Today’s Gospel presents us with two holy and righteous Jews, the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. Luke describes their holiness: “Both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.” Luke will later describe both Elizabeth and Zechariah as filled with the holy Spirit.
“Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’” (1:41-42)
“Then Zechariah…filled with the holy Spirit, prophesied, saying: ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and brought redemption to his people…’” (1:67)
Zechariah is serving as a priest in the Jerusalem Temple and has entered the sanctuary for the incense offering as the whole assembly of Jews is standing outside praying. The angel Gabriel appears to him and tells him his prayers have been heard and his wife will give birth to a son, John the Baptist. Luke has two parallel Annunciation Accounts, the Annunciation to Zechariah (1:5-25) and the Annunciation to Mary (1:26-38). Luke brings these two parallel stories together in the story of the Visitation (1:39-56).
What Luke brings out through these parallel stories is that the Jews are God’s holy people. The teaching of the Catholic Church is that the Jews were and remain to this day the People of God as Paul teaches in his letter to the Romans: “in respect to election, they are beloved because of the patriarchs. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:28-29). Sadly, and sinfully, Christians have thought and acted otherwise throughout history and even persecuted and killed Jews in the name of Christ. As Pope Francis has stated: “Killing in the name of God is a blasphemy.” With the recent resurgence of antisemitic attacks, we as Christians need to stand up strongly against such actions and the sin of antisemitism.
This week our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrate Hanukkah, celebrating the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple after the persecutions under the Greek Kings. We join today with Zechariah and Elizabeth, with Mary and Joseph, with Jesus and the apostles. and all our Jewish brothers and sisters as we pray:
“The Lord bless you and keep you!
The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!” (Numbers 6:24-26).
Image: “File:Hanuka-Menorah-by-Gil-Dekel-2014.jpg” by 39james is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.