Zechariah

Luke 1:63-79.

Zechariah has been nine months mute. He is not an ignorant man, nor is he just any man; he belongs to the family of the priests of Israel. An angel has appeared to him and spoken to him. But Zechariah has been silent for nine months.

The angel had told him that his wife, now an old woman, would have a son. And that son would become a prophet. Zechariah fell silent with astonishment... and disbelief! Then the angel struck him dumb. Zechariah spoke by signs and by writing on a tablet. Zechariah had seen a vision in the sanctuary! Something great was going to happen!

Nine months passed, and Zechariah did not utter a single word. When the child is born, the father is asked: "What shall he be called?". He writes on a tablet: "John is his name". Then Zechariah opens his mouth and a river of praise begins to flow. Oh wonder! Amazing things continue to happen in this family.

Then, there is a second miracle. Zechariah speaks, but not of his son there. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he blesses God and begins to speak of the One who is not yet born, but who will do a mighty work. Through Him they will be delivered from their enemies, to serve God. Praise flows in torrents for the Holy One who will soon be born! Then Zechariah speaks of his son, John, the prophet forerunner. He will prepare the way for the Lord. That is all. But it is not little.

There are two miracles. The first of them gives place to the second, the greater one: the testimony about Jesus Christ. The first thing that Zechariah spoke, after his dumbness, were words to announce his Lord.

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