{"id":14574,"date":"2026-03-10T10:22:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T10:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/zechariah-the-christmas-storys-unsung-hero\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T05:57:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:57:43","slug":"zechariah-the-christmas-storys-unsung-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/angels\/zechariah-the-christmas-storys-unsung-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"Zechariah: The Christmas Story\u2019s Unsung Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

I think of Zechariah as the guy who gets left out of most Christmas pageants. You always see the angels appearing to the shepherds, \u201ca multitude of the heavenly host, praising God\u201d with flapping of wings and shimmering halos. And there might be a scene of Gabriel appearing to a startled Mary to proclaim the good news. But if you look back at the Gospel of Luke, you\u2019ll notice that Gabriel shows up at the temple in Jerusalem, appearing to Zechariah first.<\/p>\n

When it comes to holiness, Zechariah would be at the top of any list, one of those good souls who has spent his life doing the right thing. As a priest at the temple, he and his wife Elizabeth have observed all the commandments. They are \u201crighteous before God,\u201d blameless. Their only unanswered prayer<\/a> is that they\u2019re getting on in age and still haven\u2019t conceived a child.<\/p>\n

You can imagine what the village gossips would have said. Sure, Zechariah was a holy man, reeking with the stench of temple incense, but the couple must have been hiding some deep dark secret or God would have shown them favor by now, wouldn\u2019t he have? Zechariah and Elizabeth must have asked themselves the same thing.<\/p>\n

Then one day, as Zechariah is serving at the temple, standing in the holiest of holy sanctuaries, burning more incense and saying the prayers, an angel appears all at once to the right of the altar. Zechariah is overcome with fear<\/a>, a common biblical reaction to such celestial events.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not be afraid,\u201d the angel says\u2014taking the line from the usual heavenly script\u2014\u201cYour prayers have been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to your son, and you must name him John.\u201d The angel goes on to say that this child is not going to be like any other child, but will be filled with the Holy Spirit, a prophet like Elijah, turning the people of Israel back to righteousness, preparing them for the appearance of the Lord.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy enough to forgive Zechariah\u2019s incredulity. How often had he gone to the temple and never seen anything like this? How on earth was his elderly wife going to have a child? It seemed impossible. He must have been tempted to laugh, as the aged Sarah did when she was given similar news. \u201cHow can I be sure of this?\u201d he summons the courage<\/a> to ask. \u201cMy wife and I are very old.\u201d<\/p>\n

The angel is sorely offended. After all, he\u2019s not a lowly cherubim or seraphim; he is the archangel Gabriel, at the top of the heap, called on to deliver God\u2019s most important messages. In fact, the next person on his agenda is Mary the Mother of God. Think of the news he\u2019ll bring her. How dare this old codger not believe him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Gabriel<\/a>,\u201d the angel says. \u201cI was sent to speak to you and to bring this good news to you. What I have spoken will come true.\u201d Then he delivers the zinger. \u201cBut because you didn\u2019t believe, you will remain silent, unable to speak until the day when these things happen.\u201d The unspoken message: Don\u2019t mess with Gabriel.<\/p>\n

All of this has taken a while. Outside the temple people are wondering why Zechariah is still inside. The prayers and incense have stopped, so why hasn\u2019t he come out? Finally he emerges and gestures helplessly, trying to explain that he\u2019s seen a vision, been given some extraordinary news. He has traveled to Jerusalem from his small village to do his priestly stint, and he waits it out, wordlessly now, no doubt confused as to how the angel\u2019s words will be fulfilled.<\/p>\n

When he returns home to his village, Elizabeth does indeed become pregnant<\/a>. For five months she doesn\u2019t tell a soul. Until her cousin Mary\u2014after she has heard from Gabriel\u2014 comes for a visit. The baby Elizabeth is carrying leaps in her womb as though to greet the child Mary is carrying. The two of them will change the world. \u201cWhy do I have this honor,\u201d Elizabeth asks, \u201cthat the mother of my Lord should come to me?\u201d She gets it\u2014a common trope in the Gospels that the women are often quicker on the uptake than the men.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Zechariah remains mute until his son is born. On the eighth day the baby is taken to be circumcised, following the Jewish ritual. Everybody wants to name him Zechariah, after his father. No, his mother says, he should be called John. Zechariah asks for a tablet so he can write it down: John. At that moment Gabriel\u2019s curse is lifted and Zechariah is able to speak again.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,\u201d Zechariah proclaims. \u201cTo give light to those who are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide us on the path of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are various legends about what happened to Zechariah later in his life, that he managed to hide his son John the Baptist from Herod\u2019s minions when the king slaughtered all the baby boys in Bethlehem. Perhaps. But the vision I hold in my head is of a man who waited into old age for his prayers to be answered. And then an angel appeared to him with news more astounding than anything he could have dreamed. That\u2019s the unspoken promise every Christmas pageant brings to me.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Did you enjoy this story? Subscribe to <\/em>Angels on Earth<\/strong><\/a> magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think of Zechariah as the guy who gets left out of most Christmas pageants. You always see the angels appearing to the shepherds, \u201ca multitude of the heavenly host, praising God\u201d with flapping of wings and shimmering halos. 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