Zachariah (11)

11. ZACHARIAH, a Priest, of the Family of Abia, the Father of John the Luke i. 5, 12, &c.Baptist, and Husband to Elizabeth. This is what we are told in the Gospel: Zacharias and Elizabeth were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. But in the Year of the World 3999, about fifteen Months before the Birth of Jesus Christ, as Zachariah was waiting his Week, and performing the Functions of Priest in the Temple, according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn Incense when he went into the temple of the Lord, upon the Altar of Gold which was in the Holy Place. And there appeared unto him an Angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the Angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his Name John.---And Zacharias said unto the Angel; whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. And the Angel answering, said unto him, I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God, and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

In the mean while all the People were waiting till Zachariah came forth out of the Holy Place, and they were surprized at his long Delay. But when he came out he was not able to speak; and by making Signs to them, that they might understand him, they found that he had had a Vision in the Temple, and was become dumb. When the Days of his Ministry were compleated, that is, at the End of the Week, he returned to his own House; and his Wife Elizabeth conceived a Son, of whom she was happily delivered in its due time. Her Neighbours and Kinsfolks came to congratulate with her on this account; and on the eighth Day they circumcised the Child, calling his Name Zachariah, after the Name of his Father: But Elizabeth then interposed, and said, No; His Name is John. They then desired a Token from his Father, how he would have him named; and, making Signs for a Tablebook, he wrote in it, that his Name is John; which was a Cause of Admiration to all that were present.

At this Instant his Mouth was opened, his Tongue was untied, and he spoke, praising God. All that lived thereabouts were filled with Fear and Astonishment. And Zachariah, being filled with the Holy Ghost, prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people: And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us, in the house of his servant David; as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began. He then directs his Speech to little John the Baptist, to whom he foretold, that he should be a Prophet, and the Forerunner of the Messiah, to prepare his way before him, and to teach his People the Knowledge of Salvation. This is what we find in Scripture concerning the Person of Zachariah. The other Particulars of his Life and Death are altogether unknown to us.

St. Ambrose¹, Austin², St.

St. Chrysostom, and several others, have thought that Zachariah was High-Priest, upon a false Supposition, that the offering of Incense was reserved to the High-Priest only: But it appears from St. Luke himself, that he was but an ordinary Priest, of the Family or Course of Abia; and it is certain besides, that the ordinary Priests went every Day into the Sanctum. The Protevangelium of St. James, and the spurious Gospel of the Nativity of the Virgin, affirm, or at least suppose, that Zachariah, the Father of John the Baptist, was High-Priest: But the Authority of such Pieces is very inconsiderable.

The same Protevangelium of St. James³ insinuates, that when Herod caus’d the young John Baptist to be searched for, in order to put him to death with the other Children of Bethlehem, and not being able to find him, because his Mother Elizabeth had sent him into the Wilderness; the King sent to Zachary, who was then attending upon his Ministry at the Altar, to enquire of him where his Son was. Zachariah sent word, that he knew nothing of him. Herod sent the Soldiers back, with Orders to kill him, if he would not discover where his Son was. But Zachary still protested to them with an Oath, that he knew nothing of him; whereupon they kill’d him between the Porch and the Altar, and in the Inclosure that surrounded the Altar of Burnt-Sacrifices. Neither the Priests, nor the other Israelites, knew when he was kill’d; and one of the Priests finding he stay’d too long, enter’d into the Temple, found him dead, and his Blood congealed upon the Ground. At the same time he heard a Voice that said to him, Zachary has been put to Death, and his Blood shall not be wiped out till his Revenger comes.

‘Twas doubtless upon this Foundation, that many of the Antients thought⁴, that Zachariah, the Father of John the Baptist, was that Zachariah, Son of Barachiah, mention’d by Jesus Christ in the Gospel, whose Blood was shed between the Temple and the Altar. Tertullian⁵ speaks of the Blood of Zachariah, the Marks of which were still to be seen upon the Pavement of the Temple. These Marks were yet pretended to be visible in the time of St. Jerom⁶, who gave but little Credit to them, as plainly appears by his Commentary upon St. Matthew. Eustathius of Antioch, and several Antients, as Origen, St. Basil, and Gregory of Nyssa, quoted as above,⁷ thought that in the Temple there was a Place set apart for the young Women, between the Temple and the Altar; that the holy Virgin intending to place herself there as before, after the Birth of Jesus Christ, the Priests would put her out of it: But Zachary insisted that she ought to be there still, as continuing still a Virgin. This was the Occasion that the People stoned him, even in the Temple itself. Others⁸ believed that Zachariah was put to death, for having declared the coming of the Messiah in his Canticle.

The Greeks honour Zachary on the fifth of September, as a Priest, a Prophet, and a Martyr. Usuard, Ado, and other Latins, honour him also as a Prophet on the fifth of November. The Roman Martyrology joins Elizabeth with him. Baronius says, that the Head of St. Zachary was preserved at Rome, in the Church of St. John de Lateran; and it is pretended, that heretofore Blood came from it.

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