Day 12 - Luke 1:57-63
11 Dec 2023
You can listen to an audio version of this blog here -
"Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, “no, he shall be called John”. And they said to her, ‘None of your relatives is called by this name.” And they made signs to his father, enquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered."
The birth of a child is always a cause of great celebration. It is also life changing for every new parent. I remember reading a beautiful article by Fergal Keane (the BBC correspondent) reflecting on his feelings just after the birth of his son. He put into words the way life changes. “Days have melted into night and back again, and we are learning a new grammar, a long sentence whose punctuation marks are feeding and winding and nappy changing and occasional moments of quiet.”
Life would have certainly changed for Zechariah and Elizabeth at the birth of their son. Remember, they were older than usual for the birth of a first child. Their community shared their joy and recognised that the Lord had been kind to them. You can imagine the surprise as the news of Elizabeth’s spread!
They all gather for the baby’s circumcision, performed as was customary on the eighth day of his life. It was also customarily the day when the name was given. Everyone expected a further custom would be followed - that the son would be named after the father. After all, this was a reason why they were so thrilled at the Lord’s mercy to them. This baby was going to carry on the family name. He would make their name endure.
So there was understandable shock when Elizabeth said he shall be called John. What was going on? Was she taking advantage of her husbands loss of voice? Did this point to unsuspected problems in their relationship?
Zechariah puts a stop to their outrage. His first recorded words since his doubt earlier in the chapter is a sentence which shows his belief. “His name shall be called John”. It is not simply that he believes what the angel said to him in the temple because he sees the baby. He is showing he believes what the angel said about why he’s been given a baby.
He has been given a son, not to make him great and carry his name on. He has been given a baby who will be “great before the Lord”. A baby who will make the Lord’s name great. A baby who will prepare the way for the Messiah.
No wonder his name is John - literally “God’s gift”. Not just a gift to Zechariah and Elizabeth. But a gift to all God’s people.
Zechariah does not take this gift and claim it for himself, turning his back on the giver. He would have done that if he had named him after himself. This is the essence of sin. No - he recognises that even his own son is a gift from God for the world.
It is no surprise then that his tongue is loosed and he can speak again. The birth of John becomes the blessing Zechariah as a priest declares to the people (the blessing he was unable to bring when he stepped out of the temple in 1:22).