Luke 1:56-63 - He is to be called John!

1:56-58

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months, ie almost until the time of the birth of John. Elizabeth duly gave birth to a son. This impacted the neighbours and they all rejoiced with Elizabeth. This is a partial fulfilment of the promise in v14. In v25 Elizabeth had praised God for taking away her reproach. When God acts in our lives He restores our dignity. This does not mean we will never be mocked by society, there are plenty of verses promising persecution, but He does restore our dignity. The demoniac who was healed by Jesus is a prime example of this (Mark 5:1-20). Before he met Jesus the man was a wreck, in a pitifully sorry state. Afterwards he was “clothed and in his right mind”.

1:59-63

The custom was that the child would have been named after his father, so would have been called Zechariah. The baby was circumcised on the eighth day, and the naming would have taken place then. Zechariah had told Elizabeth that the child should be called John. When God intervenes in our lives there will be sometimes be an overriding of tradition or heritage. The people were surprised at the name change and went to check the matter out with Zechariah. Zechariah wrote down that the child should indeed be called John. This latter part may have been important for Zechariah, it gave him the chance to demonstrate his faith, to show that he believed what the angel had said to him.