Luke 1:57-66 - Ian Naismith

What’s in a name?

It’s the first question you ask about any baby.  What’s their name?  Some couples choose it months in advance, while others wait until after the birth to make up their minds.  Either way, it tells you more about the parents than about the child, whether the baby is named after a relative or a celebrity, or because mum and dad like the name’s sound or meaning.

Convention dictated that Zechariah and Elizabeth should name their son after his father, or at least a family member.  The neighbours were horrified when Elizabeth insisted he would be called John.  What was the woman thinking?  So the father was consulted, having been dumb (and apparently deaf) for at least 9 months.  And Zechariah confirms in writing the name Gabriel had specified, leading to him recovering his speech, giving another reason for celebration, awe and gossip.

John means ‘God is gracious’, echoing the great mercy shown to Elizabeth (verse 58) but also that the boy would have God’s hand on him (verse 66) and his message as the forerunner of Jesus.  And Zechariah recognises that God has been gracious to him too.  His dumbness resulted from not believing God’s messenger (verse 20), but he’s learnt his lesson.  Zechariah wasn’t too old or too proud to benefit from God’s discipline and experience His grace.  Are you missing out on blessings through unbelief?  If so, let God teach you to trust and obey – there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus.