Luke 1:12

“Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him.”

I have often felt sorry for Zechariah. The angel Gabriel visits him to announce the unexpected tidings that his wife, Elizabeth, will soon become pregnant and bear the future John the Baptist. To me, it is understandable that he is troubled and afraid at this strange news, but after he questions Gabriel, the angel punishes him with speechlessness. Since today’s reading ends with Zechariah’s punishment, we easily miss that this passage is immediately followed by the story of the Annunciation, a story we have already encountered twice this advent season—once for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and then for the Feast of Guadalupe. With such close proximity, comparison between the two stories is inevitable and, I would dare to guess, invited by Luke. In that second visit, as we all know, Gabriel informs Mary that she will conceive through the action of the Holy Spirit and bear the Son of God. But when she, who is also troubled and perplexed like Zechariah, questions Gabriel, she receives no such similar rebuke. How is Gabriel not being unfair or, at the very least, inconsistent?

Gabriel’s words may provide part of the answer. Gabriel rebukes Zechariah not only for his fear, but also for his disbelief. Perhaps Zechariah was not simply troubled; perhaps his fear prevented him from even considering that Gabriel’s tidings were true. Zechariah asked the logical and reasonable question, but his heart had seemingly already closed and rejected the possibility of this strange news. In other words, Zechariah answered his own question before God did. In contrast, during the Annunciation, Mary might have been “greatly troubled,” but she also “pondered” Gabriel’s message (Luke 1:29). Mary’s pondering means her question was not closed in a rush to judgment but was an open question, and thereby open to grace, open to amazement, and open to embrace an unexpected vocation. In this sense, Luke’s placement of these two stories next to each other gives us two ways to question God: we can question with a closed and hardened heart, or question with a patient and open one.

This Advent season, may we praise a God who invites our questions, and may we also pray that we do not react to God’s unexpected appearances in our life with fear. Rather, let us allow this God to be, as Pope Francis reminds us, the God of surprises.