GOD KNOWS YOUR NAME!
Luke 1:56-66
Introduction: Naming a baby can sometimes stir up discussions in families,
and it certainly does on the occasion of the naming of the child of Elizabeth
and Zechariah! In the Bible, the meaning of names is often important. Most
importantly we know what the angel said to Joseph in a dream in Matthew 1 when
Joseph was struggling with what to do when he learned that Mary, before their marriage
was consummated, was pregnant…
Joseph son
of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in
her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name
Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
The angel told Joseph about the miraculous conception of
the life in Mary’s womb, and then told him what this child would be called and
why: Jesus, the Greek form of the name Yeshua, “Yahweh saves,” for
He will save His people from their sins. The name would testify to the work
that Jesus would do. In Matthew 1:22-23 we then have a further comment from the
perspective of the writer, using yet another name that tells us more about the
nature of this coming Savior…
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the
prophet: 23 "Behold, the
virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name
Immanuel" (which means, God with us).
“God with us.” Throughout the Scriptures, especially
when God names someone who He is calling, name tells us about the person. God
changed Abram’s name to Abraham, Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter… After an
earlier sermon Rob reminded me of the significance of the names of Zechariah,
derived from the Hebrew, “Yahweh remembers,” and Elizabeth, “The oath
of my God.” Those names tell us that God had not forgotten His promise to send the Messiah into the world, and
their son would have a key role in preparing the way of the Lord, announcing
the messianic age was at hand. Zechariah’s song is going to emphasize this
theme of fulfillment. At the heart of this scene is a family discussion about
the name of Elizabeth and Zechariah’s new son.
As Luke has gone between God’s message
to Zechariah and his response, and the message to Mary and her
response, it has initially been one of contrast: the doubting unbelief of
Zechariah in contrast (how will I know this for I am old…) to the
simple, trusting faith of Mary (I am the servant of the Lord…).
Zechariah was the first to hear that the new age was at hand and that God was
sending the Messiah into the world. But he couldn’t say anything about it! His
becoming mute, and as we’ll see in this passage, apparently deaf, His ability
to communicate was severely hampered. But in those months of quietness he had
time to think, meditating on the words from God spoken by the angel. And as the
time for John to be born drew nearer, His heart was being prepared, and He
believed God. As Grant Osborne said,
…he had
found the faith that had been missing. When John is born, he will find the joy
as well. His hymn of praise parallels Mary’s, and this time there will be no
contrast between her triumph and his defeat. He will join her in messianic
exultation, and he too will celebrate the coming deliverance (Osborne, Luke,
Kindle 1249-50).
The Context (56): Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months, and then
returned to her home (likely after John was born, though we are not
specifically told). Luke is not giving us every detail, but rather telling us
what we need to know about God’s unfolding plan. In these verses we’ll see 1)
The Sure Promise of God; 2) The gracious plan of God; and 3) The Awesome power
of God. That Points us to…
The Big Idea: Let us praise our awesome God, for His word is true and His
plan is gracious.
I. The Sure Promise of God (57-58). God’s Word will come
to pass! “Now the
time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors
and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they
rejoiced with her.”
A son is born,
exactly as the angel had predicted! The time of waiting was over, and the word
of God spoken through the Angel came to pass. The neighbors and relatives recognized
the great mercy of God and shared in the joy of Elizabeth. (Zachariah was still
quietly joyful!). J. C. Ryle wrote,
“There was
mercy in bringing her safely through her time of trial. There was mercy in
making her the mother of a living child. Happy are those family circles, whose
births are viewed in this light—as special instances of the mercy of the Lord.
(Luke, 1:30–31).
Children are a
blessing of the Lord—no matter the circumstance. Psalm 127:3 declares, “Children
are indeed a heritage from the Lord...” Elizabeth giving birth was a
testimony to her neighbors and family of God’s great mercy—it was reason to
celebrate! What was cause for personal joy of course, was also a cause for joy
at an infinitely greater level. As Zechariah’s song will indicate in the next
verses, John’s birth was a prelude to the coming of the long-awaited messiah,
the Promised One who would rescue His people and fulfill the promises
made through the ages. As surely as Zechariah had been in silence for the
months of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, there had been no prophetic voice in Israel
for 400 years. But Zechariah’s mouth would be opened to announce the birth of
his son as the One who would prepare the way for the Lord! In a certain
sense, John’s birth according to the word of the Lord, was a sign, a
preliminary fulfillment, showing that this child’s purpose as the forerunner of
Messiah would surely be fulfilled. If God said it, we can believe it. It will
come to pass.
