Interpretation of the Gospel

The Structure of the Jerusalem Temple

The Temple of Jerusalem was originally built by Solomon, but was destroyed during the conquest of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. After the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, another temple of the same size was built on the same site, but of a smaller size. This second temple consisted of two parts, separated by a veil: the Holy of Holies, to which the high priest entered once a year on the feast of purification, and the Holy or Sanctuary, into which the priest entered daily, morning and evening, for incense, chosen by lot from among all the priests of the next order. This church stood on a vast quadrangular square, surrounded on all sides by a high wall; inside, galleries or narthexes covered on marble columns were attached to the outer walls; the narthex on the eastern side was called the narthex of Solomon. The square on which the temple stood was divided by low walls into courtyards: for women, for Israelites, and for priests; all the space between these courtyards and narthexes was called the court of the pagans, since the pagans were not allowed to go further than this court. The women's court was so called because it was intended exclusively for Jewish women, who were not allowed either in the courtyard of the Israelites or in the courtyard of the priests. The court of the Israelites, which could only be entered, was separated by a low wall from the court of the priests. The priests' courtyard surrounded the temple building itself on three sides; In this courtyard there was an altar on which the established sacrifices were offered. Thus, all those who came to the Temple in Jerusalem prayed outside the temple, in various courtyards surrounding it; even the priests were outside the church during the service and entered it only for a short time to burn incense.

It was into this church, or rather into one of its two sections, the Holy Temple, that Zachariah was to enter for incense. There was an altar on which the priest lit fragrant smoking powder; in the position and ignition of the powder consisted of incense.

When Zechariah entered the Holy Place and began to perform his duties, he saw an angel.

The appearance of the angel to the priest Zachariah; About angels in general

Those who do not believe in the existence of angels, and consequently in the possibility of their appearance to people, say that the imagination of people with shattered nerves sometimes presents themselves with objects which, although they do not exist in reality, nevertheless seem to them to exist. They call the appearance of the angel Zechariah the same seeming vision.

Without denying that the imagination of people suffering from nervous disorders may present pictures that do not correspond to reality, we believe, however, that the question of angels is not exhausted by such an objection. Thinking about the creation of man, endowed with the spark of divine Reason, one involuntarily asks the question: did God stop in His creative activity at the creation of man as a being above whom nothing can be? No matter how great the mind of a true man is, however, even between a man of genius and God there is a great, immeasurable abyss. Are there really no other beings who would stand between man and God? Both the mind and the heart prompt us to answer this question: there must be beings more God-like than man, who stand closer to God than man is placed, and who comprehend the essence of God more than is accessible to us. In addition to reason, man is given free will and the divine voice of conscience. With these qualities of the soul, he can strive for the perfection available to him, a certain likeness to God. But no matter what degree of perfection he has attained, even the highest, he still remains a being bound by his bodily shell, chained to his earthly lot. Must there be other, higher beings, standing outside the laws of gravitation and space, those laws to which the human body, as well as all animals and all inanimate objects, are equally subject? The study of nature leads to the inevitable conclusion that the strict sequence in the creation of living creatures, beginning with the plant cell (biblical greenery) and reaching man, must have continued even further and stopped at the creation of the world of spirits [3].

But in addition to these general considerations, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ lead us to the recognition of the existence of angels as bodiless spirits.

At the end of the Introduction to this work, it is said that Jesus Christ can either be fully believed or not at all, there can be no middle ground, and that since it is impossible not to believe in Christ who is unconditionally truthful in everything, sinless and omnipotent, resurrected and ascended, there is only one way out: to believe Him unconditionally in everything, even if some things are inaccessible to the limited human mind. And since Jesus Christ spoke of angels as existing bodiless spirits, we must believe Him, as we believe that man possesses an immortal soul, which, having freed itself from its bodily shell, also becomes a bodiless spirit. The entire teaching of Jesus Christ is aimed at bringing us into this higher world of angels, making us angel-like; and if we reject the existence of angels, then we must reject the immortality of our soul, and the future eternal life, and in general the entire teaching of Christ about the destiny of man. But since, I repeat, we cannot but believe in Jesus Christ, we must also believe in the existence of angels.

But belief in the existence of angels does not in the least eliminate the question of whether Zechariah had a vision or an appearance of an angel.

In resolving this question, it must be borne in mind that the Evangelist Luke, telling about the appearance of an angel to Zechariah, conveys, of course, all the details of this appearance from the words of those close to Zechariah, and not otherwise than in the words of Zechariah himself, for there were no outside witnesses of the angel's appearance to him. Zechariah was righteous before God (Luke 1:6), therefore, in telling his relatives the details of this event, he undoubtedly conveyed to them truthfully and accurately everything that he himself had seen and heard; Quite reliable in his high moral qualities, the witness of the described event was incapable, of course, of distorting the truth, and therefore there is no reason not to believe him. Moreover, when he saw the angel, he was confused, that is, perplexed at first as to whether it was a vision or an apparition, and when he was convinced that it was not an apparent but a real appearance of an angel, then he only ventured to relate the details of what had happened in this sense. But since the righteousness of a witness alone is not enough to unconditionally believe his testimony, let us also pay attention to the consequences of this event. From the subsequent narrations of the Evangelist, it is clear that the angel's prediction came true with amazing accuracy, and this gives reason to assert that the prediction was really given, and not created by the imagination of Zechariah; and if it was given by an angel, then it follows that he appeared, and this appearance was real, and not apparent.

The Jews believed that the appearance of an angel heralded the imminent death of the one to whom he appeared, so the fear inherent in all who shared this belief attacked the elderly priest. But fear and confusion were immediately dispelled by God's messenger, who said: "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 there shall be joy and gladness for thee, and many shall rejoice at his birth" (Luke 1:13-14).

Zechariah's Prayer

It is usually believed that the angel spoke of Zechariah's prayer for the resolution of his wife's barrenness, but this is only a supposition. If Zacharias had prayed before for the granting of offspring to him, then at the time described by the Evangelist he had already lost all hope of having children, since he did not even believe the angel who announced to him the impending birth of a son by Elizabeth. Rather, Zechariah, as one of the few best people of that time who were waiting for the Messiah, prayed for nothing else but for His speedy coming. And so, in answer to such a prayer, he hears from the angel what he could not have expected: "And your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son." In relation to this explanation, the angel's speech can be expressed as follows: you prayed for the coming of the Messiah; thy prayer is heard: He shall come quickly; thy son, whom Elizabeth thy wife shall bear thee, shall be His forerunner.