Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

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It’s very hard to be a Christian today in America, because it’s very easy in American to be a Christian. Let me explain what I mean. We can openly tell people that we are Christians here. We experience very little persecution. As a result, our Christianity doesn’t cost us much. So it’s very easy be a Christian. The vast majority of Americans identify themselves as Christians.

But because it’s so easy to claim to follow Christ, I think it makes it much more difficult to actually follow Him. We should not be Christians by name only. We must actually follow Christ.

“Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.” (Luke 1:57-66)

These verses seem to focus on Zechariah. They show how everyone wanted to know what Zechariah would name the child. They show how Zechariah’s voice was restored when he named the child John. And we’ll read in a moment how these verses record Zechariah’s prophecy upon being filled with the Holy Spirit. But there’s a much more important theme that runs through these verses, and it’s this: we must strive to be exactly who God has called us to be.

Here’s what happened. Elizabeth gave birth, and in their culture, the father named the child on the eighth day, when the child would be circumcised. But Zechariah was deaf and dumb! (v. 20) When the angel told him that he would be silent, it means that his ears would be silent. We know this is the case because otherwise his neighbors would have simply asked him what to name the child. But instead they had to make signs to him (v. 62).

So they were simply going to name the child after his father. It was very common at that time to name the firstborn son after the father. But Elizabeth said, “No!” She wanted to name him “John.” But the neighbors responded, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”

By this statement, the neighbors were suggesting that to name the child John would be ridiculous. The name John didn’t honor anyone in their family. The name John would make it more difficult to keep track of his lineage. It had become common in the Jewish culture to only name children names from their own particular Jewish ancestors, which would make it easier to keep track of genealogy. Naming the child John would be against tradition! That’s just not the way we do things, Zechariah! You’re expected to live a certain way, do certain things, and even name your children certain names! And “None of your relatives is called by this name!”

But what was the big deal? I mean, it was only a name, right? No, this was a huge test of Zechariah’s faith! Up until this point, Zechariah had not had to do much of anything in terms of obeying God in this matter. But Zechariah was given specific instructions as to what to name this child (v. 13). Apparently at some point Zechariah had shared his encounter with the angel with Elizabeth, so she would know what to name the child. So in response to the statement “None of your relatives is called by this name,” Zechariah had to choose: would he go the safe route and raise his child as his own, or commit this child to being exactly who God called him to be?

We must commit to being exactly who God has called us to be as well. We should not be who others expect us to be. Sometimes expectations are set for us even from birth. They are set for us by our families, our neighbors, and sometimes even our whole town. But God wants us not to live according to other people’s expectations, but according to His own expectations. But don’t think for an instant that you can fully satisfy God’s expectations of you. We need God’s grace. And praise God that He has given us His grace! Trust in Christ and follow Him!

Neither should we be who we ourselves want to be. There’s a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death. Christ doesn’t free you from sin so that you can follow your own lusts and die! He frees you from sin so that you can follow Him and live forever! We should follow after Christ and seek to live according to how He wants us to live.

Zechariah recognized that this child had a purpose. He was willing to break tradition and expectations in order to follow God. Just nine months earlier, Zechariah had doubted God. But by declaring that his child’s name would be John, Zechariah proved that he was not in doubt about God’s ability or promises anymore. He fully trusted God and would follow God.

We all need to come to that place. What will it take for you to fully trust God and follow what He tells you? Will it take an angel taking away your voice and hearing? Or will you humble yourself before God and His Word today?

As we continue on in this chapter, we read more about how this child would fit into God’s plan.

“Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.” (Luke 1:57-66)

This passage begins by noting that Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit (v. 67). He’s actually now the last member of the family to be filled with the Spirit. His wife Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit when Mary came to visit her (v. 41). And John was filled with the Holy Spirit while in the womb (v. 15). But Zechariah should have been the first to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He was the husband and father, and should have been the spiritual leader. He certainly had the opportunity to be. The angel came to him first. He ought to have accepted the news with joy. He ought to have prophesied and praised God that point. But no, he doubted God’s message.

Fathers and husbands, be the spiritual leaders in your homes. Trust God’s Word, and walk in it. And lead your family to do the same. Be like Joshua, who said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” And even if you mess up the first time around, which we will all do, learn from your mistakes and seek to be faithful going forward. That’s what Zechariah did. He finally recognized that God was at work. And by naming his son John, according to the angel’s instructions, he was committing himself to raising his child the way God wanted him to.

I think it’s so cool what Zechariah did next. Full of the Holy Spirit, he began to prophesy. But notice how the prophecy has very little to do with his own child, and everything to do with how God was bringing salvation to the world: it was all about Jesus. He was redeeming His people through Jesus (v. 68). Jesus is the horn of salvation for us (v. 69). Jesus was the one spoken of by the prophets (v. 70). We’re saved from our enemies through Jesus (v. 71). We’re shown mercy through Jesus (v. 72). The oath that God swore to Abraham was fulfilled in Jesus (v. 73). We’re delivered from the hand of our enemies through Jesus (v. 74). We’re made holy and righteous because of Jesus (v. 75).

Then Zechariah prophesies about his son, John. John would be the prophet of the Most High, going before the Lord (v. 76). John would teach people about salvation and forgiveness (v. 77). But even when talking about John, the focus was on Jesus. Jesus is the Most High God. Jesus is the one through whom we may have salvation and forgiveness.

And Zechariah then keeps going on about Jesus. Jesus is the sunrise which visits us from on high (v. 78). Jesus is the light to those who sit in darkness and death, and Jesus guides our feet into the way of peace (v. 79). After seeing God’s faithfulness and blessing on his family, Zechariah could only talk about Jesus.

We’ve got to get our minds off of ourselves and onto Jesus! Salvation is found in Jesus, and Jesus alone! When we experience God’s grace, and witness the miraculous that God’s doing all around us, we can’t help but talk about Jesus!

When people look at your life, do they find what they expect? Or do they find something different? Do they say of us, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” Many people call themselves Christians, but are you living like it? Don’t be satisfied with how you’ve always lived. Be radically devoted to Jesus.