Saturday the 24^th is the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist. John was the one appointed to go before Jesus, preparing the people for the arrival of the Christ. But before he abstained from alcohol, put on animal skins, and lived on locusts and honey in the wilderness, before he invited people to recognize the reality of sin and be baptized as an act of repentance and acceptance of God’s mercy, before he was arrested and brutally executed, he had his own remarkable birth story.

In the culture of Israel, and its stories, names held deep significance. John’s parents were Zechariah (“Jehovah Remembers”) and Elizabeth (“My God is an Oath”). Together they held the hope that God does remember and is faithful to promises made. Together they shared the struggle of childlessness carried into advanced years. They are emblematic of Israel, awaiting the fulfillment of promises, hoping that God has remembered God’s people. And one day, Zechariah encounters an angel of the Lord who tells him that he will have a son who will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth, and will become the one who will make ready the people for the arrival of their Messiah. He will be given the name John (“Jehovah-Given” or “Jehovah Has Been Gracious”). The name testifies to God’s remembrance and God’s faithfulness: turning oath into action.

Zechariah has forgotten the ancient sacred stories of those who had children when they seemed too old to do so and he questions the angel. As a result, he is struck mute until the promised events begin to be fulfilled. Elizabeth “My God is an Oath” becomes pregnant and feels relief, having born the stigma of childlessness in her community. She becomes the person to whom Mary can go when pregnant with child and with prophetic understanding. Time passes and John is born.

At the ceremony for circumcision the priests move to name the child Zechariah after his father, but Elizabeth interrupts them and informs them that the boy’s name will be John. They object since there is no family relative with that name and they consult with the mute Zechariah to find out what name he wants to give the child.  Zechariah writes on a tablet, “His name is John,” amazing everyone.  As I said, names were a big deal!  And trusting the mother with the name was clearly not the practice.  At that moment, Zechariah is freed from his inability to speak, and he immediately begins praising God leaving those around him to wonder, “What then will this child become?”

I love that Zechariah received a second chance.  He struggled with trust when faced with an astonishing angel with astonishing news.  But in his time of silence, he allowed himself to be shaped by the promise he had received and to ready himself for its fulfillment.  He grew into his name and embraced gratitude and delight at the birth of his son.  More than that, he became capable of one of my favorite prayers in the Bible, words spoken over his son:

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

to give knowledge of salvation to his people

by the forgiveness of their sins.

By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us,

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

The birth of John is an invitation to all of us recognize the “tender mercy of our God” and the desire of God to “guide our feet into the way of peace.”  Let us find a way to trust that, and to trust God with second, third, and fourth chances.