Luke 1:59-63 (ESV)
[59] And on the eighth day they
came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after
his father, [60] but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” [61]
And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” [62] And
they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. [63]
And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all
wondered.
“His name is John.” That’s a simple
statement. It is not particularly profound. It’s just a name. But it is much
more than that. It is an act of faith. Elizabeth and Zechariah agreed that their
child was to be named John. He was not to be named after his father or a family
member. He was to be named John. That simple decision indicated that they
believed God.
The angel had told Zechariah to name
him John. The Hebrew name means “YHWH is gracious.” Naming this child John
indicated three things. It indicated that God was gracious in giving a child to
a childless couple in their old age. Second, it should have reminded the Israelis
that they were a people of God with a promise of deliverance. Third, it pointed
toward John’s life mission of introducing Messiah. Through Messiah grace would
be offered to his people and beyond. God is gracious
In our high anxiety world, as we
prepare to celebrate the birth of our savior at Christmas, may we remember this
simple truth. God is gracious. And may we respond, as did Zechariah and
Elizabeth, with a simple response of obedient faith. What simple decision is
God calling you to make today?
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