Remember how
Abraham was promised that he would be the father of a multitude, but in his old
age had only fathered a son through Sarah’s hand-maiden Hagar. He and Sarah struggled
to believe that at nearly 90 and 100 years old, they would yet be parents to
the son in whom the promised line would be carried on! The response from the
messenger to Sarah’s laughter, “Is anything too difficult for God?” If God
could overcome barrenness and old age, he could fulfill His promise to send the
Rescuer to His people… even if it meant creating life in the womb of a virgin!
Friends, all is
not well in the world, but God is good, all the time, and we can trust
Him. When God says it, that settles it. By the way, as surely as he sent his
Son into the world according to promise, He will return! Read a couple of
verses from 2 Peter 3:2-4,
…you should remember the predictions
of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your
apostles, 3 knowing this
first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following
their own sinful desires. 4
They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the
fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning
of creation.
People scoff at the idea of Jesus returning. But remember
that in Zechariah’s time humans had been waiting from the time of the Fall for
the One who would rescue them from their sin. And in Zechariah’s time God had
been silent for 400 years. Where is the promise of His coming? People ask that
question today. The answer comes in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow to
fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not
wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Praise
our awesome God, for His Word is true and His plan is gracious! We see 1) The sure promise of God, and…
II. The Gracious Plan of God (59-63).
59 And on the eighth day they came to
circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his
father, 60 but his mother
answered, "No; he shall be called John." 61 And they said to her, "None
of your relatives is called by this name."
62 And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he
wanted him to be called. 63
And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And
they all wondered…
One writer said,
“John has been born to prepare the world for the greatest birth of all.” The
attention given to naming John invites us to consider why his name was so
important. Let’s look at the name of John in contrast to the names of his
parents. The name Zechariah comes from the Hebrew, “Yahweh remembers,”
and the derivation of Elizabeth seems to be from something like, “The oath
of my God.” Putting them together, it would certainly fit the context to
understand that God remembers His promises! He had promised to send a
Savior, and the Age of the Messiah was about to dawn. By pointing to the
controversy over the naming of John it seems pretty clear God wants us to
consider the importance of his name. As far as we know Elizabeth had not
received a divine revelation about the naming of John, other than the
testimony, presumably through notes and hand signals from her husband Zechariah,
about what the angel had told him in the Temple. Her reply to the friends and
family supposing he would be of course named after his father? She exclaims, “No!
He shall be called John.” The word “No!” is an emphatic form, “No way!” One
commentator translated it, “Absolutlely not! He will be called John.” Especially
under these circumstances, with the family being blessed with a child in their
old age, the people must have been shocked, there wasn’t anyone with that
name in the family! So, they turn to Zechariah, and signal to him with their
hands, trying to get him to settle the matter. (The hand signals seem to
indicate that John was not only mute, but also deaf).
Zechariah asks
for a tablet—not an IPAD—just a small wax tablet that was commonly used for
short notes at the time! When Zechariah writes his answer concerning the
child’s name, it is even more emphatic than the English translations show. In
the Greek text the name is fronted for emphasis: “JOHN is his name!” The
significance of affirming the name God had chosen for this boy is an expression
of faith by Zechariah, and we’ll see the result is immediate restoration for Zechariah.
