They murdered Zechariah in the court of the Lord’s temple, because he prophesied against the king and the people. Had Zechariah kept his mouth shut, had he minded his business, perhaps he might have died of natural courses in old age. “Unfortunately,” he did not keep quiet and paid for it by his life. But how could Zechariah have kept his mouth shut when both the king and the people had abandoned God and were doing what was unlawful in the sight of God? How could he have “minded” his own business while “his business” was really not his but rather about the people? Like all the prophets of God, Zechariah was zealous of the Lord, and could not sit back and watch his people stray from serving the Lord their God. He stood up for what was right, and paid for it by his life.
Zechariah was not a prophet. He was a “mere” son of a priest. But he knew the difference between right and wrong. He was only a “boy,” but he knew that serving God by obeying his commands came before everything else. Zechariah was not a professional prophet, but when the spirit of the Lord overshadowed him and the word of the Lord came to him, he did not refuse the call to become God’s messenger. As God’s messenger, as a prophet, Zechariah knew that it was his responsibility to protect God’s “rights.” This is the very responsibility that one assumes upon his/her baptism. A baptized individual lives no longer for him/herself but for the community, putting his/her life on the line for the welfare of the society. Just like Zechariah, a baptized individual makes the community’s business his/her own, especially when it comes to the keeping of God’s commandments.