Amy C Walters

John’s Birth – Luke 1:57-66

The day has finally come for Zechariah and Elizabeth to have a son! But when friends and relatives come to name the baby, one surprise after another sends the story about what God has done spreading through the whole region.

The day has finally arrived that Zechariah and Elizabeth have been waiting for–the birth of their son! It’s finally happened, this thing that they’ve been trying for and praying for for so long, and probably even got to the point where they expected that it never would happen. Now it’s here.

And there is so much joy and celebration. The neighbors and the relatives find out that God has shown great mercy to Elizabeth and they rejoice with her. They’re so excited about what has happened.

And then they come over to circumcise the child on the eighth day, following the Mosaic law. And in the New Testament, we see that oftentimes naming the child goes with that circumcision.

So the neighbors and relatives come and they’re about to name the child Zechariah after his father. This is Zechariah and Elizabeth’s only son. Why wouldn’t they name the child after his father?

But Elizabeth says, “No, that’s not gonna be his name. He’s going to be called John.”

Now, this is what the angel told Zechariah to name the child, back when the angel met with him nine months ago in the temple. The angel said, “You will name him John.”

We don’t know how Elizabeth knew to name the child that as well. She did not meet with the angel herself. Zechariah has been mute since this happened, so potentially he found a nonverbal way to communicate that with her, or maybe it was somehow divinely revealed to her. But either way, she obeys and says to name the child John.

Now, the neighbors don’t think this is right. They say, “You don’t have any relatives called that!” 

It was normal to name the child after a relative. And Elizabeth is departing from this tradition, going a different direction, choosing some seemingly random name for this child.

So the neighbors and friends don’t entirely believe Elizabeth, do they? They go to Zechariah to double check with him. They make signs to him to find out what he wants to name the child. He asks for his writing tablet and he writes “his name is John.” 

And this blows their mind! They are wondering what is going on here, that they’re departing so much from tradition and from the way things are normally done.

But they don’t have long to think about it because immediately Zechariah’s mouth is open, his tongue is loose and he speaks. For the first time in nine months, this man speaks.

And what does Zechariah say? He blesses God. He has been silent for months and the first words out of his mouth are worship.

If I was quiet for nine months, I’d have a lot of words stored up that I would want to say! I would have a lot of things to tell people and just be waiting to pour it all out.

But Zechariah doesn’t talk about himself, doesn’t talk about what he experienced, doesn’t even talk about the angel. He is worshiping God.

From this crazy scene, word spreads like wildfire. We’re told that fear has fallen on the neighbors and it’s the good kind of fear. They are amazed at the work that God is doing here. And they start talking about all of these things throughout all the hill country of Judea.

So word is spreading like crazy about all these unexpected things that are happening. About an elderly couple that was past the chance of having a child that now has a child. And a priest who had lost his ability to speak for months now is able to speak again. And they break with tradition and name the child something that seems totally random.

This naming incident is kind of the peak of this story. It’s the pivot that just takes on a life of its own as Zechariah is healed of his muteness as the word spreads. And the focus is not on this couple or their situation, but on what God is doing.

You see, our key truth for today is that God often works in the unexpected.

All of these unexpected things–even what could seem to us to be a small thing of naming the child–those unexpected things come together to point the attention to what God is doing. And that’s where it just takes off and spreads throughout the whole region, and people are in fear of God and in anticipation of what he’s going to do.

But the unexpected can be uncomfortable.

It was certainly uncomfortable for Zechariah and Elizabeth to wait so long to have a child. They probably gave up hope at some point that it would ever happen. There were probably some miscarriages along the way. That is uncomfortable.

We know that there was disgrace as part of this, that others looked upon them negatively. That’s uncomfortable.

Zechariah has been quiet for nine months, unable to speak. This couple has been isolated as Elizabeth has secluded herself for five months. That is uncomfortable.

It was probably uncomfortable to break with tradition and expectations that they would name the child after a relative. Instead, they go with a different name, a name told to them by an angel, but a name that others don’t see the connection with.

It might have been seen as dishonoring their family, that they don’t go with a family name. Their one and only child that should be named after a relative, they go with something else.

What are they doing? Are they crazy?

Those things could be uncomfortable, and yet it’s those very things that God uses to amplify the message of what he’s doing and who it reaches and how far it spreads.

There are brothers and sisters around the world that often have to make a choice to break with traditions in order to follow God. People who have to leave their families in order to follow Jesus. Those are tough, tough decisions.

There are believers in parts of Asia, like Japan and Taiwan, where ancestors are venerated and honored. Food is left for them, candles are lit for them. And those believers have to choose sometimes to stop with those traditions. And that causes ripple effects in their family. That is not looked upon well by other family members. 

That is a tough decision to make. There is tension there. And yet they choose to make that decision in order to honor God.

But we pray that through those unexpected things, that it draws attention to the good things that God is doing, that it gives the opportunity to amplify the message of God’s grace, God’s forgiveness, God’s greatness.

Maybe you are one of the few believers in your family, and you’ve chosen to break with some of those traditions, to go a different route. And that has caused tension in your family, because people don’t understand why you’re doing that. They see it as dishonoring the family.

And yet, maybe it is through those unexpected things, that different route that you’re taking, maybe it’s through that, that God’s going to get their attention, and he’s going to work, and he’s going to amplify his work in your life, and draw their attention to him.

Maybe things in your life have gone a different route than you expected, and you feel a little bit out of control, as things are happening that you hadn’t planned for, and it’s uncomfortable. But maybe God is using that unexpected situation or direction to draw your attention to him, or to draw the focus onto him away from other people.

God is able to do that. He often works through the unexpected.