At family worship the other night we read the passage where an angel visited Zechariah and told him that he and his wife were going to have a son. The text says, "They had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were well advanced in years" (v. 7). Zechariah was a priest and offering incense in the temple when the angel appeared. The Angel Gabriel told Zechariah not to be afraid "for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John" (v. 13). Zechariah replied, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years."
When Gabriel visited Mary not long after, announcing that she would conceive the "the Son of the Most HIgh," who would reign on "the throne of his father David" and "over the house of Jacob forever," she asked, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" Gabriel told Mary that "the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most High will overshadow you; therefore the child ... will be called ... the Son of God." In contrast, Gabriel struck Zechariah's mute button, so that he could not speak until John was born.
Then my son Jonathan said "Why did God punish one and not the other for questioning the angel?" "Great question" said I, scrambling a bit, "what's the difference?" He just looked at me, so I said, well, Mary sounds like she believes the angel but she wants to know how God will do it. She says, "How will this be since I am a virgin." But Zechariah says, "How shall I know this," which means ... then Jonathan said, "He wanted a sign!" "Right!" said I. His was a question of unbelief while Mary's was a question of faith. Gabriel told Zechariah, the trained theologian, "you will be ... unable to speak ... because you did not believe." When Mary heard Gabriel's response she said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."
Zechariah should have known that God was in the baby business for old barren couples (the BBOBC) since this happened to Abraham and Sarah in one of the most memorable stories of the Old Testament that led to the creation of Israel itself. Zechariah must have been praying for this as well (at least at some point in his life) because Gabriel said " your prayer has been answered." Isn't it funny that we cannot accept it when God answers our prayers. It's too good to be true!
Speaking of funny, I said to Jonathan that Zechariah was basically asking for a sign in the presence of an archangel! To which we both started laughing. Five year old Kate already knew this story and had been participating the whole way. She immediately piped up and demanded that we stop laughing. I said, "That's OK sweetie. Zechariah probably laughed about it later, 'Can you believe I asked for a sign and the angel was standing right there'!" :-)
We should let Mary teach us how to question God, not Zechariah and not the unbelieving world. Faith is a better questioner anyway, because faith seeketh understanding (credo ut intelligam) and unbelief just wants to look clever or wants off the hook. Praise the Lord that Zechariah learned his lesson. Mightn't we?
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