Zacharias the Levite

Zachariah is a young usher when Margziam, the adopted son of Peter, comes to Jerusalem for his reception as a son of the Law or coming-of-age examination (Bar Mitzvah).

At the Temple, Zachariah is well placed to hear all the speeches that Jesus delivers there: he is moved. The priest John, already a disciple, introduces him to Jesus, but he hesitates to follow him.   

When Jesus declares that he comes from God, Zachariah decides to take the step. But Jesus answers him:

- "Think carefully, for you are not going towards earthly glory by coming to Me, but towards suffering. If you persevere, you will have glory in Heaven. Educate yourself in my Doctrine; strengthen yourself in it..."    

- "How?" asks Zachariah

- "Heaven itself will strengthen you through its signs" replies Jesus.  

A month later, when the hostility of the Sanhedrin against Jesus comes to light, Zachariah stands visibly by his side.

His perfect knowledge of the nooks and crannies of the Temple helps Jesus to escape through a secret passage when the scribes and Pharisees want to stone him: Jesus had just told them that they were not sons of Abraham, but sons of Satan.-

Zachariah knows the widow who gives her mite (all she owns) at the Temple Salton the Gospel. He shows Judas where she is. Jesus charged his apostle to bring her aid and then send her to Bethany.

After the Resurrection, Jesus appears to Zachariah: he soothes his doubts about the reality of his Resurrection and sends him to Galilee.

He finds himself with the five hundred Disciples on Mount Tabor. Jesus joins him with Joseph Barnabas: both of them challenged the mighty ones to follow him.

Zachariah is present at the Ascension.

His name

Zachariah, Zekarya in Hebrew, means "God has remembered" - Historical reference: the prophet contemporary with Haggai who, like him, urged the rebuilding of the Temple.

Where is he mentioned in the work?

EMV 201 EMV 281
EMV 490
EMV 506 EMV 507 EMV 598
EMV 632 EMV 634 EMV 635

Learn more about this character

Saint Zachariah is celebrated on June 27.      

He possibly followed Joseph Barnabas in his first Missions of evangelization, but there is no record of this.  

Around the year 56/57, he was sent by Peter as the second bishop of Vienne in Narbonese Gaul. Peter entrusted him with a relic: the linen cloth used at the Last Supper. It is kept in the Church of Saint Peter in Vienne under the name of the holy cloth, or saint mantil.          

Devotion to Zachariah and to the relic was encouraged by several popes, including Innocent IV in the 13th century.        

Zachariah was hosted in this city by a widow. Is this the same widow with the mite that Zachariah knew and who was taken in by the Family of Bethany, one wonders? The emigration of this Family had led to many Christian settlements in the region.      

Zachariah died stoned during the persecution of Trajan. He was almost a centenarian. His episcopate lasted 42 years.        

His last words were those of Saint Stephen: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them". As a Levite of the Temple, he must have witnessed his stoning.

To kill a person or animal by throwing stones. This punishment was used in the East and especially among the Jews. (For example, Jews stoned adulterers, blasphemers).

Person or animal who has been killed by stones. This punishment was used in the East and especially among the Jews. (For example, Jews stoned adulterers, blasphemers).