12/20/2025
Insights from Luke 1
- Cherpl
Zacharias: Muted - silenced / by disbelief
Zacharias wasn’t punished because he asked a question. Mary asked a question too.
He was muted because his question came from precedent, not possibility.
Zacharias said, “How shall I know this?”
Mary said, “How will this be?”
Same curiosity. Different posture.
Zacharias measured God against biology, age, history, and odds. In corporate terms, he ran a risk assessment and decided the vision was not scalable. And God said, “Then you don’t get to speak into what you refuse to trust.”
Disbelief doesn’t always cancel the promise—but it can suspend your participation in it.
God is faithful to His word, not to our mood, certainty, or emotional readiness.
Zacharias’ disbelief did not cancel the assignment.
It altered his level of access.
Here’s the principle:
God will fulfill what He promised—but He will not let our disbelief narrate it.
So God does something brilliant:
- He keeps Zacharias present in his wife’s life
- He keeps him observing her pregnancy journey
- He keeps him alive and included be He removes his influence over the environment - God silenced him.
Why? Because our words shape our reality.
In business terms:
Zacharias stayed on the org chart, but he lost decision-making authority.
Disbelief doesn’t just sit quietly.
It leaks. It reframes. It contaminates tone. It shapes. It activates.
God didn’t silence Zacharias to punish him.
God muted him to protect the promise.
This is divine risk management.
Some people have to be silenced—not removed—so they don’t influence what God is doing in us. Most importantly, some of just need to shut up and ponder when God gives us a word. 🙏