Named by Faith

Or, The Birth of John the Baptist

Unbelief shuts mouths. When we believe, we speak (as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:13), and when we don’t believe, we don’t want to say anything. This is a principle, and so the sign of silence given to Zechariah was a discipline that fit the doubt, a discipline aimed to grow faith.

Zechariah was given an explicit message from the angel Gabriel who had come from God's presence (1:19). The priest’s first response was doubt. He didn't think it was possible that he and Elizabeth could have a child. He asked for a sign, and Gabriel said, “behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words” (1:20).

The point of this paragraph is to record the birth of the Messiah's forerunner as announced by the angel. But it also shows the renewal of Zechariah's faith, and opens the door for people to start paying attention to God's mercy on the move.

1:57-66

A Surprise Birth (verses 57-58)

Though the angel announced a son to the soon-to-be dad (1:5-25), dad's been quiet, in more ways than one, since Gabriel shut his mouth nine months ago. There was no mention of his direct interaction with Mary for the three months she stayed with Zechariah and Elizabeth. And even now that the due date has arrived, Zechariah is still not center stage.

As prophesied, Elizabeth delivers a baby boy. It wasn’t a surprise to her, or Zechariah, but it would have been a big surprise to everyone else. She’d kept herself “hidden” (1:24). It appears that only now does she let her friends and family know. "Surprise! A son!"

Any grief they might have given her for keeping them in the dark was surely good natured, because otherwise they rejoiced with her. This is at least the initial fulfillment of the angel's word: "you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth" (1:14). It’s a surprise, but a welcome one.

Everyone recognized this was a sign of God's great mercy. Mercy was part of Mary’s song (verses 50 and 54), and mercy is a key part of Zechariah’s upcoming song (verses 72 and 78). When God moves, He moves with mercy. It's a theme, Old and New testament. Showing mercy to whom God desires to show mercy is at the core of God’s revelation of His glory (as the Lord said to Moses in Exodus 33:18-19). The gift of this boy was a gift of mercy.

This also pokes at our simplistic definitions where we say mercy is not getting the judgment we deserve and grace is getting the good we didn't deserve. Mercy is a potent kind of compassion and relieving provision, not just a buffer or shielding protection.

A Surprise Name (verses 59-63)

There are numerous examples in the OT of parents naming their children on the day of birth. Sometimes they waited until sometime in the first week, and historical records show that was rarely done on the eighth day. The eighth day for a male child was the day for receiving the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant: circumcision (see Genesis 17:12, which was part of Paul’s testimony in Philippians 3:5).

They came, mother and father. But what has Zechariah been doing? The neighbors remarked about God’s mercy to her, they rejoiced with her (verse 58). We know he’s been silenced, but what has he been thinking?

As well meaning relatives often do, they’re talking with all their assumptions. The boy's name would be his father's name. At the least it would be a family name.

But Elizabeth speaks up: No, he shall be called John. How did she know this? Did Zechariah write it out for her? Did the Holy Spirit directly reveal it to her? The text doesn’t explicitly answer that question.

Regardless, the people assume she can’t be right. She's not following the proper procedure.

So they tried to get Zechariah's answer. Two things argue that Zechariah was both mute and deaf. First, they made signs, they motioned, gestured, did baby-naming charades. If he could hear, they could just ask and he could make signs. Second, if he could hear, then he also could have just pointed at Elizabeth and indicated that her answer was true. But they all wondered, which was before he started talking. They wondered: how could Zechariah and Elizabeth be on the same page?

He asked, obviously with motions, for a writing tablet. It was a small piece of wood dipped in wax. (There's a great analogy related to this in 1 Peter 2:21, with letters carved directly onto the wood for a student to trace over, it was “under writing,” which is often translated as “example.”) Zechariah wrote the reality: His name is John. No questions. For the first time since talking with the angel, Zechariah sees what he’s supposed to do. He names John by faith. And this opens doors for more faith, for more wonder, and for talking.

And again they Wondered. Little did they know, and they really did only know a little.

A Surprise Response (verses 64-66)

Zechariah didn’t know how or when he'd speak again. It happened just as he was told (1:20), but not like he expected. If he remembered the timing, "until the day that these things take place," wouldn't he have assumed that the "things" was the birth? But it's been eight days since then. Was he starting to think that maybe the "things" wouldn't be until John's ministry? What point in John’s ministry? How many father's hearts needed to be turned to their children (1:17)? Zechariah would have been the first one surprised that he could speak again.

John was named by faith. Zechariah obeyed by faith and Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed. Both of these images are physical with figurative implications. He could talk again, and however it was connected, he could hear also.

His first words were praise, blessing God. We'll hear more of his praise in verses 68-79.

God opened and loosed (passive voice verbs), Zechariah responded, and so did the group respond by spreading the story. They were talking (the imperfect tense of the verb indicates an ongoing behavior). "What just happened? Did you hear about the old guy and his wife?" Luke doesn't say, but how much did Zechariah now get to tell Elizabeth? How much did Zechariah tell the others about what happened to him, the rest of the angel's message?

It seems that he must have included some specifics, because as people talked, they realized that there was more to come. They laid them up in their hearts, saying What then will this child be?

“The act of storing in the heart implies not only incomprehension, but also an openness to clarification in the future, a preparedness to live with unclarity in the hope that there will come a time when the puzzling signs will disclose their true meaning.” (Coleridge quoted in Garland)

This is faith. They are paying attention, and also realize they need to keep paying attention. It looks like the start of something significant, but not everything is in the picture yet. They didn’t rush to judgement, but they also didn’t wait for complete hindsight.

Luke adds a comment as narrator: For the hand of the Lord was with him. This is a reference to John, though he's just a newborn. It turns out, there is a reference to his "public appearance" as a grown man and prophet, but that is another thirty years from now.

Conclusion

How many moments of questioning did Zechariah have in those eight days? How many moments of questioning did these people have for the next thirty years? How many generations had been questioning for the four centuries since Malachi's prophecy about a prophet (Luke 1:16-17 from Malachi 4:5-6)?

Mercy moves manifestly, more at some times than others, and mercy does not always look like we thought it would. But mercy always comes because God said it would.

Zechariah was silenced for nine months and eight days because of his unbelief. God showed mercy to him and opened his mouth the moment he acted in faith. What has your unbelief cost you? What would obedience open up for you right now? Is there anything you know from God’s Word that you’re supposed to do but that your little-faith is keeping you from?

Charge

Christian, your whole life is to be an embodied, "Amen." What you have received in God’s Word, believe. What example you have seen from Christ, follow. May you bless the Lord, and may the hand of the Lord be on all your work.

Benediction:

May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. (2 Thessalonians 3:5 ESV)