Gabriel and Mary: God’s Heroes!

The unbelief of Zechariah in Luke 1:18 is somewhat stunning, especially in light of the incredible nature of the angel’s announcement. It is also downright hilarious.

Zechariah had been trying to father a child with Elizabeth for perhaps as many as five or six decades. This surely gives new meaning to the popular adage “If at first you don’t succeed . . . .” Nevertheless, the herald of this announcement is no mere mortal; it is an angel from Heaven. What’s more, this is no bumbling It’s-A-Wonderful-Life “Clarence”; this is the Archangel Gabriel. But Zechariah is no dolt. He identifies himself an “OLD man, and his wife as . . . “advanced in years.” His careful terminology reveals that he was a wise man. Had Elizabeth found out that he had referred to her as an “OLD woman,” God no doubt would have had to bring John into the world in the same way that he brought Jesus. But I digress. If we bear in mind that the name Gabriel means “God’s Hero,” we cannot miss the humor of this exchange:
Zechariah: I AM ANCIENT!
Gabriel: I AM GOD’S HERO!
It’s as if Gabriel was saying, “You’re ancient? [pause for effect] Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and guess what? I DON’T CARE!” What is it about a personal visit from God’s Hero that makes you doubt the authority of my words? Do you not like my outfit?

The account of Zechariah makes at least two important devotional points. First, difficult life circumstances sometimes challenge the faith of even the strongest Christians. But God “works with us.” He brings us to recognize the foolishness of doubting him. He brings us back to faith in Him and His purposes for our lives.

The second devotional point comes from the contrast that Luke later draws between Zechariah’s angelic visitation and a closely parallel visitation by the very same angel, Gabriel, to the virgin Mary. Mary, who falls far short of Zechariah’s social and religious standing, responds in an entirely different and wholly more admirable way: “Be it unto me, even as you have said” (Luke 1:38). In drawing this contrast, Luke illustrates the divine principle that God elevates the humble, but humbles the elevated (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). Against a culture that for millenia had bestowed on women a social status just above, but not much above, children, the real hero of Luke’s annunciation accounts is Mary, a no-account woman. . . . And God smiled and said, “How do you like them apples?”