God kept His promise to Zacharias and Elizabeth. Their son was born. And everyone knew, because of their advanced age and her barrenness, this son was a display of God’s great mercy (v. 58).
Eight days after his birth, it came time to name the child. Elizabeth said that he will be called “John.” The people dissented; no one in their family was named John.
So, they asked Zacharias. He proceeds to write on a tablet, “His name is John.” The disciplinary measure of muteness is immediately released, and he can speak once more.
Note that he says his son’s name “is John,” not “will be John,” implying that that name was already his by divine decree.
The circumstances of this son’s birth and naming stir the whole hill country of Judea. The region was abuzz with a question: “What then will this child turn out to be (v. 66)?” They all knew the hand of the Lord was with John.
It was certain. God’s power was already at work in John, even before he was born. John would be an extraordinary child – one that would grow up to commence the newest stage in God’s redemptive work.
He would go before the Messiah and call Israel to believe in their Messiah, their King and Savior.
And all this by the hand of God, not by his parents, not by Israel, not by John himself. God’s hand was behind John’s birth, John’s upbringing, John’s ministry, and one day, John’s tragic death. God’s mercy and God’s mighty hand had been guiding all things to this very moment – when John would be born and named. It was all happening according to plan – His plan, not man’s.
And it would continue to unfold in this way, astonishing many, and yet the many would not believe John. Luke wants us to take heed to the hand of God working in the events leading up to Advent. And he wants us to trust that even as His hand was unfolding His will back then, His hand is unfolding His will now, in the world and in our lives, as it has always done.
We can rest in His hand. We can lean on His power. We can trust His heart of mercy. May we do that this Christmas as Zacharias and Elizabeth did back then.
