Made Righteous in the Sight of God (Luke 1:5-27)

“In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.” (Luke 1:5-6)

Zechariah and Elizabeth are the parents of John the Baptist who shook the nation Israel by the message of repentance, saying “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” They were righteous in the sight of God, obeying God blamelessly. Don’t ever think that they had kept the commandments of God blamelessly with their own merits and strength because there is none who can do it.

What does it mean that they were righteous in the sight of God? It does not mean that they were sinless. It means that although they were sinful they were made righteous by God, His grace and mercy through the faith in Christ, so that they could keep all the commandments of God blamelessly. We may not feel it, touch it, or sense it, but that's what we in Christ have been made righteous in the sight of God. The blood of Jesus Christ cleansed and washed away the power of sin and death, so that we have made clean and righteous in the sight of God.  

How could Zechariah and Elizabeth believe in the blood of Christ for He was even born yet? As all the Old Testament saints were pronounced to be righteous by relying on the working of another, so were they righteous by depending on the working of God manifested through the fathers, Moses, and the Prophets. The righteousness of God cannot be earned by any work of man. It is a free gift from heaven to those who respond to the love of the Father and believe in Christ Jesus and His work done on the cross of Calvary.

“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” (Romans 3:21-22)

Although Herod king of Judea was in the throne, he was not the main figure in the sight of God. Rather, Zechariah and Elizabeth, an old couple who were made righteous by God’s grace were the focal point in the coming of Christ according to the promise of God. They were nobody, just ordinary people through whom God broke the long four hundred years of silence since Prophet Malachi. God always pays attention to the righteous made by the blood of Christ and uses them to shine the light of salvation. One of these days, Christ will come again suddenly just as an angle of the Lord appeared to Zechariah while he was on duty in the temple.