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The Birth of John (3 of 4)
Series: Advent
Marion Clark
Luke 1:57-80
Introduction
Is there a more momentous event than the birth of a child? We hear people say when they have experienced some great achievement or honor, “Next to the birth of my child this is the greatest experience of my life.” For parents the birth of the first child is especially memorable. I am the fourth born in my family, and though I was to become the favorite born(!), still I must accept that it was the first birth that gave my parents their greatest thrill. Nothing can replace the first experience of bringing forth life.
To give birth to a son is what initially had thrilled Zechariah and Elizabeth. Indeed, they were so excited, that Elizabeth went into seclusion, perhaps to handle nervous excitement at having their dream come true. The first passage we looked at ended with Elizabeth saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” Skip nine months to the day of delivery.
Text
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child.
The neighbors who had looked upon Elizabeth as a woman denied blessing by God, now see her as one to whom God had shown great mercy. To have a baby! How wonderful of God to be so kind. The day to circumcise the child comes. The child receives the sign of the covenant. Evidently, over time it became the custom to officially give the child a name also. Our concept of the christening service comes from this ritual. The child receives the sign of the covenant through baptism and is officially named. The neighbors who had gathered expected the child to be named Zechariah, Jr. but were surprised.
And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60but his mother answered, "No; he shall be calle ...
Series: Advent
Marion Clark
Luke 1:57-80
Introduction
Is there a more momentous event than the birth of a child? We hear people say when they have experienced some great achievement or honor, “Next to the birth of my child this is the greatest experience of my life.” For parents the birth of the first child is especially memorable. I am the fourth born in my family, and though I was to become the favorite born(!), still I must accept that it was the first birth that gave my parents their greatest thrill. Nothing can replace the first experience of bringing forth life.
To give birth to a son is what initially had thrilled Zechariah and Elizabeth. Indeed, they were so excited, that Elizabeth went into seclusion, perhaps to handle nervous excitement at having their dream come true. The first passage we looked at ended with Elizabeth saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” Skip nine months to the day of delivery.
Text
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child.
The neighbors who had looked upon Elizabeth as a woman denied blessing by God, now see her as one to whom God had shown great mercy. To have a baby! How wonderful of God to be so kind. The day to circumcise the child comes. The child receives the sign of the covenant. Evidently, over time it became the custom to officially give the child a name also. Our concept of the christening service comes from this ritual. The child receives the sign of the covenant through baptism and is officially named. The neighbors who had gathered expected the child to be named Zechariah, Jr. but were surprised.
And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60but his mother answered, "No; he shall be calle ...
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