Long before John played his part on the stage of our story of faith, the prophet Isaiah had said: The Lord called me from birth; from my mother’s womb he gave me my name (Is 49:1). These words were fulfilled when the angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah ... and said to him, Do not be afraid, ... your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John (Lk 1:11-13).
The angel went on to describe the great joy that this son would bring to the elderly Zechariah, his wife and many others (cf Lk 1:14-17). As proof of the authenticity of the gift that God was offering, he took away Zechariah’s voice until the time of his son’s birth (cf Lk 1:20).
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbours and relatives ... rejoiced with her (Lk 1:57-58). After all, she was not a young girl and she had lived for many years without knowing the blessing of a child. I wonder how often Elizabeth and Zechariah had wondered about whether the Lord had abandoned them. How often had they prayed for such a blessing? Had they resigned themselves to the fact that perhaps God was not listening to their prayer? How often does this still happen to couples today? Yet there is still reason to hope.
All Jewish males are circumcised at birth. The custom at the time was to name a newborn child eight days after his birth, at the time of his circumcision and, it was also the custom that a child would carry on the name of his or her parents, grandparents or someone else in his or her family. Therefore, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but when they asked the question, his mother answered: No, he will be called John (Lk 1:60). This was something unheard of, a new name that was to appear in Zechariah’s family tree, and it was confirmed by Zechariah himself when he asked for a tablet and wrote: John is his name (Lk 1:63) and everyone was amazed.
The story of the Birth of John the Baptist reminds us that God is always at work within us, doing wonderful things: finding fresh and new ways to speak to us, and we in turn must be courageous enough to tell others about the encounters we have had with Him. Each time that we meet the Lord, it is a new beginning. Each time we encounter Him, he fills us with joy. Sometimes, he reveals himself to us in hidden ways and it takes us a little bit of time to understand the gift that he has given us, but in time, he will show us how that gift is to be used so that we can refresh the tired and dejected hearts of our brothers and sisters with the joy of our faith.
John the Baptist heralded the coming of Jesus in a way that had never been done before him (cf Acts 13:22-26). In our day, Jesus needs us to do the same by finding new and fresh ways to tell others that He is alive, living among us.
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