Zacharias- what went wrong?
Poor Zacharias. How like ourselves he was. His faith was not up to the standard of his prayers.
He has prayed for years; now his prayers are to be answered and he cannot believe it! ‘I am an old man’, he says to Gabriel. There is something sad and plaintive about it. ‘I am Gabriel’, the angel replies, and charges him with unbelief. From the very presence of God the holy messenger had come with the answer to his prayer and he will not believe. How many of us can see ourselves mirrored in it all.
This is not just doubt on the part of Zacharias. It is unbelief, and for a God who desires the trust of His people unbelief is offensive. Zacharias is stricken dumb and verse 62 will indicate that he was deaf also. He tarried in the temple and the people waited. He then appeared to them, speechless.
They assumed a vision. He beckoned to them, unable to communicate, and eventually he returned to his home in the hill country. Now he would have nine long months to dwell in the silence, the constant reminder of his refusal to believe God.
It is kind and gracious of God that our unbelief does not alter His plans and purpose for us. Elisabeth conceives and the promised son is born. Her friends and neighbours rejoice and would call the child Zacharias after his father. ‘Not so’, his mother answers, ‘He shall be called John’.
Somehow the aged couple had communicated during those months and Elisabeth knew the whole story. She knew that their son must be called John. After all, the name ‘John’ meant ‘The grace of God’. Jehovah had indeed been gracious to them in spite of unbelief.
The friends made signs to Zacharias, asking about the name. The old man sat at a writing table and his message was brief and to the point, ‘His name is John’. This was faith now, and obedience. His tongue was loosed and his first exercise was to praise God.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, the man who had been a dumb priest now gives us a most delightful song. He sings of redemption and salvation, of tender mercy and remission of sins, of light in the darkness and guidance into the way of peace. His prayers are answered. The ‘dayspring from on high’ had visited them.
Author: Flanigan, J. (1999). August 31st: Zacharias—The Dumb Priest (Luke 1:18–23, 57–80). In Ivan Steeds (Ed.), Day by Day with Bible Characters (p. 260). West Glamorgan, UK: Precious Seed.
