1:26-38 Why was Zacharias punished for questioning the angel, but not Mary?
1:26-38 Why was Zacharias punished for questioning the angel, but not Mary?
(cp Lk 1:5-15). Zacharias had prayed for a child, yet when God sent the angel to tell him that he and Elizabeth would have one, Zacharias did not believe it (cp Lk 1:18-20).
Zacharias doubted God and asked for a sign of fulfillment. The sign itself became a punishment - Zacharias was struck dumb.
Mary's was a question of information, not of unbelief. Mary simply wondered of Gabriel how she, a virgin, could give birth to a baby (cp Lk 1:34-37).
Mary unreservedly accepted what Gabriel told her (cp V38). Regardless of being an unmarried virgin, Mary completely and wholeheartedly accepted what God had purposed for her. She submitted herself completely to God's will (cp Lk 1:46-49)