A conversation about the prophecy of Zechariah and the conception of Elizabeth

Nothing is independent of the Lord's determinations, because everything follows and serves the divine command. “He gave a statute,” says (Scripture), “which will not pass away” (Ps. 149:6), because He who at first made everything with a word, He can again remake creations with a word. He once said that a waterless rock would become abounding in water, and it immediately spews out rivers of water (Ex. 17:6): “he struck the stone, and waters flowed out, and streams flowed” ( Ps.77:20); and the rock, which was previously dry and deprived of water, became a source of rivers and a mother of waters (Is. 35:7), because nothing is barren, which God commands (to be) born. So, He then changed the barren rock into a lake, and now commanded the barren Elizabeth to appear as a mother bearing children and showed the barren fruitful and burdened with old age. newlywed girl. When she hurried to the grave, then she prepared for childbirth; when old age dried up the body, then God regenerated the womb; what she lost due to time, she received again, thanks to the Creator; What youth lost, old age gained back; when she became close to death, then she began to be called the mother of the child; the one who had already stepped beyond maternal times, experienced maternal care and carried a baby in her hand - she who, due to old age, needed a staff in order to walk; the old woman touched the firstborn child, and the barren woman unexpectedly gave birth, so that they would believe the Virgin giving birth beyond nature. Both are new and unusual, because both the barren and the Virgin are unexpected mothers. The messenger of this extraordinary birth was sent to Elder Zechariah by the Archangel Gabriel; and, standing on the right side of the incense altar, he appeared to him: and “Zechariah was troubled,” they say, “when he saw him, and fear fell upon him” (Luke 1:12). He saw something that he had never seen, a talking fire, a disembodied man, an intangible image, a sight incomparable to anything, a vision unlike anything else, walking quickly through the air, a winged creature with a human image - and “when he saw it, he was embarrassed.” Seeing him embarrassed, the angel drives away fear with good news: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John; and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth” (Luke 1:13–14). Do not be afraid, Zechariah, I did not come to instill fear, but I appeared to you as a messenger of joy. What joy? “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John.” He will illuminate the world like the star and drive away the darkness of ignorance, calling on the Sun of righteousness, because he who follows me was before me, “whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” (Mark 1:7). And he “will go forward... in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). The spirit of Elijah also entered into John, because the spirits of the prophets obey the prophets; and in almost every way we find John like Elijah. This one lived in the mountains, and this one spent time in the desert; this one was fed by ravens, and this one ate locusts; he was clothed in mantle, and this one in long hair; he was harsh and an accuser, and this one was the same; he denounced Ahab, the king of Judah, and Jezebel his wife: “You,” he says, “are the one who corrupts Israel... and your father’s house” (1 Kings 18:18), and John denounced Herod and Herodias: “You must not have your brother’s wife” (Mark 6:18). And he “will come... in the spirit and power of Elijah to win back the hearts of the fathers.” children" (Luke 1:17). What does it mean: "to return the hearts of the fathers to the children"? The fathers of the Jews: Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the righteous, seeing a sin-loving people willingly committing fornication with foreign gods, turned away from them as such, from the same time that John announced the baptism of repentance, many turned to God. their fathers, seeing that they were turning to God, themselves turned their hearts to them; this is what it means: “to return the hearts of the fathers to the children... in order to present to the Lord a people prepared” (Luke 1:17), the chosen ones of God, about whom the prophet David foretold, saying: “this is the generation of those who seek... face... God of Jacob" (Ps. 23:6). The extraordinary conception of a son strikes the elder Zechariah with amazement; he is unable to endure the birth that would occur after the corresponding age has passed, without rationally considering that the potter who made the womb can renew the dilapidated womb. Therefore, he fell into the steep abyss of unbelief. When the angel says: “Behold, your wife Elizabeth will give birth to you son, and you will call his name John” (Luke 1:13), Zechariah confronts with his word and says: “By what do I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years” (Luke 1:18). Where will I be provided for? What proof can you show me of what was promised? can produce a child. “For I am old, and my wife is advanced in years.” Your words are good, but the promise is such that it is difficult to believe him. As a mediator, you promise me a son; the time of my youth has passed in vain; When I have become like a dry tree, then you force me to bear fruit; I walk across the square with my body bent, no longer having the strength to look up to the sky; old age draws me to the land that is dear to me, because I am the earth and will go to the earth; I can barely move my feet; two legs are not enough for me to walk; Instead of a third leg I carry a staff, because until now I have not been enriched by a child who would lead me by the hand; I am a moving coffin and a walking dead man. So, how will a child call me father from now on? I am old, and my wife is too mature in her days. When old age brings me to the grave, will I then ascend to the marriage bed and bear a child at the sunset of my youth? And I became weak because of time, and Elizabeth’s womb became dead. So, “how do I know this? for I am old, and my wife is advanced in years. The angel answered him: I am Gabriel, who stands before God, and was sent to speak with you and bring this good news to you; and behold, you will remain silent and will not be able to speak until the day when these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will come to pass in due time” (Luke 1:18-20). “And behold, you will be silent and will not be able to speak.” I wish to do something, and how do you ask? I decided to create a child, and you are investigating the method? In general, you are in vain curious about the beginning of My affairs. Is every verb impossible for God? Tell Me: where was Isaac born from? Was it not Abraham, the old man, who gave birth to him, and was it not Sarah, the barren one, who he called mother? You, who are facing the same expectation, why didn’t you accept my words as he did? Therefore, “you will remain silent and will not have the opportunity to speak because you did not believe my words.” I will tie your tongue, which has come into motion for an unruly answer; by what organ the sin was produced, through that you will be punished. “Whoever sins in any way is punished” (Wis.11:17). Therefore, “you will remain silent and will not be able to speak... because you did not believe my words”; You, speaking, did not believe My words, silently - wait for My words, “which will come true in due time” (Luke 1:20), because what is impossible for people is possible for God. To him be glory forever. Amen. This conversation in the Minya edition belongs to the category of Spuria, that is, unfoundedly attributed to St. I. Chrysostom. You might be interested in: