In the reading for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we see in Joseph the model of perfect obedience. We see his unwavering yes to God. Today we see the opposite response from Zechariah. We see how the devil tries to get us to disobey by planting doubt in our minds. Doubt is the devil’s tool of disobedience. As this season of Advent begins to draw to a close and we near the great Solemnity of Christmas, let us pray for the grace to set aside doubt and trust fully in God’s plan for us.
The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth; for he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they wondered at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he made signs to them and remained dumb. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying, “Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.” Luke 1 : 5-25
Scriptural Analysis – Background
Luke makes an interesting editorial choice as he switches from the introduction of his Gospel to retelling the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. The introduction was written using a very formal style of Greek. The stories that follow the introduction are written using a narrative style similar to that of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. This is Luke’s way of connecting the birth of Jesus with what came before: showing that it is all part of one story of salvation history.
Once again, God is visiting his people by sending an angel to visit both Zechariah as well as Mary to announce the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus respectively. These two figures come together in the meeting of their pregnant mothers. The infancy narratives in Luke’s Gospel of both John the Baptist and Jesus mirror one another. First, we have the announcements of John the Baptist and Jesus and then their births. Luke uses a similar structure for the two in order to show their connectedness.
These announcements follow a similar pattern to the Old Testament birth announcements of Issac (Genesis 17-18) as well as Samson (Judge 13). Once again, Luke uses an Old Testament structure in order to show that God’s work in the Old Testament is continuing to fulfillment today.
There are five steps in the birth announcement:
The appearance of an angel.
A reaction of fear.
The message of the angel.
Responding with a question.
The giving of a sign.
Scriptural Analysis – Zechariah And Elizabeth
Luke starts his narrative by situating this event within the larger historical context. We learn that this event takes place during the reign of King Herod. Among the many building projects undertaken by King Herod, he was the one responsible for refurbishing the temple and expanding its courts. It was within the temple that an angel appeared to a Jewish priest named Zechariah. Zechariah’s name means Yahweh has remembered.
As a priest, Zechariah was a member of the tribe of Levi which descended from Aaron. The tribe was organized into 24 groups. Each group served in the temple, one week at a time, rotating through all of the groups. Zechariah, being a descendent of Abijah, was in the eighth group, “The eighth to Abijah.” (1 Chronicles 24:10) As was common, Zechariah’s wife was also from a priestly family and her name Elizabeth, which is derived from the Hebrew words for my God, is reminiscent of Aaron’s wife “Aaron took to wife Elisheba.” (Exodus 6:23)
Zechariah and Elizabeth are presented as model Jews. They are described as “righteous before God” and “walking in” all of the commandments. They model what God told Abraham, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.” (Genesis 17:1). Like the rest of those introduced in the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel, Zechariah and Elizabeth are very devout. The law promises people such as these blessings from the Lord, “If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you.” (Deuteronomy 30:16).
However, Zechariah and Elizabeth have no children. Elizabeth is considered barren and advanced in age, so their hope for children is running out. This is similar to Abraham and Sarah. Elizabeth’s struggle to bear a child recalls the similar struggles of Rebekah, Rachel, the wife of Manoah, and Hannah. God remembered all of these women and they all bore a son.
Scriptural Analysis – The Announcement
The scene of the story now shifts to the sanctuary inside the temple. Zechariah, based upon law, was chosen by lot to burn incense in the temple, “They organized them by lot.” (1 Chronicles 24:5) Burning incense was done twice a day in accordance with the daily offering, “Now this is what you shall offer upon the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually. One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer in the evening.” (Exodus 29:38-39) Our best guess is that this event likely occurred during the evening offering. Zechariah enters the Holy Place, the first room of the temple where the incense is burned.
While the offering was going on, the assembly of the people was outside in the courtyard praying. This is a common motif in Luke’s Gospel. You will see the people portrayed as reverent and pious as opposed to their leaders.
The Angel of the lord now appears to Zechariah and like many before him, his original reaction is fear. Immediately the angel moves to provide reassurance to Zechariah, to calm his fears. The announcement to Zechariah mirrors the announcement to Abraham (Genesis 17:19). Zechariah is told that his prayer has been heard and that his wife will bear a son and he is to name him John. The Hebrew name means the Lord is gracious, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious.” (Exodus 34:6). This birth is to bring joy: many will rejoice because of it.
