The Season of the Advent – Annunciation to Zechariah (Luke 1:1-25)

According to the Orthodox Church calendar, the official name for Christmas is: The Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, or sometimes referred to as simply the Nativity. In addition to the celebration of Christmas on December 25, the Christmas season also includes the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus on January 1; the Baptism in the Jordan River, called the Epiphany or Theophany on January 6; and the Entrance of the Lord into the Temple on February 2. These three feasts celebrate the gift of the Word of God who is fully revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. These feasts also reveal to us God’s saving work in the world through His Son.

As with all liturgical seasons, we go through a time of preparation and anticipation for the feast; Pascha, or Easter is preceded by the Great lent, the Dormition or Falling Asleep of Theotokos is preceded by the Dormition Fast, and Christmas is preceded by a period of fasting called ‘Advent’. While the Indian Orthodox Church begins the Advent fast from December 1, many Orthodox churches begin their Advent fast from November 15 and some others on November 28 (according to the calendars they follow – Julian or Gregorian). The fast concludes at the Divine Liturgy on Christmas Day. Advent is derived from the Latin word “advenire”, which means to come. During Advent, we prepare for the coming for the Lord. Our preparations include participating in the liturgical services of the Church, especially participating in the sacrament of holy confession and holy communion, increasing our alms-giving to the poor and needy, and reading the Scriptures on a regular basis.

Though the Indian Orthodox Church begins its Advent fast from December 1, the church starts preparing for Christmas from the Sunday following the Hoodosh Etho or Sunday of Dedication of the Church. On this Sunday we commemorate the Annunciation to Zechariah of the birth of John the Baptist by Angel Gabriel.

Unlike the Gospel of Matthew, who begins his Gospel with the birth of Jesus, Luke begins with the birth of John the Baptist, the “voice of one crying in the desert” who comes to prepare the way of the Lord. John is a prominent figure in all the four Gospels. He is known as Jesus’ cousin and he is described as a prophet who calls the people to repentance. We do not know anything about his childhood or youth, except that St. Luke tells us that his parents were Elizabeth and Zechariah. We are also told that Zechariah was married to Elizabeth, who was a daughter from the lineage of Aaron, from the tribe of Levi. Levi was one of the twelve sons of Jacob and was known as the leader of the priestly tribe in Israel.

The Gospel of Luke also tells us that both Elizabeth and Zechariah were known to be righteous before God, walking in the commandments, and blameless (Luke 1:6). Furthermore, this birth would be a true miracle, since Elizabeth, like many of the notable women of the Bible (Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Hannah) was well beyond her childbearing years. Just like an angel of the Lord came to Abraham and Sarah foretelling that Sarah would bear a son, so too, an angel came and told Zechariah that his wife, Elizabeth would bear him a son. This same angel, whose name is Gabriel,  visited Mary foretelling the birth of her son and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. However, unlike Mary’s acceptance of the life changing news, Zechariah doubts the truthfulness of the message, and as a result He was struck dumb till the birth of his son.

From this reading, I am being led to think on three lessons for us to ponder and understand and I will be trying to share my thoughts on the same here.

“Your request has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you must call him John… He will be great in the sight of Lord. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him… to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”

(Luke 1:13-17)

Just as God had made the barren wombs of Sarah, Hannah, Rachel of the Old testament fruitful with descendants, so He made fruitful the barren life of Elizabeth and Zechariah. The Lord wants to work a similar miracle in us and during every Advent season we prepare for it. He wants to bring to life in whatever it is in us that is barren so that it gives forth life with Him. Many times we are spiritually sterile, we bear no fruit. We labor for months, years and even more to grow in prayer, to grow in fellowship with Him and it seems like we have nothing t show for it. We try to pass on the faith to our children, friends, family, and even to fellow parishioners and we end up feeling like dry fig trees. Today’s reading gives us promise and a hope. I have found that many times, He waits to grant us something intrinsically good for which we desire so ardently to increase that desire in us and to make us always conscious of the gift God gives that many of us would take for granted, if received easily. The long advent for the fulfillment of those promises are meant to increase our prayer, our hope, and – after the prayer is granted – our gratitude.

Another important lesson we learn from today’s reading is that in order for a miracle to occur, we not only need to ask for it in faith, but also receive it in faith as well. From the Gospel portion we can understand that’s what Zechariah didn’t do. He was not ready to accept the answer for his decades of prayers. Even though an angel appeared before him to announce the answer to his longings, he wanted verification. He didn’t really want to accept the answer without another sign. He was not ready to believe and accept that Elizabeth, even though a senior citizen would become a mother. The same applies to us as well. For us to bear fruit, we need to trust in the promises of our Lord. Questions are fine especially when it seems that God is asking us to something that seems to go against what He has indicated to us up until then, but we should not have the burden of doubt in our hearts.

But what if we struggle with doubts in our hearts? In the current day and age, how can we overcome our temptations not to believe that all that God has promised will take place? That is the third lesson from the Gospel portion. The answer is found in the medicinal penance the angel gave Zechariah. At first the penance of silence might seem very strange as a response to Zechariah’s doubt for the Archangel struck Zechariah to be mute till the time his son was born. The answer lies in the response of the heart of Zechariah, for the punishment would force him to pray, force him to become good soil of faith for the Lord to respond to the Lord’s gifts. St. Augustine says that Zechariah was struck mute for the entirety when his son, John the Baptist, would be silent in the womb of Elizabeth. As soon as he was born and could start to cry out, Zechariah’s tongue was loosened so that he, too,could cry out about the marvel the Lord had done for him and he would name his son John, which means ‘God is gracious’. Another reason, I feel, is to help him develop a contemplative heart like Mary, who treasured within her heart what the Angel had said. Mary believed because she was one who regularly received the Lord’s gifts in the silent dialogue of prayer. Zechariah needed to become more like Mary.

During this Advent, let us carry these lessons in our hearts, as we await the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. The way for us to go from sterility to fertility is by faithfully receiving all of God’s Word on good soil, which will enable us to bear not only a son or a small fruit, but bear fruits which are 30, 60 and 100 fold. We are meant to be tremendously fertile soil, but our busy lives turn this fertile ground into a trampled and disturbed ground. Let us make time in our daily lives for silence, to ponder within our hearts and treasure all that God is saying and doing in our lives, in the world around us. If we are too busy, we will often be prone to doubts like Zechariah. If are constantly running around, we will never be able to respond with faith and bear the type of fruit that God wants to give us.

Today, we are able to come to the temple of the Lord on a regular basis. Unlike Zechariah and the priests during his time, who probably had to wait for a lifetime to be lucky enough to enter into God’s presence, we are blessed such that we have the opportunity everyday to be the temple of God in our day-to-day life. As temples of the living God, we should always come before the Lord with our hearts lifted up with sweet-smelling fragrance of faith. It is here that the Lord does greater miracles in us, much greater than the miracles in the life of Sarah and Elizabeth. He wants us to bear something and Someone who is far greater than Issac and John the Baptist. But to receive within us the same Jesus whom Mary conceived in a manger in Bethlehem, let Him grow so much that we become pregnant with the presence of God-with-us within us, and bear Him, His love, His life, His joy to the world.

Your brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George