57 When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born,
she gave birth to a son.
***
Just as God said. God always keeps His promises.
***
58 And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord
had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her.
***
Just as God, through Gabriel, told Zechariah.
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59 When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony.
They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father.
60 But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!”
***
The father usually named the baby.
Zechariah was mute, so Elizabeth spoke for both of them.
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61 “What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.”
62 So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him.
***
They treat Zacharias as if he were deaf, not mute. Almost like he’s invisible.
***
63 He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote,
“His name is John.”
***
“IS.”
A fact. Already decided.
Husband and wife remain obedient and righteous before God.
***
64 Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.
***
Just as God said.
***
It was fitting that Zechariah’s first words were praise to God.
God gave Zacharias a second chance at faith. He gives the same to us today.
***
65 Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood,
and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills.
66 Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked,
“What will this child turn out to be?”
For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.
***
The prophetic voice of the Lord had been silent for 400 years. Now, God spoke through Gabriel (Luke 1:13, 1:28), through Elizabeth (Luke 1:41-42), through Mary (Luke 1:46-55), and now through Zechariah. When God spoke again, it was to finally reveal His plan to redeem the world.