lines, if you will. They're, I realize that's a little bit nuanced, but I think you get what I'm saying. They probably grew up together. I, I, I'm making an assumption here because, I mean, Mary did visit Elizabeth. Is it out of the question that they got together for birthdays and family celebrations? I would not think that that's completely un-possible. They both had their first proclaimed by Gabriel. Both of their conceptions were, in their own ways, miraculous. [00:42:27] (63 seconds)
When we think about the church, we are a group of ordinary people with an extraordinary message. And in the same way, God chose to use all of these ordinary people throughout the Old Testament, into the New Testament, into the Gospels here, to proclaim the message of salvation and to work it out in a very practical sense. He chose to, in the same way, God, Jesus. He chose to, in the church, to do the same thing. [00:45:48] (27 seconds)
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