God silenced Zechariah, the father of St. John the Baptist, when the elderly priest doubted how he and his wife, the aged Elizabeth, would bear a child. The temporary lack of one man’s voice speaks volumes about how we are all called to pass on the faith forever.
The birthday of St. John is recognized by the Church every June 24. His death is actually marked by its own day every year on August 29. As our thoughts turn to this essential figure, who gets two feast days in the liturgical calendar, it is important to take a look at why the Church emphasizes the significance of this saint’s arrival in the world.
It is no small detail that St. John was set aside for the Lord’s work before he was even born. In fact, the most essential characteristics of the saint are given to us before his birth. St. Luke tells us his parents had longed for a child and, in their old age, had all but given up on ever bearing children. But while he was praying, Zechariah was visited by the Angel Gabriel, who told him that his wife would bear a son and “he will be great before the Lord” and “he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15).
The Angel goes on to describe this miracle-child’s mission, saying that “he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God, and he will go before them in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
These words are keys to understanding why Zechariah is silenced after asking, “How shall I know this?” We might be tempted to shake our heads at Zechariah, wanting to shout in answer, “Because the Angel of the Lord just told you!” But we also might feel sympathy for him, wondering if we might do the same thing if we were in his shoes: finding out from a frightening, celestial being that our aged wife is going to bear a son who is going to be a messenger of God. His question almost seems justified.
But the words of the Angel Gabriel echo the sentiments of the Prophet Malachi, who lived about five centuries before the birth of Christ. Malachi bemoaned the fact that the Chosen people were just going through the motions of worship, that their faith was habitual and largely empty, that they were not teaching the faith to their children, and their sacrifices were impure.
Zechariah was a priest and therefore had the responsibility of using his voice to lead the people. Luke says that Zechariah and Elizabeth were “both righteous before God, taking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” Of course, not every single Israelite was unfaithful, but as a whole, the people had gotten off track.
The last verse of the Book of Malachi reads “Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse” (Mal 4:5).
The people had failed to teach the faith to their children, something that God had emphasized to them since the time of Moses. No faith can survive unless it is passed on to future generations in a deliberate way. Parents have the responsibility of teaching their children by word, deed, practice, and rightly ordered priorities. We must still use our voices to teach our children, to protect the faith.
When Zechariah did not immediately believe God’s holy messenger, he was, in a way, representative of the lack of faith that was plaguing his people. They had not used their voices to pass on the faith properly to their children. This explains why God silenced him — a temporary punishment to give this priest time to put his priorities in order and also be a true leader for the people. Though he is a mostly faithful man of God, Zechariah is humbled by his own unbelief and God’s incredible mercy.
If we look around our churches and homes today, can we honestly say that we have done our best to teach our children the faith?
Have we learned from the experience of Zechariah and St. John the Baptist how we must prepare the way of the Lord in our own lives, in our Church and in our world?
For Christians, who have the benefit of knowing the one Saviour, Jesus Christ, we have the greater responsibility to never miss an opportunity to teach our children what they need to know.
Lazzuri writes from her home in Nova Scotia, where she lives with her husband, three of her six children, and her mom. She can be reached at [email protected].