He Will Be Called John

 

  Luke 1:57-66

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷ When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

⁵⁹ On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, ⁶⁰ but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

⁶¹ They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

⁶² Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. ⁶³ He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” ⁶⁴ Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. ⁶⁵ All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. ⁶⁶ Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

The birth of John to this elderly couple and the non-traditional name John signify the beginning of a new era, the Messianic Era, for soon after John, Jesus would be born and the world would never be the same. We are part of that "New World" and as we celebrate John's birth today, in two more days we'll be celebrating the birth of Jesus. No wonder all the joyful activity to prepare  for it and to celebrate it. Seeing how God's plan unfolded, may we not be dismayed at the state of our world today. God is in charge and nothing happens without his knowledge. If things are not right with our world (and surely they are not), he will not abandon us nor let us perish. Let us turn to him in faith and pray that this Christmas celebration will rattle our world to get back on track with God's plan.  What a Christmas present that would be! 

Bro. Rene

Dear God, as we see your plan carried out in the birth of John the Baptist, may we do all we can to carry out the plan for the best way to live that Jesus came to teach us. Amen.