56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home. 57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. 59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” 61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” 62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him. ~ Luke 1:56-66
Today's text provides the account of the birth of John the Baptist, the herald of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. After Mary visits with Elizabeth for three months, she then returned home. She had to return home so that the spotlight would be shown on Elizabeth and Zechariah and John the Baptist. I find this quite instructive for there have been times when I have wondered why the Lord did not allow me to speak at a certain place when I had spoken there before. The answer is simple, He wanted me somewhere else. This is good for me but it is also good for the one who got the spot. Such is the will of God, and I've learn to rest in that.
According to v.57-58 when the people realized that God had been merciful, and God had showed this great favor, and God had demonstrated His great goodness to this old couple who were righteous and who had all their lifelong wanted so much to have a child, when they knew that it had happened, they came and they shared her joy.
In v.59 we read, "On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah." Tucked away here is the fact that God had prescribed circumcision on the eighth day in the Old Testament because He knew that it took eight days for little John's body to build up enough potassium in his blood causing the it to coagulate. This just illustrates that even the seemingly insignificant statements in God's word are of utmost importance. We must be careful to take note of these parts of His word. Naming the child eight days after birth on the day of circumcision was not an Old Testament prescription. The Old Testament doesn't have any rule about when you name a child.
Circumcision was given by God to remind each Jewish male of God's covenant relationship. This covenant is first seen in Genesis 17 where God says, "This is my covenant, which you will keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.” Every time a Hebrew boy relieved himself, he was reminded that he was a “son of the covenant.” Spiritually, circumcision was a reminder that God was committed to the young man.
According to v.60-63, Elizabeth's son was named John even though it was tradition to name the sons after their fathers. You will remember back in v.13 when the angel came, appeared to Zachariah, he said, "you will give him the name John." John means "God is gracious." God wanted John named "God is gracious" because God's purpose through him would be to proclaim the Messiah is gracious.
According to v.64, "Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God." Zechariah gained his ability to speak after the naming of John, immediately. This word, "immediately" is repeated all through Luke's gospel and we see it through the book of Acts, because it is useful when announcing a miracle.
In v.65 we read, "All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things." God's power inspires awe, fear and wonder. This is the first time in this gospel that we have a crowd in awe. And frankly, this sets the stage for all of the awesome things the Lord Jesus Christ will do throughout His ministry.
In v.66 we see the people who were there. They saw the miracle of John's birth, and they began to tell others of it. Such is the nature of those who have experienced the joy of the Lord. We naturally want others to know of this happiness from the Lord not based on circumstances. In addition, the story prompted the people to ask, "What then is this child going to be?" Then they said, "For the Lord’s hand was with him." This is a metaphor used to describe the fact that God’s favor was upon John's life. The people had made this conclusion given the miraculous story of aged parents giving birth to a son.
If I may, I'd like to end with a quotes from Thomas Chalmers who once said, "It is in those times of hopeless chaos when the sovereign hand of God is most likely to be seen."