AN UNEXPECTED NAMING

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”

Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?”

For the Lord’s hand was with him.

Luke 1:57-66

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

For Jewish couples in biblical times, pregnancy was seen as a blessing, a gift from God which revealed His favor. For men, the blessing would feel doubled if the child born was a boy as it would mean that the family line would be continued and that line would be carried on by a man who bore the name of his father as it was customary that the first son born would be his father’s namesake.

Now, consider the matter of Zechariah and Elizabeth, a devout Jewish couple who lived in a town located in the hill country of Judea. They had grown old and well past child bearing years, never having a child. It was a constant source of shame and disgrace, especially for Elizabeth because culturally, a woman who never became pregnant was seen as under God’s judgment for some sin. Zechariah’s line on the family tree would end abruptly at his death.

But then God intervened in a big way. He sent the angel Gabriel to announce to Zechariah that he and Elizabeth would have a son, despite their senior status, and that son would have the special privilege to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” before He was born and become “great in the sight of the Lord” as he turned “the hearts of the parents to their children” and “the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous” while making “ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:15-17).

It was a miracle proclamation, one that was too much for the Zechariah the priest to handle. For immediately, he questions that God would do what He said He would do and it would be the last question he would ask for the entirety of Elizabeth’s pregnancy as the Lord took away his ability to speak until the day that his son would be named.

Put yourself in Zechariah’s place. God has muted you for more than 9 months. That’s a lot of time to think about the wrong you committed while yearning for the opportunity to redeem yourself.

As we return to the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel and today’s passage, we see this opportunity begin to present itself as Elizabeth gives “birth to a son”, causing great joy among her “neighbors and relatives” who had heard how “the Lord had shown her great mercy”. And as customary in Jewish culture, the baby boy would remain nameless until the day of his circumcision which always occurred on the “eighth day” after birth in accordance with the Law (Leviticus 12:3).

And so on that eight day after their boy’s birth, Zechariah and Elizabeth had their baby circumcised and as we read in the scriptures, everyone expected the son would be named after his father, Zechariah. How surprised they must have been when Elizabeth quickly spoke up and proclaimed:

“No! He is to be called John.”

Now, Elizabeth would have only known this by Zechariah informing her fully about the angel Gabriel and the message God had sent to them both through him. Although he couldn’t speak, we can be sure he wrote everything out and then made sure Elizabeth understood that her pregnancy was a full blessing from God, one that she confessed had displayed his favor and removed her disgrace from among the people (Luke 1:25).

Now, those in attendance were confused by this very unexpected naming as indicated by their response to Elizabeth as they said:

“There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

And with that, they quickly turned and looked at Zechariah, knowing full that he couldn’t speak. The scriptures tell us that he asked for a writing tablet on which he astonished everyone present by penning these words:

“His name is John.”

The written words gave way to spoken ones as God “immediately” opened Zechariah’s mouth and set his tongue free, unleashing a voice saturated with praise for all that God had done, praise that had been stored up for the entire duration of Elizabeth’s pregnancy.

The miraculous restoration of Zechariah’s ability to speak filled “all the neighbors” with awe and word spread quickly “throughout the hill country of Judea”, stirring up conversation that left the people wondering:

“What then is this child going to be?”

God had richly blessed Zechariah and Elizabeth, and the birth of John was already causing an impact long before he would grow into adulthood and baptize others in the spirit of repentance of sins as he waited for the day when he would introduce and then baptize Jesus, the coming Savior of the world. As we quickly advance on Christmas Day, we will find Zechariah, like Mary, lifting up his own song of praise as he rejoices in his son, the restoration of his voice, and the God who provided both.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.