CONNECTION TO THE PRIEST ZECHARIAH - December 23, 2004

Homily for December 23, 2004

CONNECTION TO THE PRIEST ZECHARIAH

Yesterday, we discussed about the messianic connection to Mary’s song of joy, the Magnificat. In that connection, we saw the link to the Messianic tradition of faith when we saw the opportunities for bonding and the sharing of joy, despite the attendant danger, which a crisis situation offered to the kinsfolk and neighbors of the spouses Zechariah and Elizabeth.

Today’s gospel narrative, taken from Lk. 1:57-66, continues that theme, where today’s gospel speaks about Elizabeth’s neighbors and relatives who came to their house to share the couple’s joy when they heard that Elizabeth had given birth to a son (LK. 1:57-58). Their neighbors were also reported by the evangelist as being “filled with awe and the whole affair (John the Baptist’s birth and circumcision) was talked about throughout Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him ” (Lk. 1:65-66).

Now, in addition to this connection, let us study the Messianic connection to the name of the priest Zechariah, husband of Elizabeth, father of John the Baptist.

This Zechariah is not the only one mentioned in Holy Scriptures. In fact, there are three others: one, the Zechariah, son of Jeberechia being mentioned in Is. 8:2f. (the gloss of this is the Zechariah of Berechiah in  Ze. 1:1, and the Zechariah, son of Barachia in Mt. 23:35.), the second one is the Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, being mentioned in 2 Ch. 24:20-22, and the third one, the Zechariah, son of Iddo (Iddo and Jehoiada are, maybe, synonyms), in Zec. 1:1, Ezr. 5:1, 6:14, Ne. 12:16.

What is common in all these three confusing names of Zechariah is that he is one of the prophets in Judah, together with Haggai (Ezr. 5:1) and of a priestly clan (Ne. 12:16), or Haggai, the prophet, maybe accompanied by Zechariah, the priest, as suggested in Ez. 6:14.

Whatever is the real identity of this Zechariah mentioned in the Old Testament scriptures, Jesus Christ mentioned, in the New Testament scriptures,  the name of a certain Zechariah of Barachia, as one of those holy men sent by God to the Jews, who was “murdered between the sanctuary and the altar” (Mt. 23:35).

What is the connection of this other Zechariah mentioned in the Old Testament Scriptures, and the other Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, which now concerns us in this present gospel narrative?

The connection is maybe found in the meaning of the name of Zechariah, which means “God remembers” (Lk. 1:72).

The meaning of this name, Zechariah, is both found in the Old and New Testament scriptures.

In the narrative of the murder of Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest, in 2 Ch. 24:20-22, the meaning of Zechariah’s name as “God remembers” is counterpoised with the character of King Joash of Judah who masterminded the murder of Zechariah at the court of the Temple, when this passage in 2 Ch. 24:22 says:

“King Joash, forgetful of the kindness that Jehoiada, the father of Zechariah, had shown him, killed Jehoiada’s son who cried out as he died, ‘Yahweh sees and he will avenge!”.

This is the same incident which was quoted and mentioned by Jesus Christ in Mt. 23:35, when he spoke harshly, with his sevenfold indictment, against the Jewish scribes and Pharisees.

The name of Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father is given in Lk. 1:72, which says:

“Thus he shows mercy to our ancestors, thus he remembers his holy covenant”.

Indeed, God remembered his holy covenant to Israel, when he chose another Zechariah, in the person of John the Baptist’s father, when he wanted to carry out now the vengeance which Zechariah, son of Jehoiada (Iddo), had spoken when he was dying at the Temple court. This vengeance will be carried out by Zechariah’s son, John the Baptist, when he went strongly against both the Jewish political and religious leaders of his time, not in order to destroy them politically or spiritually, but to proclaim the forgiveness of sins through a baptism of repentance (Ac. 13:24, 19:3-4).

This baptism of repentance was John the Baptist’s way of fulfilling his role in the messianic plan, which was to introduce Jesus Christ, the “one (who) is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal” (Mt. 3:11, Ac. 13:25, 19:4).

With this, our present Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, had had given us our eight messianic connection through the meaning of his name, which means “God remembers”, when he not only remembered to give Zechariah and Elizabeth a man-child, like Hannah (1 S. 2:1f), but his covenant of redemption and salvation he made to the prophets of long ago and to finally fulfill it in his Son, Jesus Christ the Savior.

Tomorrow, we shall discuss about our ninth Messianic connection, which is the connection to a song of Praise, the Benedictus.