John Chrysostom, On the Birth of Saint John the Prophet

Hezekiah would not have known, if the sun had not turned back. By what shall I know this? You give a sign, and I dance youthfully; give a sign, that Elizabeth may not laugh rashly, like Sarah. By what shall I know this, archangel messenger? From where are the things spoken to me by you clear to me? If I appear a second Abraham, let me have the characteristics of Abraham. Enter into my little room, and I will wash your feet, you who have journeyed a long way, and I will set before you a table filled with mystery; three measures of flour Elizabeth will knead, prefiguring the Church. Seek a calf, that you may be granted offspring. By what shall I know this, you who bring us good tidings from above to earth? Why do you foretell to me the name of the child, angel, and number the virtues of one not present? Show me that which is above nature, that I may believe that which is contrary to nature; if the heaven is vaulted, I too am renewed; if the sea is measured, my wife Elizabeth too is brought to bed; if the sun is seized, the dry breasts too will flow with milk; if the moon is held back, the dry womb too is moistened. By what shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her days. But the angel to Zacharias: Do you demand God as a pledge? Do you determine weakness to be more certain than the master's promise? Do you not fear to question the one bringing you good tidings? By what shall I know this, you say, O Zacharias? For are you being sent to Egypt, that you should fear Pharaoh? By what shall I know this, you say, O Zacharias? Does God work nothing above nature? Do you seek the sequence of nature, and have you not seen the paradoxical work of divinity?

Tell me, Zacharias, where are the pillars of the earth fixed? And where is the vault of heaven fashioned? And where are the hollows of the clouds found? And where are the drops of rain spun? And where are the clods of snow quarried? And who drives the course of the sun? And who sets the limit of the moon's waning? Who will count the multitude of stars? And how does the raging sea respect the sand? And how are hot-flowing rivers mingled? And how is the darkness of mist woven? And how is a man formed in the womb? And how is the female found smoother than the male? And how is a godlike soul found all at once in the body? By what shall I know this, you say, O Zacharias? Do you seek the sequence of nature, where there is the work of divinity? What, do you disbelieve that the barren woman will give birth? What then? If you should hear of a virgin giving birth paradoxically? And might the unbelievable be a preliminary exercise for faith? For hence unbelief in the case of the barren woman is now punished, that you may not doubt the wonderworking in the case of the virgin. You shall be, he says, silent, and not able to speak. Oh, the philanthropic punishment, which works correction rather! For the angel chastens the very voice that erred, he bridles the very tongue that dared. For he was, it says, making signs to them, and he remained dumb. Well did the evangelist also write, He remained.

For the silence awaited the voice being born, Zacharias awaited John, the old man the child, the priest the prophet. Wherein the angel says: Since therefore as an unbeliever you seek a sign from God, receive in your own members the scourging sign. For you shall be, he says, silent, and not able to speak, until the day that these things take place. For where the instrument of contradiction is. there also is the command of punishment; where the audacity of rashness is, there also is the bridle of discipline; where insolence has kicked, there is the sentence of rebuke. God wished, Zacharias, for you to become a herald of such a wonder; for a commander of the heavenly 61.760 king is being born, and a forerunner of the cosmic redemption from sins; but since you made the weakness of the body more certain than the promise of the Master, for this reason you shall be silent, and not able to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time. You see that without faith nothing of what is needful is brought to completion. But as soon as Zacharias heard these words, he immediately went out of the temple, a reward

Ἐζεκίας οὐκ ἐπέγνω, εἰ μὴ ὁ ἥλιος ἀνεποδίσθη. Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο; ∆ὸς σὺ σημεῖον, καὶ χορεύω νεανικά· δὸς σημεῖον, ἵνα μὴ Ἐλισάβετ προπετῶς γελάσῃ, ὡς ἡ Σάῤῥα. Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο, ἀρχάγγελε μηνυτά; πόθεν μοι δῆλα τὰ ἐκ σοῦ μοι ῥηθέντα; Εἰ δεύτερος Ἀβραὰμ φαίνομαι, ὑπάρξει μοι τὰ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἰδιώματα. Εἴσελθε ὑπὸ τὸ δωμάτιόν μου, καὶ νίψω τοὺς πόδας σου ὁδοιπορίαν στείλαντι, καὶ παραθήσω σοι τράπεζαν μυστηρίου πεπληρωμένην· ἀλεύρου σατὰ τρία Ἐλισάβετ φυράσει, τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν προζωγραφοῦσα. Ζήτει μόσχον, ἵνα δωρήσῃ γόνον. Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο, ὁ καλὰ εὐαγγέλια ἄνωθεν ἐπὶ γῆς ἡμῖν φέρων; τί μοι τοῦ παιδὸς τὸ ὄνομα, ἄγγελε, προλέγεις, καὶ τοῦ μὴ παρόντος τὰς ἀρετὰς ἀριθμεῖς; ∆εῖξόν μοι τὸ ὑπὲρ φύσιν, ἵνα πιστεύσω τὸ παρὰ φύσιν· ἐὰν ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀνακαμαροῦται, κἀγὼ ἀνανεοῦμαι· ἐὰν ἡ θάλασσα μετρῆται, καὶ ἡ γυνή μου Ἐλισάβετ μαιοῦται· ἐὰν ὁ ἥλιος καταλαμβάνηται, καὶ οἱ ξηροὶ μασθοὶ γάλα ῥεύσουσιν· ἐὰν ἡ σελήνη ἀναχαιτίζηται, καὶ ἡ ξηρὰ μήτρα νοτίζεται. Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο; Ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι πρεσβύτης, καὶ ἡ γυνή μου προβεβηκυῖα ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτῆς. Ὁ δὲ ἄγγελος πρὸς τὸν Ζαχαρίαν· Θεὸν ἐνέχυρον ἀπαιτεῖς; ἀσθένειαν βεβαιοτέραν τῆς δεσποτικῆς ἐπαγγελίας ὁρίζῃ; τὸν εὐαγγέλιά σοι κομίζοντα ἀνακρίνειν οὐ δέδοικας; κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο, λέγεις, ὦ Ζαχαρία; μὴ γὰρ εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἀποστέλλῃ, ἵνα φοβηθῇς τὸν Φαραώ; κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο, λέγεις, ὦ Ζαχαρία; οὐδὲν ὑπὲρ φύσιν ὁ Θεὸς ἐργάζεται; φύσεως ἀκολουθίαν ζητεῖς, καὶ οὐκ εἶδες θεότητος παράδοξον ποίησιν;

