A difference of responses

Have you ever wondered about the angel Gabriel? In Luke 1, he makes two visits: first to Zechariah, to promise the birth of John the Baptist; and second, to Mary, to foretell Jesus' birth. Though both Zechariah and Mary asked questions, Gabriel responded to Zechariah's questions by punishing Zechariah with nine months of muteness--while Gabriel gently answered Mary's questions. What was the difference?

Let's take a look at the first visit. Luke 1:5-22 tells the entire story, but we'll focus on verses 18 through 20. Gabriel has just announced that John the Baptist will be Zechariah's son, and this is Zechariah's answer (from the NCV):

"Zechariah said to the angel, 'How can I know what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is old, too.'
The angel answered him, 'I am Gabriel. I stand before God, who sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news. Now, listen! You will not be able to speak until the day these things happen, ecause you did not believe what I told you. But they will really happen.'"

What do you see in this passage? Zechariah's question was not so much of a question as a challenge. He asked for a verification of the message, but followed up his question with an expression of his belief that the message could not really be verified at all. It's as if your parents came to you one day and said, "We're going to finally buy you a cell phone!"--and you responded (smirking) "Seriously? You've never even owned one yourself--I bet you don't even know how to set up a cell phone plan." How do you think your parents would respond?

Let's take a look at Mary's response next. Her story is told in Luke 1:26-38, but we'll focus on verses 34 through 38:

"Mary said to the angel, 'How will this happen since I am a virgin?'
The angel said to Mary, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you. For this reason the baby will be holy and will be called the Son of God. Now Elizabeth, your relative, is also pregnant with a son though she is very old. Everyone thought she could not have a baby, but she has been pregnant for six months. God can do anything!'
Mary said, 'I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!' Then the angel went away."

Can you see the difference? Zechariah asked "How can I know what you say is true?" while Mary asked "How will this happen?" Mary didn't doubt that what the angel said was true. She knew it would happen; she just wanted to know how it would happen. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a large part of Mary's motivation for asking the angel this question was her desire to follow God--something like, "Okay, how's this going to work out? Do I need to do anything?" Mary had both faith in God's power and a willing spirit to follow Him. Going back to our cell phone illustration, this would be as if your response went something along the lines of "Cool. What service provider were you thinking of signing me up with? Can I help you out in getting my phone set up?"

We could take a lesson from Mary in our interactions with God, too. Next time your parents or teachers tell you about a project or situation, let your response be "Great! Tell me more. Is there anything I can do?"

And next time God tells you to do something....

...get to it :)