1:8-10 — Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshippers were praying outside.

Having introduced us to the couple, Luke now takes us to a moment in the life of Zechariah in his ministry as a priest. But it was not just any moment. Zechariah's division was on duty during the week and he had been chosen by lot to burn incense. The number of priests had grown so large that the privilege of offering up the incense and other more important, and prestigious, duties had then to be decided by lot. This meant that any priest got only one chance in a lifetime for the duty. Some—those on whom the lots never fell—never enjoyed that privilege at all. This meant that this was the most important day, the highlight, of Zechariah's career as a priest. And what a day it must have been, the excitement, the sense of pride, that must have welled up in both husband and wife as they awaited the appointed day; Zechariah finally honoured to represent the people before God to offer up the people's worship symbolized in the offering of incense to Him. The altar where the incense was offered stood just before the curtain that separates the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. It was the nearest that any priest, with the exception of the high priest, can ever hope to come to the Holy of Holies; the excitement must have been palpable. And what a day it turned out to be!

At the appointed time—we are not told whether it was the morning or evening service (most commentators think it was the evening one because of the crowd)—Zechariah would have entered the inner sanctuary of the temple, accompanied by the other priests, similarly chosen by lot for the day. Then, when the time came, the other priests would retire back out of the inner santuary, leaving Zechariah alone to perform his duty. It was the highpoint of the day's service; all the assembled worshippers praying outside. It was just like any other day in the life of the nation. It was always ordinary days like this that God chose to do His transforming work. The assembled worshippers may be excused for not entertaining great expectations of ordinary days. But neither did the priest. It may have been the highlight of his career but he expected it to be just like any other day. Like today?

It was always ordinary days like this that God chose to do
His transforming work.
Isn't today an ordinary day
— the best kind of days for God
to do His transforming work?
Let us expect Him to.