Luke 1:57-80

The Birth of John the Baptist

57When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
59On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John."

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

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

Zechariah's Song

67His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come and has redeemed his people.
69He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
70(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
72to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace."
80And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.

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Old lady Elizabeth gives birth to a son. Note that it's quite a miracle, especially 2000 years ago, for a woman that old to be able to go through nine months of pregnancy and deliver a healthy (living!) child.

Evidently, most kids back then would be named after a relative, so it was odd that Elizabeth wanted to name him John. Zechariah, the father, still couldn't speak, but he writes on a tablet that his son's name should be John. As soon as he does, he can speak again. Everyone is pretty impressed, because he has been mute for the better part of a year. Word gets out to the entire region about this event -- it was a pretty big deal and people were really talking about it. Quite the water cooler conversation, I suppose.

So did you hear about this priest and his wife? They're, like, super old, and they just had a kid. The Dad was stricken mute for the entire pregnancy, apparently by an angel! They named the boy John, and people are saying he's going to be someone really important.

Zechariah's song is next. It's sort of a prayer-slash-prophecy. He begins by praising God, and talking about how God is raising up a savior to save the Jews. Zechariah is remembering events from Israel's history, and talking about prophecies that are going to be fulfilled. He even speaks to his son here:

"And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins..."

Seems like pretty impressive words for a Jewish priest, because most people were still expecting a political or military savior. Not necessarily someone who would "give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins."

So the boy grows up and becomes strong. I can just picture this burly, hairy, teenage kid, living in the wilderness, eating locusts and honey. He'll appear again in chapter three.

Thoughts? Some of this makes me wonder about my own children. They're only 3 and 5 now, but what might they be destined for when they grow up? When I was a baby, what did my parents envision for me, later in life?