The angel then turns his attention to John and offers a description of what this child will be. This entire description is full of references to the Old Testament which are designed to show that both John and his mission will be great.
John will be dedicated as a Nazirite meaning he will not drink wine or strong drink. This is modeled after the priestly sons of Aaron, “Drink no wine nor strong drink, you nor your sons with you.” (Leviticus 10:9) Samson and Samuel were also Nazirites. (Numbers 6:1-21, Judgers13:4-7, 1 Samuel 1:11)
John will be filled with the Holy Spirit even in his mother’s womb just like the Old Testament prophets
The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. (Isaiah 49:1)
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)
John will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the people to the lord.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse. (Malachi 4:5-6)
Scriptural Analysis – The Response
Zechariah finds this news too difficult to accept. He asks how should he know this. This is the same question that Abraham asked, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” (Genesis 15:8) yet Abraham believed, “And he believed the Lord.” (Genesis 15:6) With Zechariah we see doubt, “I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.” This sounds like Abraham and Sarah’s response, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” (Genesis 18:12) However Zechariah knows that God kept his word with Abraham so Zechariah should have known better than to doubt God.
The angel then responds to Zechariah’s doubt by first identifying himself as Gabriel. Known from the book of Daniel, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” (Daniel 8:16) Of note, in Daniel we see that Gabriel also appeared at the time of the evening offering, “While I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.” (Daniel 9:21) Gabriel was sent specifically to announce this good news. Zechariah’s response should have been belief but it wasn’t so his punishment was to be made speechless (silent).
The people were waiting for Zechariah which was the custom, “Say to Aaron and his sons, thus you shall bless the people of Israel.” (Numbers 6:23). However, Gabriel’s punishment takes effect immediately and Zechariah was unable to speak. The priestly blessing later comes from Jesus.
In his mute condition, Zechariah finished his assignment and then returns home. Elizabeth conceives and her response “he looked on me, to take away my reproach” echoes Rachel’s, “She conceived and bore a son, and said, ‘God has taken away my reproach.” (Genesis 30:23). God has remembered Elizabeth.
Daily Application
The devil is the master of disguise. He will never appear as himself, in all of his vile and evil. If he did we would be so frightened that we would not follow him at all. He knows this. So he will always appear in a much more subtle and appealing way. One of his most subtle ways is to plant the seeds of doubt in our minds: especially as it pertains to God.
The word doubt means, “A feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction.” Doubt has its place. For example, it can help keep us from engaging in dangerous activities. The current in the river is flowing especially strong today. I doubt I am a strong enough swimmer to handle it. Perhaps I will not get in the water today. In this case, some level of doubt could provide to be beneficial.
However, too much doubt can be dangerous. It can cause us to make bad decisions and to live our lives in a fearful and paranoid state. I doubt my skills are a good fit for that job, perhaps I will not apply for it. There is no way that girl could ever be interested in me so I won’t bother asking her out. What could be some of the greatest moments of one’s life could be missed based upon the presence of too much doubt.
When doubt creeps into the spiritual life it can become very damaging: especially when we begin to doubt God himself. The Lord can’t be asking me to share my faith with that stranger in the back of the Church, I will let him send someone else. God asked me to consider the priesthood, this I am sure of, but he must be mistaken: I am a weak student and God can’t overcome my weakness. I guess I will pray for my child who has cancer but really God can’t cure them so I will place my trust and hope in the doctors.
We must resist this temptation to doubt and we should. We have seen the power of God on display over and over in the Bible and we see the power of God still on display in the history of the Church. Recall the Battle of Lepanto where the Christians defeated the Muslims after praying the rosary, despite the immense odds against them. Consider the Miracle of the Sun that took place on October 13, 2017, the last apparition of Our Lady of Fatima. The fact that the Catholic Church still exists today, after 2000 years, despite all of the flawed people who have been in charge of it, shows the power of God.
If that is not enough, consider the Eucharist. Jesus comes to us, body, blood, soul, and divinity under the appearance of simple bread and wine. If you don’t believe in the real presence or are unsure, I would urge you to consider spending time reading about the Eucharistic miracles that have occurred. The scientific evidence for the real presence is without question.
As we draw closer to Christmas, the miracle of the incarnation, take a moment to pray for the grace needed to see the world with the eyes of faith, the faith of Saint Joseph. Ask for his intercession, that he may help you remove any and all doubt. Then you will truly be able to appreciate God’s will for all of us manifest in the birth of his son.
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