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December 16

Luke 1: 18- 20

¹⁸ Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

¹⁹ The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰ And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time."

It was a busy time for angels and especially for Gabriel – speaking to Elizabeth, speaking to Mary, speaking to Joseph,  speaking to Zechariah.  It must have been quite hard for each of them to get their head round the fact that a messenger from God was speaking to them and each of them responded in a different way.  Elizabeth was overjoyed – for she had spent many years praying for a child and was beyond hope.  She had given up,  but now,  in the words of the angel,  hope was reborn.  For Mary,  the experience was very different.  She hadn’t sought any divine intervention in her life,  but here it was anyway,  and the intervention was not what she would have wished for or dreamt of.  She was going to give birth to a child,  God’s Son.  To her,  the angel brought unwelcome news but also the possibility of acceptance and peace even in such a difficult situation. That's why she was able to say 'Let it be to me according to your will.' 

Joseph found peace of mind in the angel’s reassurance to him that all would be well and it gave him the courage and confidence to make plans for a future with Mary and the child she carried.

Zechariah was a different matter all together.  He was a priest – God’s holy man.  He was used to praying and indeed he had prayed long that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a child. He must also have been used to God answering prayers and encouraging others to believe that this was so.  But when Gabriel appeared to him, his faith deserted him – ‘ How can this be true?” he asked

For each of us, faith can be a comfort and a strength,  but there are times, aren’t there, when our faith leaves us and we struggle to make sense even of that which we hoped for. In that loss of faith, we are not alone.  Gabriel rendered Zechariah speechless for a time, not childless or hopeless.  When the time came that he was able to fully understand that God’s promise was true, his voice was restored and his praises and joy rang out.