This year I decided to reread the infancy narratives each day during the Octave of Christmas. I included for this purpose Mt —; Lk —; and abnormally Jn Surprisingly, by doing this I learned something more about the spiritual difference between Zechariah father of John the Baptist and Mary mother of Jesus Christ —and about why Zechariah was punished while Mary was encouraged.
I suppose I am late to the party on this, but I had not realized—nor had anyone explained to me—that the difference in their attitudes was not merely presumed by readers but explicit in the text. Let me explain. The reason is actually presented clearly in the text. Now how are we going to get this done? For Abraham, the sign that he will truly be the father of a great nation is that his wife will at last conceive a son in her old age.
For Zechariah, the sign is that his power of speech is reduced, perhaps to reflect his reduced faith, though he was clearly a good man. The most famous example of this need for a sign is the case of Gideon, recounted in the Book of Judges All this reminds me of the similar analysis that must be made in the famous case of the offerings of Cain and Abel.
Luke And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. Genesis And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him…. Numbers And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
Romans For what if some did not believe? Titus In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;. Context Crossref Comment Greek. Verse Click for Chapter. New International Version 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. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time. In this setting, do you really need some other sign to be sure that the message is true?
The parallel I thought of was Korihor, actually. Demands a sign, gets struck dumb for a significant amount of time, until its removed by a logical outcome birth on the one hand, death on the other. Sharing testimony is good — but do not share all you know. Many of the explanations already given here make sense to me. Just one more reason he had less excuse to doubt what he was being told. I think God gives us scripture and expects us to internalize it to the point that we will be better prepared to encounter him than were those who encountered him first.
Unbelief all by itself is fine — my spouse was welcome, even if they did not believe in God. However, any kind of animosity or cynicism or other negative attitudes in addition to the disbelief would interrupt the proceedings and interfere with the spirit of the Lord.
I have thought upon that many times since — surprised that according to this particular Patriarch unbelief, in itself, is not the problem, but the judgments and superior attitudes we add to it are. The inability to speak and possibly to hear, as well; see Luke may have been a consequence that would strike the older, presumably well-educated, priestly Zachariah the right way, making him unable for a number of months to hold forth and pontificate amongst the other men of his community at whatever passed for the local coffee shop.
Another man may have needed a different trial to produce the same result. I think all of the above interpretations are plausible. I also wonder if it had something to do with dealing with negative social consequences when spiritually significant events occur.
As was noted above, being struck dumb was typically seen as punishment or evidence of possession. Zacharias and Mary, in a sense, were both getting a taste of the judgment and rejection their sons would experience.
Just an interesting thought that popped in my head while reading this post and the comments. In our Gospel Doctrine class last Sunday our teacher posed an interesting question.
She asked us if Gabriel smiting Zacharias so that he was deaf and dumb seemed a bit harsh and why it was done. It seems to me at least possible that there is a further reason. Zacharias was individually a righteous priest but the priesthood in general had become corrupt. With him ended the old law, and with him began the new era of promise. He is the one man who stood, literally, at the crossroads of history; with him the past died and the future was born. And the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel;.
I suggest that the striking deaf and dumb of Zacharias could symbolise that the old dispensation was to be replaced by a new one ushered in by John and that the priests of the old dispensation, who Zacharias represented in the temple that day, would no longer hear the word of the Lord or be His voice on the earth.
Ironically Gabriel softly rebukes this lack of faith by making Zachariah himself the sign for 9 months for everyone around him.
But if we look a bit deeper I believe we see that non-mortal beings have just as much agency as mortal beings and are just a prone to making choices that reflect their individuality.
Some angels may be given strict instructions from the divine about the delivery of their message and some may be given just the bare outline and how they deliver the message is up to them. I like to think that Gabriel represents the latter. Maybe he was a little sweet on an attractive young lady and gave her the benefit of the doubt. Of maybe we have absolutely no idea and have have to play JRH and make up what we want to make the story fit our own narrative.
Thinkle on that for about nine months while you regain your humility. The Living Christ. Email Address:. Smith b. January 26, by Aaron R.
Zacharias replies: Whereby shall I know this? There are a few interesting things about this exchange: 1. Any thoughts? Preach It: Tweet. Like this: Like Loading Filed Under: Mormon.
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