His Name Is John

A room full of relatives. Everyone has an opinion. And the one man who cannot say a word reaches for a little writing tablet, and settles the whole argument.

We are back in the hill country of Judah, at the home of Zechariah the priest and his wife Elizabeth. For most of their long marriage they had no children. Then, while Zechariah was serving in the temple, the angel Gabriel told him he would have a son, and that the boy must be called John. Zechariah could not believe it. He asked for proof. And so the angel told him he would be unable to speak until the day these things happened. For nine months, Zechariah has lived in silence. Now Elizabeth's time has come.

Elizabeth gives birth to a son. And word travels fast in a small town. The neighbours hear. The cousins hear. Luke says they heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. Picture the house filling up. Women who had watched Elizabeth wait year after year now come to hold the baby. People who once whispered about her childlessness now share her joy. It is a celebration that has been a lifetime coming.

On the eighth day, they gather to circumcise the boy, as the law of Moses taught, and this is also the day he will be named. Everyone assumes they know the answer. Call him Zechariah, after his father. It is the obvious choice. But Elizabeth speaks up. “Not so; but he shall be called John.” The relatives are puzzled. John? None of your family has that name. So they turn to Zechariah, and they make signs to him, asking what he wants the child called. Perhaps he had lost his hearing too; Luke says they used signs.

Zechariah asks for a writing tablet. The room goes quiet while he writes. Then he holds it up. His name is John. Everyone is amazed. And at that very moment, Zechariah's mouth is opened and his tongue is set free. The first thing he does with his new voice is praise God. Fear falls on all the neighbours, Luke says, the kind of fear that comes when you realise God is close. The story spreads through the whole hill country of Judah. And everyone who hears it keeps asking the same question. What then will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.

Luke's word for the writing tablet describes a small board, and in the ancient world such boards were often coated with wax, so you could scratch letters with a pointed stylus and smooth them over to use again. They were the notepads of the day. And the name Zechariah wrote matters too. In Hebrew, John is Yohanan, a name usually understood to mean the Lord has been gracious. It was exactly what this family had just discovered.

You'll find this naming day in Luke chapter one, verses fifty-seven to sixty-six. A father who once doubted chooses to obey, in writing, in front of everyone, and his voice comes back. So here is a question to carry with you. When everyone around you expects one thing, and God has asked for another, what helps you choose to obey?