On September 6, the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Zechariah, a prophet who made numerous prophecies about the Messiah, including the one for Palm Sunday: “Rejoice, daughter of Zion, (…) behold, your king comes to you, just and victorious; he is simple and rides on a donkey” (Zech. 9, 9).
Newsroom (05/09/2024 19:49, Gaudium Press) In Sacred History and the History of the Church, several saints are called Zechariah. We have Zechariah, the father of St. John the Baptist, a priest who became mute after being visited by an angel, Pope St. Zechariah, who ruled the Church from 741 to 752, and also today’s Zechariah, who was the penultimate of the minor prophets.
Zechariah belonged to the tribe of Levi and “energetically consecrated his influence as priest and prophet to raise the theocracy from its ruins”. Ezra (6:14) praises the zeal he showed, together with Haggai, in rebuilding the Temple.
This saint began prophesying around 520 BC, the same year Haggai began his prophecies. It is believed that the period he prophesied lasted only two years (520-518).
Haggai encouraged the people to restore the temple; Zechariah “starting from the state of distress in which Jerusalem found itself… encourages comforts, exhorts, showing the bright future that is in store for Israel and the abundant blessings that will be associated with the restoration of the Lord’s sanctuary” (Fillion).
The Prophet had eight visions. In one of them, he contemplates an Angel who orders the soiled garments of the High Priest Joshua to be removed and replaced with clean ones (cf. Zech 3:4-5). All this has its meaning. “The priesthood had contributed greatly to the loss of Judah. Now [Zechariah] shows us the pontiff with pure ornaments, a sign of the purity of the priesthood itself. ”
Among other prophecies, he predicts that Our Lord Jesus Christ:
– He would enter Jerusalem triumphantly, “riding on a donkey, the foal of an ass” (Zech 9:9).
– He would be betrayed by one of his own and sold for thirty pieces of silver (cf. Zech 11:12); pierced with a spear (cf. Zech 12:10).
Among the vigorous accusations against the scribes and Pharisees – mentioned by St. Matthew, chapter 23: the seven “woes” – Our Lord mentions Zechariah, “whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar” (Mt 23:35)[1].
[1] Cf. MARTOS, Paulo Francisco. Notions of Sacred History.
Compiled by Dominic Joseph
