Section · Luke 1:57–2:52
Elizabeth gave birth to a son (Luke 1:57). "Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy" (Luke 1:58). Those who had perviously shared in her pain, now rejoice with her (cf. Rom. 12:15).
John was of Jewish origin. Therefore, on the eighth day they brought him to be circumcised (Luke 1:59). Genesis 17:12 records God's command to Abraham that all Hebrew males were to be circumcised eight days after birth (cf. Acts 7:8; Phil. 3:5). This was formalized in the Mosaic Law (Lev. 12:3). Infants and children were included in and under the Old Covenant. Therefore, it was necessary for them to bare the sign of the covenant. Though infants in the Old Covenant were not necessarily saved (John was, see Luke 1:35-41) the covenant sign sealed them into the covenant of blessings and cursings. Covenant circumcision obligated all in Israel to live under the commands of the Law (Gal. 3:5) and to share in the blessings promised to God's people (cf. Rom. 9:4-5).
Today, within Christianity, circumcision has been replaced by baptism as the sign and seal of the covenant (Col. 2:11-12). Since, the New Covenant, as the Old, pertains to children - "to you and your children" (Acts 2:39) - believers should have their children baptized (see below). Children of at least one believing parent are considered "holy," meaning separated unto God (cf. 1 Cor. 7:14), and thus they should bare the sign and seal of the Re-Newed Covenant (see below). As God was interested in "families" in the Old Covenant (see "Chloe's household - 1 Corinthians 1:11" below) - and parents not circumcising their children came under his judgment (Exod. 4:24-26) - he is still interested in them as demonstrated by the fact the New Covenant has "household baptisms" (Acts 10:47-48; 11:14; 16:15, 33-34; 1 Cor. 1:16). As "all" Old Testament Israel, including their children, as a nation were baptized under Moses (1 Cor. 10:1-2), so all New Testament believers, including their children, "a holy nation and God's special possession" (1 Pet. 2:9) should be baptized into and under the New Covenant. Christians should baptize their children.
However, not only was John circumcised, but he was also named. "They" (pl., not referring to Zachariah and Elizabeth), were going to name him after his father Zechariah (Luke 1:59). "They" meant the relatives, as they did not know the words of Gabriel (Luke 1:13). Elizabeth obeyed the words of Gabriel and said "No! He is to be called John" (Luke 1:60). The relatives persisted though saying, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name" (Luke 1:61). Since Zachariah was deaf, they made signs to get his will in the matter (Luke 1:62). Since he could not speak either, he asked for a writing tablet (a board covered by wax), and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John" (Luke 1:63). Immediately, God opened mouth Zachariah 's "and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God" (Luke 1:64). Obedience to God resulted in the blessing of speech. Zechariah's first words were praise to God, the only appropriate response to such a grand, divine intervention. Awe came over the neighbors and "throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things" (Luke 1:65).
"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 1:66).
Luke continued his parallel between John and Jesus, now turning the emphasis to how their parents "fulfill" the requirements of the Law and to the significance of their names.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
