12 Days Before Christmas Series: 3 – 12/15/2025

Three minute read time

Read: Luke 1

Luke chapter 1 introduces us to a priest named Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, a couple who knew pain intimately. “Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years,” Luke writes, painting a picture of dreams long surrendered. Their home, once filled with the hope of children’s footsteps, had settled into a quiet acceptance. But being barren and advanced in years was a familiar phrase to the descendants of Abraham.

After the nations were scattered at Babel (a story from Genesis 11 that is so significant that it deserves its own series of blog posts), God called Abraham and Sarah—another couple whose hearts ached with infertility (Genesis 18) and chose to begin a new nation through them. “Old and advancing in years,” their hope seemed impossible. Yet, in the barrenness, God blessed them with Isaac.

Building on this legacy, Isaac and his wife Rebekah also faced years of longing and unanswered prayers (Genesis 25). But again, God intervened, giving them twins, Esau and Jacob. Jacob would later be renamed Israel – the namesake of the new nation. The story reminds us that hope can persist, even when the wait is long and the answers are slow in coming.

Following in their footsteps, Jacob’s wife Rachel endured years of barrenness (Genesis 29). Through her tears and perseverance, God eventually gifted her with Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph went on to become second in power only to Pharaoh in Egypt. (Genesis 41)

This thread of hope winds further through the life of Hannah, whose anguish over her empty arms led her to pour her soul out to God (1 Samuel 1). Misunderstood even by those closest to her, she clung to faith amid heartbreak. God answered her prayers with Samuel, a child who would hear God’s voice when others could not. Hannah’s gratitude overflowed in a song of praise (1 Samuel 2:1-10), echoed later in Psalm 113—a song that gives words to every hurting heart.

Throughout the history of God’s people, God frequently chose to do miraculous things through infertile couples and miraculous births. These stories culminate in the first Christmas, where God once again chose to work through the unexpected. An angel appears to Zechariah, announcing that he and Elizabeth will have a son—a promise as surprising and miraculous as those given to their ancestors. Elizabeth was soon pregnant and became a sign for a teenaged relative named Mary.

Mary, who was engaged to Joseph, but still a virgin, would carry the Christ child. At the end of a long line of infertile couples and miraculous babies, Mary (who had never “known” a man) would give birth to the God-Man named Immanuel which means “God with us.”

God’s people were familiar with the darkness of infertility, but God chose to work through infertile couples and virgin teenager to bring light to our world. The history of God’s family is filled with stories of barren hearts and empty arms being filled in ways that go beyond imagination. There is hope in the darkness, and His name is Jesus.

If you’d like to read the whole Christmas story as it unfolded over 2,000 years ago, check Saturday’s blog for a list of scriptures. If you have questions, feel free to reach out—I’ll do my best to answer.

Return tomorrow for: His Name Will Be Called What?