The Silence of Zechariah

I often feel like we miss out on the story of Zechariah in our rush to get to the birth of Christ. He was an important figure in the community in which he lived, and yet he is overshadowed in history by the figures around him.

An elderly man, faithful enough to be chosen to enter the sanctuary, Zechariah is not a heroic figure, but a completely human one. When faced with a prophetic angel, he doesn’t laugh like Sarah or weep like Hannah. He is a man who has spent his adulthood becoming reconciled to the barrenness of his marriage, only to have it upended in an instant with only the word of Gabriel. I have no doubt that he and Elizabeth had shed many tears and spent much time in prayer over their lack of a child, and learned to be accepting of God’s ‘No,’ only to be stunned to realize that it was instead a ‘not yet.’

Scripture doesn’t record Elizabeth’s reaction to this revelation for us. We only know his. When he stood face-to-face with an angel, Zechariah asked “How?” Zechariah is not Joseph who needed only the nudging of a dream, but a regular man whose need for more information was met with silence… his own.

During the pregnancy, the couple received the consolation of a visit from Mary who brought the Divine Child with her into their home. We know of Elizabeth’s joy and John’s exuberance, but nothing is said of Zechariah. Here was this devout old man receiving all that he had dreamed and prayed for, a son and a Messiah, and he could share the news with no one. I can’t help but think that perhaps that was the point.

Judging by his Canticle which follows the birth of his firstborn son, Zechariah was a man of words and emotions. The more I think about his imposed muteness, I can’t help but feel that his lessons went beyond accepting the will of God, and included learning the value of silence. He lived for a time with the two babies who would grow up to be the most important men who ever lived, and he knew it. And had to say nothing. That’s a huge burden for a man who likes to talk and is used to being important, and yet their safety relied on his ability to keep them safely hidden until it was time for them to reveal themselves.

And so God, in His infinite mercy, used the time until John’s circumcision to teach Zechariah about obedience and silence. They are lessons that we still grapple with today. As used to over sharing as the internet has made us, how would we be able to handle being unable to communicate for months on end? Would we be crushed under the weight of our own silence, or would we learn to better listen to God and the people around us? Oh, that we could be so beloved by God in our moments of doubt that He would gift us with silent stillness until we see His promises fulfilled and ourselves accepting of the perfection of His will for our lives.

photo credit: By Janmad (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons