Advent Ponderings: Why was Zechariah struck dumb?
During advent, our church is reading through parts of the Christmas story week by week. These ponderings are based upon those readings and designed to get us thinking about Christmas keeping Christ at the center. I hope you will enjoy them. Luke 1:5-20 Have you ever wondered why Zechariah was dumbstruck by Gabriel? I mean, on the surface, it seems harsh. Zechariah asks a simple question followed by an obvious observation: "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." (Luke 1:18) Zechariah was just promised some incredible things. He and his wife were going to have a son in their old age who was going to be "great in the sight of the Lord" (v. 15). I think that I would want some assurance too. The problem with angels Wouldn't the appearance of an angel be enough to heed whatever words he was saying? If there was an angel that suddenly appeared to us in all of his glory that told us not to be afraid (as ange