Gospel for the Day: Zechariah

We’ve all heard the saying that God answers prayers in his way, in his time but I found this particularly Gospel passage so amusing, I had to write about it.

Zechariah was going about his business burning incense in the Temple when it was his turn, like he always did, and he probably did it several times because like his wife Elizabeth, he was probably “advanced in years”. Of course, his problem was that he had no child because his wife Elizabeth was barren and we must note that in Jewish societies, being barren is a big embarrassment.

I could imagine that when Zechariah used to pray at the Temple when Elizabeth and he were newly married, he’d pray that God would grant him a son. And as time passed and Elizabeth was starting to get past her prime, he would probably pray even harder to God to grant him a son.

And then Elizabeth finally went past her prime and she was so old that the thought of her still having a baby was probably considered a medical impossibility or at the very least terribly dangerous.

I suppose Zechariah was probably depressed at that point but being “righteous in the eyes of God”, he continued serving God while I would imagine, continuing to hold some grudge or disappointment against God for not answering his prayer. In this case, there might have been some zeal taken out of Zechariah’s sense of service. Or, and this seems more likely, he might have thought God did not favor him and this was God’s way of showing it so he became even more astute in his service to seek God’s favor. Nonetheless, Zechariah had a petition and the petition was not answered.

Then one day, he’s offering incense to God like he always did and an angel suddenly appears (which as my wife points out was probably terrifying but that’s another story). And the first thing that the angel says is “Do not be afraid (which is the standard angelic/deific greeting to us mere mortals) Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness…”

I can’t even begin to imagine what Zechariah must have felt at this point: terror, certainly but also maybe a sense of why-now? leading him to ask “How shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years?”

I think Zechariah was saying that’s nice my prayer was heard but aren’t you a bit too late? with undertones of where were you when we could still  have a child?

Maybe it is the bitterness in his voice that makes the angel “punish” him by making him mute. Notice the heavy-handed way the angel responded to him, “I am Gabriel who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news” which could be translated as, “Kilala mo ba ako? Ako si Gabriel, lagi kong kasama ang Diyos. Ikaw, sino ka ba? Pinadala niya ako para bigyan ka ng magandang balita tapos pagdududahan mo ako?

I think it is natural for us to feel some bitterness toward God whenever we have prayers that are seemingly unanswered. But as the tale of Zechariah shows, God does listen to our prayers and responds to them in his own way, in his own time.

- January 10, 2003