Questions to Angels -- Day 10

One of my most closely held beliefs is that we meet God in the questions. But two stories in the Gospel of Luke of the events leading up to the birth of Jesus suggest that not all questions are equal. When the angel Gabriel visited Mary and told her she would miraculously conceive, she asked “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” And Gabriel patiently explained. {Luke 1:26-38). 

But just a few verses earlier, when Gabriel visited Zechariah to tell him his wife Elizabeth would also conceive, miraculous because Zecharia and Elizabeth were both old, he also asked a question, but got a very different response.

Zechariah asked “How will i know that this is so? For I am an old man and my wife is getting on in years.” – and Gabriel made it so Zechariah would not be able to speak, literally, until the child was born, because Zechariah did not believe Gabriel’s words of good news. (Luke 1:5-25).

I’ve been wrestling with this text, trying to understand why these two questions were treated so differently in Luke’s Gospel. So I put them side by side: "How can this be?" vs. "How will I know?" Both express doubt, both point to biological facts that would seem to stand in the way of conception (Mary’s virginity and Zechariah’s and Elizabeth’s age).

First, it seems as if Mary’s question expresses doubt, but also wonder. Her question and doubt are an expression of faith. She asks not whether God can make this happen, but how God will make this happen. Her focus is on God.

Zechariah’s question, on the other hand, focusses in another direction. He asks not for explanation but certainty; he wants to be sure – he wants to know not how God will make this happen, but how he, Zechariah, will know that this is really good news. He does not trust that God can or will do this miracle. Zechariah’s question is not about God, it’s about himself.

The young girl Mary shows a spiritual maturity that the senior attendant in the Temple, Zechariah, does not.

Perhaps this is why Zechariah is blessed (not cursed) with silence by the angel. Because he cannot speak, Zechariah must listen. For nine months. In that time, he would not be the center of attention. And in that time he matures spiritually, so that when his son John is born, like Mary he sings praise to God and what God is doing in the world. Zechariah has learned that it’s not all about him – it’s about God, and he is filled with joy. (Luke 1:67-79) A blessing indeed.
We hear good news all the time, from various "angels" we meet. But our culture seems to predispose us to ignore them. We distrust angels, and doubt good news. But maybe, if we slow down this Advent, and take time to listen, we can hear that good news afresh -- and let it fill us with wonder, and keep us focussed on what really matters.

Prayer: God of mercy and miracles, help us to hear the good news brought to us by the angels we meet everyday, and to respond in wonder and faith. Amen.