Luke 1:12

When Zechariah saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
Luke 1:12 Modern English Version (MEV)
 
Zechariah’s reaction to seeing the angel is, I think most of us would agree, a natural one. And yet, by biblical standards, it isn’t. In most of the stories we read in Scripture concerning angelic appearances, those that they appeared to seem to take it in stride, acting as though it was a common occurrence. So, what is so different this time?
 
The difference is that this incident takes place in the Temple. We must remember that this is the Second Temple and, unlike the original Temple, the glory, or Shekinah of God, has never appeared in the nearly 400 years the Second Temple has existed. As far as anyone knows, not even the Ark of the Covenant was ever in the Second Temple, it having effectively disappeared after the destruction of the First. The Holy of Holies in the Second Temple was basically empty, so any sort of supernatural manifestation in the Temple was a big deal, a very big deal.