Clearly, the discussion
of the two names draws our attention, inviting us to consider their meaning. Zechariah,
“Yahweh remembers,” and John, “Yahweh has been gracious.” God had indeed
remembered His promise, and John’s ministry would announce the arrival of the
One who would usher in the age of Grace. As the apostle John would write in
his Gospel, “The Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through
Christ” (John 1:17). Jesus would
provide for our gracious salvation by laying down His life for us. That is the
unmerited favor of God! John would prepare the way, calling people to repent
and to prepare the hearts for the imminent coming of the Messiah. Yahweh is
gracious! God is good! The speech of Zechariah later in the chapter will
specifically connect salvation and forgiveness of sins (1:77). And remember
Joseph got that message from the angel about the child Mary would bear, “You
shall call his name Jesus, for he will save His people from their sins.” The dispensation
of grace was at hand! Isaiah the prophet had predicted in the ministry of the
forerunner when we read in 40:3, “A voice cries, ‘In the wilderness prepare
the way of the Lord, make straight
in the desert a highway for our God!” The message of John’s Gospel is striking,
Jesus is the great “I AM,” God incarnate. He came to do for us what we could
not do for ourselves, to save His people from their sins. A couple of chapters
later in Isaiah we read more about God’s grace and mercy. The Christmas story
picks up on parts of this in God’s word through the angel, and then in the songs of Mary and
Zechariah. Isaiah 43 begins,
But now
thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed
you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called
you by name, you are mine. 2
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers,
they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be
burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your
Savior... 5 Fear not,
for I am with you…”
No matter what is happening in the world, don’t be afraid… God’s word is true and His plan is gracious.
Our response should be to praise Him for His amazing grace!
III. The Awesome Power of God (64-66). 64 And immediately his mouth was opened
and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65 And fear came on all their
neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country
of Judea, 66 and all who
heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this
child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.
Zechariah’s last
words, nine months earlier had been an expression of doubt and unbelief. Now he
is ready to give God the glory and to praise Him for what He has done, and most
importantly, what He is going to do through the One that this child would
announce, the Messiah, the promised Rescuer who would be born to Mary. As soon
as he expresses faith, indicating the name of the child in accordance with God’s
word through the angel, He is restored, as was promised. As one writer notes, “The
gift of John to the aged couple is a sign of the certainty of the coming of the
Messiah, Jesus. It is not at all surprising, therefore, that the figure in view
in most of the Benedictus is not John but Jesus the Messiah…” (Garland and
Clinton, Luke).
As John himself
will later say after hearing reports of many people going to Jesus and His
disciples, “He must increase, I must decrease.” This is not the story of
John, or Zechariah and Elizabeth, or even Mary and Joseph. It is God’s story,
intervening in human history by sending the Son, to give his life so that we
could have peace with God. But John was to have a key role in the announcing the
New Age of the Messiah.
Fear came
upon the neighbors, it was evident by the sudden and miraculous restoration of
Zechariah, along with the miraculous birth itself that God was at work. They
were awed by the evident hand of God in the life of Zechariah and Elizabeth,
and especially their new son John, “…What then will this child be?” Notice
reason for their questioning, the last phrase in v.66, “For the hand
of the Lord was [ἦν] with him.” It was evident that God was at work (see
Acts 11:21)! But this isn’t really a story about John, it is showing us how God
was at work, implementing His plan to save all who would believe. In
Zechariah’s song to follow, He points to the One John will announce, the
Messiah. Words that point to Yahweh in the Old Testament are now applied to Jesus,
He is Emmanuel, God with us, and Jesus, Yahweh saves! Praise our great God and
Savior!
What is God saying to me in this passage? 1. The sure promise of God;
2. The gracious plan of God; and 3. The awesome power of God. Let
us praise our awesome God, for His Word is true and His plan is gracious!
What
would God have me to do in response to this passage? As surely as God chose the name of
John in the light of his part in God’s mission, He knows your name as well. Oh,
the meaning of your name may not say anything about your character or mission
in life. But God is your creator, He has formed you into the person you are,
and He will continue to grow you into the person you will be. The Creator of
the Universe know your name, He knows you intimately, and you have a part
in God’s Mission, as He sends to Gospel out to every tribe and nation and
continues to build His church. God chose you on purpose, for a purpose. Parents,
your first calling is to disciple your children.
One aspect of God’s plan is that He has
sovereignly and strategically placed each of us exactly where we are as His
ambassadors to a group of people that we regularly interact with: our family,
friends, neighbors, co-workers or classmates… Many of us give or receive gifts
to some of those people. The greatest gift we can give, is to point them to
Jesus, to speak to them of the true gift of Christmas… Pray for them, and share
the good news: God… gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life. That message changes everything! AMEN.
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