According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn the incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. Luke 1:9
There were many tasks associated with serving as a priest in the temple, some of them were menial and uninteresting while others were more challenging and interesting. Priests had a variety of ceremonial roles, including the handling of offerings and sacrifices. One of those ceremonial roles was that of burning incense. And it was a pretty special task. Every morning and evening, the priest who was assigned to the task would enter a special compartment that contained the altar of incense. There, he would place the incense on the altar to create a fragrant smoke that would spread throughout the entire temple. This incense was very special and very costly, made up of the sweet spices identified in Scripture as stacte, onycha, and galbanum, as the Lord had commanded. The incense ceremony was one in which people took great interest, and they waited outside the compartment for the priest to reappear; and he would sometimes have a brief sermon for them. This was the case with Zacharias; he was probably one of the more popular priests to perform this function. He no doubt considered it a very high honour. And well he should. So should we, when we consider the incense that God seeks from His people today.
We don’t have a physical temple where we have a physical altar of incense. And we don’t mingle special sweet spices to create an incense to burn. But we have something that is much more wonderful, a spiritual altar and a spiritual incense that is not limited to a temple half a world away. God’s earthly people had a house where they could meet with God and where worship occurred. God’s house today is in those places and in those hearts where the Lord Jesus is given His rightful place and where His order is observed. The gathering places are ordained by God to allow access, not just to one solitary priest, but to all of the believer priests who are in conformity with His order. The incense of today’s believer priests is the praise that arises from hearts that have been contemplating the Person and work of the Lord Jesus as laid out in His Word. Hearts that appreciate the Saviour lift up that incense in His presence today, and the honour of doing so is just as great as the honour accorded Zacharias in the temple so long ago.
As Lord’s Days come and go, and as we meet to remember week by week, we need to remember that our doing so is not a small thing with God. He has purchased for us this privilege in drops of the precious blood of His Own Son. Nothing in all of creation is so treasured by our Father in Heaven as the thanksgiving and worship of those who appreciate the Son. What an honour! – Jim MacIntosh