I am fascinated in the similarities and differences between Zacharias the Jewish priest and his young cousin-in-law Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus.
Both received an angelic visitation by God’s messenger. Mary was the mother of Jesus. Zacharias fathered John the Baptist who was Christ’s forerunner. Both experienced the miraculous. Both were considered good people of the highest moral character.
However, one had simple faith in the words of Gabriel and the other needed proof. One trusted and the other over-intellectualized. One was moved by the sincere stirrings of the heart and the other by the limited power of the mind. One was childlike and the other was cerebral.
Which one am I?
Check out Luke 1.18, 34.
