By Fr. George Dorbarakis
The sacred Evangelist Luke relates in his Gospel that when the aged and righteous Zechariah entered the Holy of Holies in order to offer the sacrifice of incense during his period of service in the Temple, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him and brought him the joyful news that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son in her old age: a Prophet and Forerunner, a voice and herald and everlasting lamp, the initiate of the grace of God. The divine chief commander announced this divine conception to the Prophet and Priest Zechariah with the words: “Your prayer has been heard,” and thus, through this extraordinary birth, on account of the old age and barrenness of Elizabeth, the divine and virginal birth of the all-pure Theotokos also began to be foreshadowed.
First of all, we should note that today’s feast of the conception of Saint John is not based on certain pieces of information from apocryphal Gospels, which one might perhaps call into question, but is a most certain event, recorded, as we said above, by the holy Evangelist Luke. And this means that our Church, by including this event among her divinely inspired texts—certainly, the Gospels do not have the same authority and value as the so-called apocryphal or pseudepigraphical writings: the apocrypha, from the second century AD onward, may preserve genuine elements (for example, those concerning the Birth of the Most Holy Theotokos or her Entry into the Temple), but in many places they contain either false or heretical and misleading information—wishes to emphasize the significance of the coming into the world of John the Forerunner, that is, of that Prophet who would prepare the way for the coming of God Himself as man. Once again, it is in the perspective of the Lord Jesus Christ that the event of the conception of Saint John is evaluated; that is, in the light of the Sun, the light of the lamp is understood. For otherwise, its significance would have had the same force as the conception of every other human being who comes into the world, certainly through the good pleasure of God.
Beyond the reality mentioned above, which the hymns of our Church present in various ways, and beyond the fact that, particularly through this feast, our Church reveals the transcendence of every form of “moralism,” something that perhaps we may consider on another occasion, what is noteworthy, according to the Hymnographer, is the reaction of the righteous Zechariah toward the Archangel Gabriel when he announces to him the birth of his son: he questions the words of the Lord’s messenger because he relies upon logic and experience. How is it possible for a child to be born from an old man and an aged woman, and moreover one who is barren? “Elizabeth’s limbs have grown dead, and my old age now gives rise to disbelief.” The Hymnographer, however, continues to interpret Zechariah’s reasoning: not only is the natural order of things overturned by what the angel announces, but from a spiritual perspective as well, there is, according to him, something contrary to what one would expect: “For I came to ask for the salvation of the people, not to receive a child, as you proclaim.” In other words, what should have intensified Saint Zechariah’s doubt, and therefore led him to suspect that the words of the heavenly vision were not true, was that the announcement concerning his “supposed” son came at a moment of spiritual service, that is, at the hour of prayer, and moreover in prayer for the salvation of the people. “I came here to the Temple,” as the Hymnographer notes, “to ask God for the salvation of the people and not to have a child, as you tell me.” And elsewhere: “I possess a doubtful mind, and I disbelieve your words,” the Priest said to the Archangel, “for I asked for the salvation of the people, not the fruit from my own loins.”
Yet what appears so “logical” to Saint Zechariah, and indeed his questioning of the divine origin of the vision because he was distracted by the content of his prayer—asking God for the salvation of the people and receiving something personal to himself, a child—is actually what was coming as the answer precisely to that prayer. For the birth of his child, John, was the beginning of the salvation of the people. Through him, salvation would begin as the preaching of repentance, so that the Messiah might be received. In other words, Zechariah could not understand that God was giving him what he had asked for; that is, he was unable to penetrate into the manner in which God acts. And this is something on which most of us ultimately “stumble.” For we, too, ask God for various things, and especially under spiritual conditions. And we do not understand that God’s “refusal” to answer us, or events in our lives that are “foreign” to what we are asking for, ultimately constitute precisely God’s answer to our requests. Perhaps we must “allow” God to see beyond what we see, and perhaps once again we must be ready to accept His will as more beneficial to us than our own. Let us also remember what happened to Elder Paisios: he received an “unjust” attack from a priest and was troubled, yet he did not speak. Then, when he began examining his thoughts in order to understand what had happened, he discovered that he had been asking God from his heart to grant him humility. And God gave him the occasion: He “changed” the priest’s behavior toward him somewhat, precisely in order to give him the opportunity to struggle to acquire humility. God, therefore, always hears us, always answers us; but we, too, must have our eyes open in order to discern His answer correctly.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
