A Year in Luke/ActsNäide

Notice the different responses that Zechariah and Mary have to the angel’s messages to them. Zechariah (representing the Temple) responds with unbelief, writing him and his wife off for being too old. He seems to have forgotten a very famous story: Abraham and Sarah! Mary (representing the poor), on the other hand, says: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word” (v38). This mirrors the story of Hannah in the Old Testament, who becomes the mother of Samuel.