ZECHARIAH VS MARY: RESPONSE TO GABRIEL
Luke 1:13-67
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: One Liners
1. If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.
2. Happy is the person who can laugh at himself. He will never be short on entertainment.
3. Some call it “multi-tasking,” I call it doing something else while I try to remember what I was doing in the first place!
B. TEXT
13 But the angel said, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” 19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God...20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words....” 26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin [named] Mary. 30 “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. 57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 59 On the eighth day [the neighbors]...were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” 62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 67...Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied.” Luke 1:13,18-20, 26-27, 30-32, 38, 57, 59-64, 67.
C. THESIS
1. Two different people were visited by the angel Gabriel in the same year. One doubted the angel and the other believed what he said. These two – Mary and Zechariah – ended up spending 3 months together.
2. There’s a shocking difference between standing in faith or questioning with doubt. The title of this message is, “Zechariah & Mary: Responses to Gabriel.”
I. HOW EACH RESPONDED TO THE ANGEL
A. ZECHARIAH SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED GABRIEL WITH FAITH
1. Zechariah evidently was a real believer. He was enlightened, for he was a priest, and well instructed in the Word of God. In addition, as an older man, he had a lot of experience. Now for such a man to doubt God is a shameful delinquency.
2. Think how specially favored Zechariah was! An angel of the Lord appeared to him but not to other priests when they were offering incense. Think how encouraging the angel was to Zechariah when he was first afraid; “Fear not, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard.”
3. The unbelief of Zechariah was about the very subject he’d been beseeching God about for years. Shouldn’t he have welcomed such an answer? Zechariah staggered at a promise of God which others, weaker in faith than himself, had believed. This is clearly seen when you compare the reactions of Zechariah versus Mary.
B. 7 SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE TWO
1. Both were “troubled” when the angel Gabriel approached them (Luke 1:12, 29).
2. Gabriel reassured both, saying, “Do not be afraid” (1:13, 30).
3. Both were given the name of the coming child “John/Jesus” (1:13, 31).
4. Gabriel said of both children, “he will be great” (1:15, 32).
5. The work of the Holy Spirit was referenced in both (1:15, 35).
6. Both Zechariah and Mary responded with a question (1:18, 34).
7. Eventually both Zechariah and Mary exalted the Lord in prophecy (1:68-79; 1:46-55).
C. BOTH ASKED A QUESTION
1. Mary's Question: "How can this be since I am a virgin?" Mary's question was seeking clarification about the instrumentality of the angel’s promise, not doubting that it could be done. It was holy curiosity.
2. Zechariah's Question: “How can I be sure of this? I’m an old man and my wife is well along in years.” Zechariah's question reflects doubt and skepticism that the angel's promise can be fulfilled.
3. In Romans 4 Paul talks about how God promised Abraham children as numerous as the sand on the seashore. Paul says, “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about 100 years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief...being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.” (Rom. 4:19-21).
4. Zechariah should have responded like Abraham.
II. THE JUDGMENT ON ZECHARIAH
A. HE COULD NO LONGER SPEAK
1. His unbelief was followed by a mortifying punishment. Because he had doubted, he became mute. For 9-10 months he was kept in seclusion, unable to speak, like a leper put out of the camp of Israel.
2. The mercy of God was that the punishment didn’t invalidate the promise that a son would be borne to him. Isn’t God good? He doesn’t cast us out for doubting Him or even questioning His angels with unbelief!
3. It’s hard for me to be quiet ONE DAY! Can you imagine being “cancelled” for nine months? It must have been painful in the extreme and every moment – when he wished to say something – his shame was renewed that he had doubted God’s promise through the angel!
4. This same malady has afflicted the modern church today! Many believers – because of their lack of faith – have lost their speech! Whereas they used to talk to everyone they met about Jesus – now they’ve been struck with spiritual “lock-jaw.”
5. Instead of telling of the Lord’s goodness, they are silent now. Instead of singing the songs of Zion, now they’ve hung up their harps on the willows of Babylon.
B. ELIZ. & MARY: THE LIBERTY OF FAITH
1. Imagine Mary & Zechariah COMPARING NOTES about their encounters with Gabriel (they were there together for 3 months – Vs. 56). How embarrassed Zechariah must have been to write of his unbelief in a small miracle, compared to Mary’s belief in an impossible miracle (one which had never happened before).
