Before God, only the pure perform the sacraments, but from the unclean God hides His face. When did he come to incense? Without a doubt, on the day of atonement, when one high priest entered the Holy of Holies, so that we might learn that just as this high priest, having entered the Holy of Holies, received fruit, so the Lord Jesus, the only and truly great Hierarch, having entered the Holy of Holies, that is, with the flesh into heaven, received the fruit of His appearance in the flesh – our adoption as sons of God and salvation.

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

An angel does not appear to everyone, but to a pure heart, as Zechariah was. The altar (in Church Slavonic – altar) is called the altar of incense because there was another altar – burnt offerings.

And when Zechariah saw him, he was troubled, and fear came upon him. And the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name; John; and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

Zechariah is embarrassed; for the extraordinary vision disturbs even the saints. But the Angel stops the indignation. For everywhere for this reason Divine and demonic visions are recognized: if the thought is at first troubled, but then, with the dissipation of fear, soon calms down completely, then the vision is truly from God; but if fear and indignation are more intense, then the vision is from demons. Why did the Angel say: "Thy prayer has been heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son," since Zachariah prayed not for his son, but for the sins of the people? Some say: since Zechariah prayed for the sins of the people, but had to give birth to a son, crying out: "Behold the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), the Angel appropriately says to him: "Thy prayer for the remission of the sins of the people has been heard, for thou shalt give birth to a son, through whom there shall be a remission of sins." Others understand it this way: Zechariah! Your prayer has been heard, and God has forgiven the people's sins. Then, as if he would say, "Whence can this be seen?" The angel said, "Behold, I give thee a sign: Elizabeth shall bear thee a son; and from the fact that Elizabeth will give birth, you must also be convinced of the remission of the sins of the people.

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord; he shall not drink wine or strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb; and he shall turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God; and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to restore the hearts of the fathers to the children, and to the disobedient the minds of the righteous, that he may present to the Lord a prepared people.

The angel declares that John will be great, but before the Lord, for many are called great before men, but not so before God, for example, hypocrites. And John is great in soul, just as everyone who is tempted is small in soul. For no great man is offended, but the small and faint-hearted, as the Lord also says: "Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones" (Matt. 18:6). Just as John's parents were righteous "in the sight of God," so their son was great "in the sight of the Lord." – "Strong drink" is called everything that, being not made of grapes, can produce intoxication. He was filled with the "Holy Spirit" while he was still in his mother's womb. When the Mother of the Lord came to Elizabeth, the infant, rejoicing at the coming of the Lord, leaped up. "To return the hearts of the fathers to the children," that is, to convert the Jews to the apostles, for the Jews were fathers, and the apostles were their children. He turned the hearts of the Jews to the apostles by teaching and testimony about Christ; but he who bears witness to Christ also makes His disciples fully trustworthy. John did not convert all, but many; and the Lord enlightened everyone. He came "in the spirit... Elijah," because as grace worked in Elijah, so in John, and as Elijah is the forerunner of the second coming, so John is the forerunner of the first. And in the "power of Elijah," because the coming of both, Elijah and John, has the same power, namely, it leads to Christ. And in another sense, John came in the power and spirit of Elijah, because he, too, was a desert dweller, an abstinent and a rebuke, like Elijah. – He returned to the "disobedient" Jews "the way of thinking of the righteous", that is, the teaching of the apostles; but the wisdom of the apostles is the grace of the Spirit in them, by which they were governed. "Present to the Lord," that is, to Christ, "a prepared people," that is, people capable of receiving preaching. I will say some similarity. When a prophet came with a sermon, not all believed, but those who were able, that is, those who had prepared themselves for it, for just as if someone comes to a house at night, not all receive him, but those who watch and wait for him and are prepared to receive him, so John prepared people for the Lord, not disobedient, but capable, that is, those who were prepared to receive Christ.

And Zechariah said to the angel, "By what shall I know this?" for I am old, and my wife is old. The angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, standing before God, and I have been sent to speak with you, and to preach these things to you; and behold, you will be silent, and you will not be able to speak until the day that it comes to pass, because you have not believed my words, which will come to pass in due time.

Although Zacharias was righteous and holy, yet, considering the extraordinary birth of his son, he did not easily believe. That is why the Angel tells him about his worthiness: "I am Gabriel," who stands before God, not a demon deceiver, but an Angel of God. Therefore, because you do not believe, you will be deaf and unable to speak. He is justly subjected to both – deafness and muteness, for as a disobedient one is punished by deafness, and as a contradictor – by silence. In addition, he foreshadowed what had happened to the Jews. For just as he, old and barren, and unbelieving, begat a son, greater than the prophets, so the Jewish church and hierarchy, although old and barren and unfaithful, and disobedient, nevertheless gave birth in the flesh to the Word of God, the Lord of the prophets, with Whose birth those who had previously been disobedient passed on to faith and confession.

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zacharias and were amazed that he was tarrying in the temple. And when he went out, he could not speak to them; and they understood that he had seen a vision in the temple; And when the days of his service were finished, he returned to his house.

Do you see how the Jews waited and stayed until the high priest came out? And we, Christians, have just entered the church, as we already think that bad things will happen to us if we do not come out. Zechariah made signs to the people, who probably asked about the reason for the silence; but as he could not speak, he explained it by signs. It is also noted that Zechariah did not go to his house until the days of his ministry were over, but remained in the temple. For the hill country was indeed far from Jerusalem. Yes, the priest, if he had a house in Jerusalem itself, was not allowed to leave the courtyard of the temple during his time. And we, alas, how neglect the divine services! That Zechariah could not speak, but used signs, indicates the foolish life of the Jews. For having put to death the Word, they cannot give an account either of their deeds or of their speeches. Even if you ask them about anything prophetic, they do not open their mouths and cannot give you a word or an answer.

After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and hid herself for five months, saying, "Thus hath the Lord done me in these days, in which he looked upon me, that he might take away from me the reproach among men."

Elizabeth, being chaste, was ashamed and, having conceived in old age, hid herself for five months, until Mary also conceived. And when this (Mary) also conceived, and the child leaped in her (Elizabeth's) womb, she no longer hid herself, and even behaved boldly, like the mother of such a son, who even before his birth was honored with the dignity of a prophet.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man, whose name was Joseph, from the house of David; and the name of the Virgin was Mary. The angel came in to Her and said: Rejoice, O Thou of Grace! The Lord is with Thee; blessed art Thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled by his words, and wondered what kind of greeting it would be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God."