JANUARY 4, Luke 1:18-25 

It is almost strange that after praying for a long time for a child, Zacharias didn’t have the faith to believe that his wife would be pregnant. That caused the angel to remind Zacharias who he was. He was Gabriel. And the words in verse 19 are powerful – “I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God”! The name Gabriel means “strong man of God”.

Gabriel was not some low-ranking or ordinary angel – he was an archangel. What is an archangel? It is an angel of the highest rank. He was God’s direct messenger and we know that every time Gabriel appears, a great announcement would take place. In the New Testament, we read of Gabriel here and soon, we would read of the same angel appearing to Mary to tell her she has been selected to be the vessel through whom Jesus would be born.

When Gabriel saw that Zacharias was not convinced, he showed him a sign. And it was a painful one for Zacharias, for the sign was such that he would be struck dumb from then until John would be born. That would be at least 9 months long! That’s a long time for anyone who could speak normally to not be able to talk. Imagine you can’t talk for 9 waking hours. That’s a long time, isn’t it, especially for those of you who like to talk! But Zacharias was struck with dumbness for at least 9 long months!

Dear child, do not doubt the Word of God. In today’s reading, we learn that Zacharias was struck dumb not because he didn’t believe the Word of the Gabriel, but that he didn’t believe the power of God, that his wife would be pregnant. May we learn to have more faith in God from this incident!

Thought: Heavenly Father, increase my faith!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder to always have faith in You. In this world that encourages us to have faith in ourselves or only in things we can see or touch, I confess it is sometimes not easy to have faith in a God I can’t see with my eyes. But Father, please teach me to be able to see with eyes of faith, that I continue to be a good Christian boy or girl. In Jesus’ name, amen.