Gabriel, Zechariah and Mary

 I used to wonder. How different are the responses of Zechariah and Mary to merit different consequences from Angel Gabriel? Both sounded like they were doubting, at first glance.

Then Zechariah said to the angel,

“How shall I know this? 

For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 

But Mary said to the angel,

“How can this be,

since I have no relations with a man?”

But now as I read and re-read their responses, I am seeing the ‘arrogance’ of disbelief by Zechariah as opposed to Mary’s question of process. Zechariah asks ‘how shall I know this’, which I interpret as ‘how can I be convinced that this is true’. He puts forth a solid argument on the falsehood of Angel Gabriel’s prophecy - age.

Mary, on the other hand, is just asking about the process of how it will happen. And I read her statement as an affirmation of her immaculate heart. ‘I have no relations with a man’ means, to me, ‘I do not and will not have relations with any man, as I am betrothed to Joseph. I will be faithful to him.’

Faith in the outcome, that is what the Lord God tells us. Yes, we may question the process. But we will not deny the power of the Lord God in our disbelief.