But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zachariah: for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
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Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
Thy prayer is heard. Not his prayer for offspring, S. Augustine says, of which he now so despaired that he did not believe the promise of the angel (verse20), but thy prayer as a priest for the sins of the people and for the coming of the Messiah. But God, who goes beyond the merits and the prayers of suppliants, promised him a son who should be the prophet and forerunner. So Bede, Theophylact, S. Augustine, S. Chrysostom.
Some, however, are of opinion that this prayer of Zacharias was for offspring, only that it had been offered not at this time, but formerly when he was younger.
Thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a Song of Solomon , and thou shalt call his name John. Because John , according to Maldonatus, is the same in Hebrew as beloved: or, according to Pagninus, the gift of mercy of the Lord. This is not, however, the precise meaning; for then he would have rather been called Hananiah than John. Properly, therefore, the name John signifies, God hath had merey. And He did this f...
Thy prayer is heard. We cannot suppose, as St. Augustine observes, (lib. ii. QQ. Evang. chap i., tom. 3, part 2, p. 249. Ed. Ben.) that he was praying to have children, when his wife was so advanced in years; that he did not think possible; but he was praying for the people, and for the coming of the Messias. See St. Chrysostom, hom. ii. de incomprehensibili, tom. 1, p. 454. Nov. Ed. Ben. (Witham)
Zacharias so far despaired of having any offspring, that he did not believe the angel, when he made him the promise. When therefore the angel says, thy prayer is heard, we must understand it of the prayer he offered in behalf of the people, to whom salvation and remission of sins were to be brought by Christ. The angel, moreover, told him of the birth of his son, who was to be the precursor of Christ. (St. Augustine)
The son that is to be born of thee, will show that thy prayer is heard, when he cries out, behold the Lamb of God. (St. Chrysostom)
It is always a mark of singular merit, when...