Εἰπέ μοι, Ζαχαρία, τῆς γῆς οἱ στῦλοι ποῦ πεπήγασι; τοῦ οὐρανοῦ δὲ τὸ κύτος ποῦ κατήρτισται; νεφελῶν δὲ αἱ κύται ποῦ εὑρίσκονται; ὑετοῦ δὲ σταγόνες ποῦ στημονίζονται; βόλοι δὲ χιόνος ποῦ λατομοῦνται; ἡλίου δὲ δρόμον τίς ἡνιοχεῖ; σελήνης δὲ μείωσιν τίς ὁροθετεῖ; ἀστέρων πλῆθος τίς ἐξαριθμήσει; θάλασσα δὲ μαινομένη πῶς ψάμμον αἰδεῖται; ποταμοὶ δὲ θερμοῤῥύται πῶς συγκιρνῶνται; ὁμίχλης δὲ σκότος πῶς ἐξυφαίνεται; ἄνθρωπος δὲ ἐν μήτρᾳ πῶς διαπλάττεται; καὶ τοῦ ἄῤῥενος τὸ θῆλυ πῶς λειότερον εὑρίσκεται; θεοείκελος δὲ ψυχὴ πῶς ἀθρόον ἐν τῷ σώματι εὑρίσκεται; Κατὰ τί γνώσομαι τοῦτο, λέγεις, ὦ Ζαχαρία; φύσεως ἀκολουθίαν ζητεῖς, ὅπου θεότητος ἐργασία; τί, τὴν στεῖραν ἀπιστεῖς γεννῆσαι; Τί οὖν; ἐὰν ἀκούσῃς παρθένον τίκτουσαν παραδόξως; Καὶ εἴη τὸ ἄπιστον εἰς πίστιν προγυμναζόμενον; Ἔνθεν γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς στείρας νῦν ἀπιστία κολάζεται, ἵνα τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς παρθένου θαυματουργίαν μὴ ἀμφιβάλῃς Ἔσῃ, φησὶ, σιωπῶν, καὶ μὴ δυνάμενος λαλῆσαι. Ὢ τῆς φιλανθρώπου τιμωρίας, διόρθωσιν μᾶλλον ἐργαζομένης! Αὐτὴν γὰρ ὁ ἄγγελος τὴν σφαλεῖσαν φωνὴν σωφρονίζει, αὐτὴν χαλινοῖ τὴν τολμήσασαν γλῶσσαν. Ἦν γὰρ, φησὶ, διανεύων αὐτοῖς, καὶ διέμεινε κωφός. Καλῶς ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς καὶ τὸ, ∆ιέμεινε, συνεγράψατο.

Περιέμενε γὰρ ἡ σιωπὴ τὴν τικτομένην φωνὴν, ὁ Ζαχαρίας τὸν Ἰωάννην, ὁ πρεσβύτης τὸν παῖδα, ὁ ἱερεὺς τὴν προφήτην. Ἐν οἷς λέγει ὁ ἄγγελος· Ἐπειδὴ οὖν ὡς ἄπιστος σημεῖον παρὰ Θεοῦ ζητεῖς, ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις μέλεσι τὸ μαστιγοφόρον προσδέχου σημεῖον. Ἔσῃ γὰρ, φησὶ, σιωπῶν, καὶ μὴ δυνάμενος λαλῆσαι, ἄχρι ἧς ἡμέρας γένηται ταῦτα. Ὅπου γὰρ τῆς ἀντιλογίας τὸ ὄργανον. ἐκεῖ καὶ τῆς τιμωρίας τὸ πρόσταγμα· ὅπου τῆς προπετείας τὸ θράσος, ἐκεῖ καὶ τῆς παιδείας ὁ χαλινός· ὅπου ἡ ὕβρις ἐλάκτισεν, ἐκεῖ τῆς ἐπιτιμήσεως ἡ ἀπόφασις. Ἤθελε μὲν ὁ Θεὸς, Ζαχαρία, κήρυκά σε τοῦ τοιούτου θαύματος γενέσθαι· στρατοπεδάρχης γὰρ τοῦ ἐπουρα 61.760 νίου βασιλέως τίκτεται, καὶ τῆς κοσμικῆς τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων λυτρώσεως προκαθαρτής· ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τοῦ σώματος βεβαιοτέραν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἐποιήσω τοῦ ∆εσπότου, διὰ τοῦτο Ἔσῃ σιωπῶν, καὶ μὴ δυνάμενος λαλῆσαι ἄχρι ἧς ἡμέρας γένηται ταῦτα, ἀνθ' ὧν οὐκ ἐπίστευσας τοῖς λόγοις μου, οἵτινες πληρωθήσονται εἰς τὸν καιρὸν αὐτῶν. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι ἄνευ πίστεως οὐδὲν τῶν δεόντων κορυφοῦται. Μόνον δὲ ἤκουσεν ὁ Ζαχαρίας τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα, εὐθέως ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ, μισθὸν