Jesus · c. 6 BC
Chapter 4
His Name Is John
All who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” The hand of the Lord was with him.
For parents
On his eighth day the baby is circumcised (Luke 1:59); it is told in a few words, and a name card says plainly what circumcision is.
When the time came for to give birth, she had a son. She and her husband, the , were both old, and she had never been able to have children before.
Her neighbors and relatives heard how much mercy the Lord had shown her, and they rejoiced with her.
Before Elizabeth became pregnant, the had appeared to Zacharias in the temple. He had told Zacharias that Elizabeth would have a son, that he was to name the boy , and that many people would rejoice at his birth. But the angel said that because Zacharias did not believe him, he would be silent, not able to say a word, until the day it all happened. When Zacharias came out of the temple, he could not speak, and he had not said a word since.
On the eighth day they came to the baby. God had told long ago that every boy among his people was to be circumcised when he was eight days old. They were going to name the baby Zacharias, after his father.
His mother answered, “No. He will be called John.”
“There’s no one among your relatives with that name,” they said to her.
They made signs to his father to ask what name he wanted for the baby.
Zacharias asked for a writing tablet, a small board to write on, and he wrote: “His name is John.” They were all amazed.
At once Zacharias’s mouth was opened and his tongue was set free. He could talk again, and he spoke, blessing God.
Fear came over everyone who lived around them. Everywhere in the hill country of , people talked about all of it.
Everyone who heard these things kept them in their hearts. “So what will this child become?” they asked. The Lord’s hand was with him.
The child’s father, Zacharias, was filled with the and spoke as a :
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of ,for he has visited his people and set them free.He has raised up a strength that saves usin the family of his servant (as he said long agoby the mouths of his holy prophets),saving us from our enemiesand from the hands of all who hate us,
to show our ancestors mercyand remember his holy ,the promise he swore to our ancestor Abraham,to let us be rescued from the hands of our enemiesand serve him without fear,holy and doing right before himevery day of our lives.”
Zacharias went on, speaking to the child:
“And you, child, will be called a prophet of ,for you will go ahead of the Lord to make his paths ready,to make salvation known to his peopleby the forgiveness of their sins,
because of our God’s tender mercy,and by his mercy the dawn from on high will visit us,to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,to guide our feet onto the road of peace.”
As the child grew, he became strong in spirit. He stayed in the desert until the day he appeared in public to Israel.