Zechariah Vs Mary: Response To Gabriel

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).