But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, 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, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
When we learn of the Angel's appearance to Zechariah we have already been told, "...they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years."
We might suppose the old couple had given up praying for a child long ago. It wasn't going to happen and what's the point of praying now, years after menopause?
So the Angel's announcement came as something of a surprize, like a package ordered by mail that had never arrived and suddenly appeared many years too late. If the apparatiion was frightening for being unexpected and unusual, we can only imagine Zechariah's puzzlement, if not perplexity, at Gabriel's good news. His question -- "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” -- was only the first one that came to mind. And then, when he heard the high-ranking Angel's rebuke, he shut his mouth and didn't open it for nine months!
The unspoken message from one servant to another: "You prayed for this! Now deal with it!"
Gabriel appears twice in the first chapter of Luke, and was probably the same messenger in Matthew 1. He is under orders and if he waits for a response he waits for only one -- "Yes." Or, as Mary said, "I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me according to your word."
Gabriel, Mary, Joseph, Zechariah, Elizabeth, the centurion -- all are under orders and do as they're told. God is not in the habit of asking anyone's opinion about his plans for them. We discover our freedom not in consultation but in obedience.
There is, of course, refusal. Saint Bernard shuddered at the thought in his marvelous reflection about that moment in Mary's life. Recalling the woman who searches for her lover in the Song of Songs, he warned Mary: "If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves."
We should also shudder at the thought of delaying or withholding consent to the merciful will of God. We should not hold out for a better deal! There will be a world of hurt between that lost opportunity and another the Lord might offer. Our message of God's endless love should not suggest we can ignore his kindness until we're in the mood to accept it. People die of that.
Rather we ask God to give us the eager readiness of Mary who did not hesitate when Gabriel appeared to her.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.