2. RESULTS: Luke 1:39-56 tells us what happened during that 3-month time. Mary & Elizabeth were FILLED with the Holy Spirit; Zechariah was not.
3. Mary & Elizabeth PROPHESIED, “My soul magnifies the Lord – holy is His name!” This teenage girl glorified God there with Elizabeth, but Zechariah COULDN’T EVEN TALK! Zechariah had doubted God. Because of that he had no voice to praise or prophesy.
4. So there were the women – filled, talking, and prophesying and Zechariah is completely left out of the revival!
5. But the dam finally broke for Zechariah when he obeyed God and named his son John. Suddenly he talked, was filled, and prophesied! (64-79).
III. BELIEVERS: PRODUCTS OF SUPERNATURAL BIRTH
A. GOD HAS A NEW NAME FOR BELIEVERS
1. Zechariah had to write down a NEW NAME, one not connected to any family member. When he wrote John’s name, immediately spiritual power was released. The Spirit of God came. When we believe what God says about us, our faith releases His new nature in us.
2. God’s given you a new name. None of your relatives are called by your new name. It’s a new identity. It’s a new life. It’s a new gifting, a new ability, a new power. It’s born of God – not any human effort. God is speaking it in your heart. Don’t push it away, like Zechariah, and say, “How can this be?”
B. BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT YOU!
1. What God has cleansed is pure in the sight of God. You may say, “I’m a loser!” But God says that you are more than a Conqueror!
2. You may say, “I am useless!” No! God says that, “You have been saved for a purpose and you are safe, secure in the hand of Jesus! You will be used by God.”
3. You may say, “I am untalented.” But God says, “No! I have gifted you to do the work of God.” You may say, “I am lost,” but Jesus says you are found. “You are mine,” says the Lord.
4. You may say, “I am insecure,” but God says, “You are secure in the hand of the Lord. Nothing can snatch you out of My hand.”
5. You may say, “I feel that I am nothing.” God says, “You are everything to Me. You are the apple of My eye – My focus is on you!”
C. WHAT IS YOUR NEW NAME?
1. African Christians name their children godly traits or what they hope them to attain: “Purity” “Blessing” or “Honor.” Genesis 29-30 records Jacob’s children’s names – “Praise, God Hears, Happy, Reward, Good Fortune.”
2. God calls us many names in the Bible; “Chosen, Heirs, Lights, Righteous, Salt, Sheep, Sons & Daughters, Vessels of Honor, Mercy, Stewards, Servants, Soldiers, Teachers, Watchmen, Workers.”
3. When you get saved, God gives you a new name. God made you a new creature in Christ. He’s given you a new future, a new heart, a new journey, new direction.
4. Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter – the rock. God is speaking to you. What is your new name? Is it Conqueror? Is it Victorious?
5. One man jokingly turned to his wife and said, “My new name is ‘Awesome!’” Later when he was in prayer, God whispered, your new name is “Unburdened.” He melted, because it was something God was trying to DO IN HIM. Maybe that’s what your new name needs to be – something you need to become!
6. Song, “I’m a Child of God, Yes I Am.”
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. E. Stanley Jones tells of the amazing experience of one of the poor Christian women of India. An epidemic took many lives and the bodies were laid in piles. A poor sweeper woman, who was an untouchable, saw one of the bodies move.
2. She went to a doctor and told him, and he took the body of a woman off the pile. She needed a blood transfusion, and the sweeper woman volunteered to give her blood.
3. The woman lived and though she was a Brahmin, and would have nothing to do with untouchables, she found this sweeper woman who saved her life, and in finding her she also found eternal life, for the sweeper woman was a Christian.
4. The impact of her love and faith led this Brahmin woman to trust Christ as her Savior. This sweeper woman's faith, which led her to the good work of giving her blood, led to the faith being passed from one to another. She was a faith builder. [Glenn Pease]
B. THE CALL
1. “Thank God for the new name He has given you!” Agree with God; don’t die in unbelief. Some of you should be named, “Mighty” “Good Mother” “Wise” “Precious” “Sharer of the Word” “Jinx Breaker” “Overcomer.” Shout it out! Praise God!
2. PRAYER
[This message has some of the thoughts of Carter Conlon, Charles Spurgeon, and Andrew Swafford]
