57When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
59On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
61They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
62Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.
Have you ever made the best set plans for your life? If you are a parent, have you made a plan for your child to go to the right school, play the best sports, learn a certain musical instrument, be socially connected? These plans or expectations may be very well intentioned but usually fall short from what actually happens.
Elizabeth and Zechariah could not of planned or expected that their little boy was going to run out into the desert and act like a wild man, eating locusts and wild honey. However, the Lord was with him. He was with him before he was born, when he leaped in his mother’s womb. The hand of the Lord was with him when he came to the Jordan River to baptize and call Israel to repentance. And later, when he was in prison, and He was with him when he was martyred.
The birth of John the Baptist was an exceptional event in the preparation for the coming of Jesus. A new era of great salvation was coming. We can’t overlook the deep significance of the birth of the one God had chosen to be the voice crying in the wilderness, to be the herald of the King, the precursor of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ.
Later in John’s ministry he was a witness to the one who all had been waiting for. As Jesus was coming toward him, John declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 ESV). May we be witnesses to Christ’s work on our behalf, who takes away our sins and gives us eternal life with Him.
Father, we thank you for the witness of Elizabeth and of Zechariah, for their faithfulness to your Word.
