How Can I Know?

How can I know is the question asked by Zechariah in the next part of his interaction with Gabriel in the temple.

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, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰ And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

²¹ Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. ²² When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

²³ When his time of service was completed, he returned home. ²⁴ After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. ²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Luke 1:18-24

So far all has been sounding good in Luke’s account of Gabriel ‘s appearance to Zechariah. But now we reach Zechariah ‘s response. How can I be sure? Literally translated “by what shall I know this?” It is a vital question – and at first glance not unreasonable, given that, as he says, he is old, and so is Elizabeth. 

And in v19 Gabriel replies by recounting his mission. Almost as if to say that the answer to Zechariah’s question is: you can know this because an angel of Yahweh has just told you. That of course is the fundamental point. And so the sign to Zechariah is also a rebuke. He will be compelled to be silent until the day comes for the child to be born.

It is easy to think that God is being harsh on Zechariah. Especially when we think of the Old Testament characters whose questions and objections were not met with signs that impacted them so severely. Think of Moses, who was promised a sign, and who then received several further signs – or think of Gideon, who God allowed to ask for several signs. Even Saul was given signs to reinforce Samuel’s word to him. Why then is Zechariah rebuked for his question?

Slightly tongue in cheek I’m tempted to say “well, it’s because the God of the OT is really much less harsh than the God of the NT”… More seriously I think the clue is in who Zechariah is and what he is doing. He is a priest. He knows the Torah, he knows Israel’s history. He knows the prophets. He knows what happened to Moses. He has read the story of Gideon. He serves in the temple. He carries out sacrifices. He is an expert in God’s law. If God says something, then he needs no further sign.

The question the angel’s announcement brings to him is: do I really believe this? Is God’s word enough for me? Zechariah’s question “How can I be sure?” sounds reasonable – but if God has just spoken by an angel then that should be enough. Zechariah knows that God intervenes. The entire history of Israel began with an elderly couple who couldn’t have children receiving a son promised by God. In Zechariah’s day God is simply doing what he did right at the beginning all over again. 

The question for us this Christmas as we go to church and celebrate the Christmas story once more is: do I really believe this? Do I really believe that Jesus is God-become-a-person? That in the person of Jesus of Nazareth God has indeed become one of us, that we might become like him? 

The follow up question is then: Do I believe, and am I ready for God to break into Christmas this year and surprise me? Am I ready to hear his voice and direction afresh? And if God speaks to me as I hear the familiar words read, am I ready to obey? Can I accept that God has given me all I need to know about him in Jesus, the babe in the manger? And am I willing to put into practice what that implies for me? Or do I seek further signs? 

For while Zechariah is struck dumb, his wife becomes pregnant. She speaks, and she speaks of how God has shown favour – or grace – to her, and taken away her shame, her disgrace. The shame she felt of somehow being unworthy because of not having a child was taken away. That is God’s grace to her, and to her husband. Zechariah may have stumbled in his desire for additional certainty – but God’s favour was not taken away. God’s kindness came to this elderly couple. 

God’s plan of redemption began in Genesis 12 with a childless elderly couple, and carries on to a new phase of fulfillment in Luke 1 with another childless elderly couple. Because – as Mary will hear soon from the angel – no word from God is impossible.