Ahaz said “I will not ask. I will not tempt the Lord.”
Notice how pious he sounds. After all, Jesus made a similar statement when under temptation from the devil: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
It’s worse than different perspectives here. We have different goals. The devil was trying to goad Jesus into a display of His power as God as a way of proving His credentials. This was also true of the desire of the Pharisees later in Jesus’ ministry who were looking for a sign. Jesus would not rise to these “expectations” because He knew a show of power for power’s sake would never satisfy those without a longing heart.
Ahaz, on the other hand, did not want God to display His faithfulness. He was quite happy ignoring God’s call to the nation while he busily fooled around with false gods and their immoral rituals. If God made Himself present through some miraculous intervention, then Ahaz would be forced to take Him seriously. Not something this secularist/pagan-in-Jewish-clothing was willing to do.
Let me bring yet another example pair into the picture: the “yes” of the Blessed Mother and the “what” of John the Baptist’s father. In her trust in God, Mary did not hesitate to look forward to the movement of the Holy Spirit. When she was visited, not by a prophet but by an angel, she was willing to accept — at value — what was being proposed. Zechariah — also presented with an announcement of a son — could not accept the implausibility of such an action.
So here are our contrasts:
Ahaz who didn’t want to see God move, the Pharisees (and the devil) who demand a show of God’s movement, and Zechariah who couldn’t imagine God moving versus Mary who trusted God’s movement for her and Jesus Who is the very Movement of God.
Where do we stack up in this?
Are there times when we are afraid to let God move because, if we have to acknowledge His Presence, we would have to change?
Do we demand a movement of God as a proof of His love for us, or that He is at least listening?
Do we refuse to accept it when we see God moving for us and those around us?
Or do we trust in the movement of God around and for us? Have you ever heard of the title of Mary: Our Lady of Trust?
Today, as we acknowledge Mary’s “yes” and her trust in the Lord, we recognize she is the perfect antidote for:
• a secular world that is afraid to trust God;
• a demanding world that wants Him to step in and correct things, if He really loves us;
• a refusing, unseeing world that lacks the imagination to trust
“Immaculate Heart of Mary, true model of every holiness, grant us trust to become saints.” -– prayer by Bishop William Giaquinta, founder of the Pro-Sanctity Movement.