The best story ever told

As a teacher at a Christian school, one of the perks that I look forward to each week is staff devotions. I coach a vocal club that meets at the same time, so I don't always get to attend but when I do I'm  encouraged in my walk with the Lord. This past week, our Superintendent was discussing the Christmas story and kept referring to it as "the best story ever told." I left staff devotions and went to teach my last few classes before Christmas break, but I couldn't get those words out of my head- the best story ever told.
I have heard the Christmas story so many times. I have read the words, acted out the events in church pagents, heard it at every Christmas celebration growing up and in several school chapels. Sadly, the best story ever told has become all too common to me. For the past two weeks, my constant prayer has been for a fresh look on the Christmas story. I want a new appreciation and awe for the awesome gift of Jesus.
I love how the Lord answers prayers. He is so good. I've been reading Matthew 1-5 and Luke 1-2 every day this week with new eyes. I've been so moved by Zechariah's prophecy in Luke 1. Zechariah was the father to John the Baptist and a priest at the Temple. When Gabriel, an angel of the Lord, told Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth was pregnant, he was full of disbelief. Elizabeth was barren and very old. Gabriel said that the boy was to be called John and would prepare the way for the Lord. Asking for a sign to confirm this prediction, Zechariah was punished for his unbelief. Because he did not believe Gabriel's words, he would be silent until the baby was born.
This part of the story alone is amazing to me. A pregnancy is a LONG, drawn-out, slow-moving process. When I was pregnant with Ainsley, I felt like many months moved at a snail's pace. Imagine being completely unable to speak for the entire nine (really more like ten) months! He couldn't speak to his wife and tell her everything that happened or at least explain why he could no longer speak. Some scholars believe that Zechariah was also deaf during this time as well. All for a lack of faith, something of which I am guilty all too often.
Of course, Elizabeth is pregnant and she does give birth to John the Baptist. The next verses in the story bring to tears. The baby is born and Zechariah is finally able to speak. I've thought through what I would have said after forty weeks of silence. I would explain the whole angel striking me mute story and all of the thoughts I've had over the past months. But, Zechariah didn't say any of that. He praised God and prophesied about the long-awaited Emmanuel. His first words were of praise and gratitude.
"Blessed by the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace." Luke 1:67-79
I'm not sure how to read those words and not be completely arrested by the truth they represent. Jesus, the horn of salvation, sent in human form, to pay the penalty for my sins so that I might find a light in my darkness. All this out of his tender mercy and love for his children. Amazing. Humbling. Awesome. 
I love how God answers prayers. It is with fresh eyes and an overwhelmed heart that I celebrate Christmas this year.