Luke 1: 57-66 When Elizabeth was full-term in her pregnancy, she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives, seeing that God had overwhelmed her with mercy, celebrated with her.
On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child and were calling him Zachariah after his father. But his mother intervened: “No. He is to be called John.”
“But,” they said, “no one in your family is named that.” They used sign language to ask Zachariah what he wanted him named.
Asking for a tablet, Zachariah wrote, “His name is to be John.” That took everyone by surprise. Surprise followed surprise—Zachariah’s mouth was now open, his tongue loose, and he was talking, praising God!
A deep, reverential fear settled over the neighborhood, and in all that Judean hill country people talked about nothing else. Everyone who heard about it took it to heart, wondering, “What will become of this child? Clearly, God has his hand in this.”
I wonder how long it took for Zechariah's (The Message translation above calls him Zachariah) inability to talk become the norm? Remember, he could speak until he doubted that his wife Elizabeth would become pregnant. Then, he was struck mute for the entirety of his pregnancy. Now at the naming of John, he begins to speaking again and praising God. This return of Zechariah's voice puts fear in the hearts of the people as they connected the birth of God with what God was doing in their midst. We speak of God's presence, but do so with little fear or trembling. Perhaps we should join with those in Zechariah an Elizabeth's neighborhood and move toward Christmas with fear and awe. God is really coming, and for us that means....
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