A surprising name
Luke 1:57-66
57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. 60 But his mother said, ‘No; he is to be called John.’ 61 They said to her, ‘None of your relatives has this name.’ 62 Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63 He asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And all of them were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 Fear came over all their neighbours, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them pondered them and said, ‘What then will this child become?’ For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.
Zechariah having been silenced the story has become Elizabeth’s story. The neighbours rejoice with Elizabeth at the birth of her son, Zechariah is not in the picture (vs. 58). Even in the critical moment of the naming of the child, which took place on the 8th day of the child’s life, the conversation is with Elizabeth (vs. 60). Zechariah having been silenced is now overlooked. Family and friends assume that because he cannot speak, he also cannot hear (see vs. 62, they motion to Zechariah to ask the question). Zechariah had become a non-person.
In that crucial moment when asked what the child’s name will be – Zechariah wrote “His name is John”. In that moment he was able to speak. Everything the angel Gabriel had said would take place had come true. Zechariah had been a silent witness to what was taking place. God had not only answered the deep pain of his heart, but in giving answer to that heartache God was going to use his answer towards the grander plan God was bringing about.
God had taken the childlessness of Zechariah and Elizabeth and had not only given them a child, God was using that to serve the grander purposes of God in the world. God acts in the lives of ordinary individuals to bring good, and in bringing about that good God draws their lives into the grander story of what God is doing in the world. God takes ordinary people and invites them into participation with him in the redemption of the world.
In Advent we rejoice that God uses the hard places in our lives towards the bringing about of his purposes in the world. We rejoice that our lives are drawn into his grander story, taking on a significance and meaning beyond our imaging.
PRAYER:
Lord God, we are amazed at the healing and hope you bring to our lives. We are awe-struck that you would take our brokenness and pain and bring about reconciliation and transformation. And that as you do that you draw us into the grand story of the world’s redemption, is beyond our imagining. Thank you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.