The angel said: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah,
for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and
you will name him John”
There are only two accounts of
births in the New Testament, of which this is the first. The angel Gabriel
appears to the elderly priest, Zechariah, as he offers incense in the sanctuary
of the Temple. The angel tells him that his equally elderly wife, Elizabeth, will
bear a child who will be the forerunner of the Messiah. Like Samson and Samuel
(Dec 16 & 17), he will be set aside from birth as a ‘nazirite’ (v.15). He
will not drink, and will be filled with the Spirit of God. Zechariah cannot believe this news, and is
rendered speechless by Gabriel until the birth. Elizabeth conceives, however,
just as the angel promised, and joyfully proclaims that “the Lord has …looked favourably on me and [taken] away the disgrace I
have endured among my people.”
When the child is born, much to
his relatives' surprise Elizabeth insists that his name will be John, not
Zechariah, after his father, and Zechariah’s speech is restored when he
confirms this by writing it on a tablet. He sings a song (traditionally known as the Benedictus), which celebrates this child who will
“give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins,”
and “light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.”
We know, though Zechariah and
Elizabeth do not, that John will end up being executed by King Herod, beheaded
on the whim of his step-daughter, Salome. Zechariah and Elizabeth rejoice at
his birth - he is another of the long-awaited miracle babies of Scripture. He brings them joy now, but the task he has been born for will cost him
everything.
·
We don’t know whether John’s parents were
still alive when he started his ministry in the desert, or when he was killed .
If they were, what do you think they might have felt?
·
Are there any stories in your family of
people who did unusual, brave or risky things?
·
Pray for parents whose children are aid
workers or put themselves in risky positions for the sake of others.
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