At church this morning we were reviewing the characters from the nativity account in Scripture. What caught my attention in Luke 1:11-22 was that Zacharias, the husband of Elizabeth (who was barren and later bore John the Baptist), questioned the angel as to how his barren wife could bare a son in their old age. Remember that this happened once before with Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament. The passage about Zacharias is as follows:
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
13But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
14And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
15For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
16And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
17And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
18And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
19And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
20And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
21And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.
22
And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.
My first thought is that Zacharias asked a reasonable question. They were old and his wife was barren. But we have learned that God can do things that in our eyes seem impossible, including opening a barren womb (as in Sarah's case). The response of Zacharias was distrust. "Whereby shall I know this?" It was like he wanted a sign that this was true. What greater sign do you need than an angel of God? And this was in answer to HIS prayer! He was in the presence of one of God's messenger angels, Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God Almighty, and the angel seems surprised at his doubting. This was good news he was bringing! Zacharias was a priest and his wife of the daughters of Aaron. Shouldn't he have more faith?
Contrast this with a lowly teenage girl, Mary. That same messenger angel, Gabriel, who had spoken with Zacharias now came to Mary. The passage is as follows in Luke 1:26-38:
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
37For with God nothing shall be impossible.
38And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
How was Mary's response? Well, she also asked how could this be since she is a virgin (knows not a man). God didn't come in a usual way to this earth. The Holy Ghost fertilized Mary's egg and Jesus was born of a woman, but his father was God our Heavenly Father. Joseph was more like a stepfather because while he was Jesus' earthly father, he was not his biological father.
Mary didn't ask a question because she doubted this could happen as the angel said. She just didn't know how it could happen. The angel told her, and she said, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." The angel departed from her and did not punish her for asking her question. What was the difference? The heart. The trust. The response. Whereby shall I know this? vs. How shall this be? How do I know I can trust you, vs. how can this happen? Do you see the difference?
How will you react when the Lord asks you to do something that you don't have all the answers to? Will you doubt God, or quit because you don't understand everything? Or will you trust in God and let it be according to God's will?
This Christmas let's not be like doubting Zacharias, who by the way did have his voice restored after the baby was born. The angel said to name him John, and when the family and friends put pressure on these parents to name their baby from their family line, Elizabeth said they would name him John. The loved ones were in an uproar, questioning the validity of Elizabeth's statement, and demanded that Zacharias straighten this whole thing out. Because he couldn't speak, he asked for paper and he wrote, "His name is John." Then immediately he could speak. Now he had the faith and the obedience to do what the angel said, and the punishment was lifted.
Let's not be doubters. Let's be obedience to God and His holy Word this Christmas season and always. What is God's will? Read the Bible, pray, go to church, repent of your sins, trust in Jesus as your Savior, tell others about Christ, and obey what He has said in His Word for us to do, such as love one another, be kind, forgive others, give to the Lord, take care of the temple of God (our bodies), teach our children about God, rejoice in the Lord always, look for His second coming, etc. Once we are doing the known will of God, then He can reveal specifics that He wants us to do. Follow Jesus and trust in the One who can do mighty things!
