All in a Name: Pete Mace
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him. (Luke 1:57-66)
At the beginning of Luke’s account of the events leading to the birth of Christ, we read the conversation between Gabriel and Zechariah in the temple where Gabriel announces that Zechariah and Elizabeth will have a child in their old age. And on God’s behalf, Gabriel makes promises about this child- about who this child will be. A child who will be great in the sight of the Lord. A child who will be full of the Holy Spirit and turn people back to God. Here, near the very end of Luke 1, we see God’s fulfillment of that promise. John is born to Elizabeth.
He’s already been shown to be full of the Holy Spirit in the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth three months before this, and people are already coming to rejoice over him just as Gabriel said they would. Now comes the crucial moment for this baby’s parents, the decision to make about what they will name their child. How will they respond to God fulfilling the promises He has made? Will they follow God’s command? Will they respond with obedience or disobedience? What course will they set themselves and Israel on? All of that is what goes into something as seemingly simple as a name.
Naming a person or thing is one of the most important jobs that we as people have. If you’re a parent, this task is of obvious importance (you don’t want to name your kid something that will get them bullied). But parents aren’t the only ones giving out names. We all go around assigning names to each other and ourselves all the time. They might not be the ones on your Social Security card, but they can carry just as much weight. Nicknames, job titles, social labels, group identifiers- all of these are words we use to “name” things and people.
To give something or someone a name is to define our relationship with it. Calling something your favorite, for instance, names it as special above others like it. For example, if I say Coco Puffs are my favorite cereal, then you know that Fruity Pebbles aren’t. If I name someone as my friend, that tells you generally what I think of them: they’re a good person in my eyes, we have common interests, they’ve been there for me in times of trouble, etc.
But, if I name someone as an enemy (or some other weaker word because we don’t use the word enemy all that often) - maybe we’d call them someone we don’t associate with - it tells you I probably don’t like them: they’ve done me wrong, or we don’t get along, or they’re just a bad person in my eyes. These types of claims are subjective, but they show how we relate to others and the world around us. To be in contact with people and to know who they are to us, who we are to them, and who they are to others is what it means to name them.
The act of naming is so ingrained in what it means to live with others that humanity’s first job is to name those around it. In the Garden of Eden, Adam (whose name is a reminder that God made him from the earth) is given the first job to name all the animals of the field and the birds of the air. In naming them, Adam determined that none of them was a suitable enough companion. So God made Eve, and she was named because she was taken out of Adam. Their names describe their relationship to each other and to God.
Naming is how you give someone an identity. If you have children, you probably spent a long time thinking about what you would name them, and their name may have existed even before the child itself did. Maybe before you gave them a hug, a kiss, or an “I love you,” you gave them their name. It was one of the first gifts you gave them, if not the very first thing you gave them. If you have no children, in all likelihood you yourself were the object of this care and intentionality. Whether it’s a family name, one from the Bible, something you saw that you liked or a combination of any of those, to name a child is to bring them into the world, present them and say “This is who this child is!”
Here in Luke, the actual birth of John is stated pretty matter-of-factly. The time had come for Elizabeth to be due and for the prophecy from the angel Gabriel to be fulfilled. “And she bore a son.” Boom, done. Baby’s here. Now I’m not saying it was that matter-of-fact or simple in the room when it happened, but the emphasis of this story seems to be less that John was born and more how his parents responded to his birth. Immediately after John is born, all these people: neighbors, friends, and relatives start coming in crowding the place up and giving their opinions (because the first thing that any new parents want is a bunch of people coming in telling them what to do with their child).
At first, it’s a celebration. These people are rejoicing with the couple over this little baby, this gift of joy given to them when they had given up all hope. But when it comes time to actually name the child, here’s where the issue starts. The people want to follow tradition and give the boy a nice family name, so they decide he should be named Zechariah after his dad. Maybe they had already started referring to the child as Zechariah Jr. by this point.
And here, at this moment, is where we see Elizabeth and Zechariah being put to the test. Are they going to follow the expectations of the community when it comes to this significant thing, the naming of a child? Will they follow the will of the crowd, living their life the way the people think it should be done? Or are they going to follow the will of the One who gave them this child? To break the expectations of their peers and instead accept God’s expectations? To dedicate this baby boy to the One who gave John to them from the beginning. When their allegiance to God rubs up against their desire to please people, will they obey humans or God? That is the question. And when we’re faced with the same choice, what will we do?
At the end of Advent, we reach the fulfillment of God’s promise to all of Creation. The time has come due. Jesus is soon to be born. The words of the angel have been fulfilled. How do we respond? Obedience or Disobedience? Each of us has dozens of names that we pick up along the course of our lives. First, Middle, Last. A nickname. Mom, Dad, Daughter, Son, Husband, Wife. Titles. Friend. Enemy. Names that define us, that represent people trying to tell us who we are.
But in the wake of the miracle of the birth of Jesus Christ, in the wake of the fulfillment of the promise, the Lord has given each of us names that He wishes to call us by, to show us who we are to Him. Names to show how important we are to Him. Redeemed. Saved. Sanctified. Filled with the Holy Spirit. Washed in the Blood of Christ. Blessed. Christian. These are the names that God wants us to answer to. Names that show His favor for us. The names He wants us to be called. Will we answer to those names? Or what other names will we choose for ourselves?
The name John means “The Lord is gracious”. For the ancient Jews, a name was the essence of a person's identity. It defined who they were going to be. So for Elizabeth to name her son "John" was important. Not just because she was doing what God says. It meant she recognized that God had a plan for the child. John was in the Lord’s care from the start. The care of a gracious Lord. But Elizabeth and Zechariah could have chosen another name for John. God wouldn’t have stopped them.
You have been put in the Lord’s special care. But you can choose to answer to another name for yourself. Disobedient. Sinner. Stone-Hearted. As much as it may break God’s heart, He won’t stop you. You get to choose what to answer to. To some degree we all get to choose how to define ourselves.
God gave Elizabeth the gift of a new life. God has given us a gift. A new life. How do you respond? Obedience or Disobedience? Joy, peace, hope, and love or anger, violence, despair, and hate? All of this is what goes into a name.
During the Christmas season, we celebrate the coming of Christ. But remember that Christ’s birth didn’t save us on its own. It’s in the fulfillment of God’s promise through His Son’s death and resurrection that the birth we celebrate becomes so special, so miraculous. Christ could have said no, He could have gone the opposite way from the cross. God wouldn’t have stopped Him.
So as we gather around the newborn Christ this season, recognize that we are responding to God fulfilling His promise. We are joining together with Christ in His birth, death, and resurrection. We are joining the wise men as we watch a miracle occur and travel to find the Born God, enfleshed in a manger. We are joining with all the believers and the angels as we sing Jesus’ glory. And we are bringing ourselves to God as we accept the Names that He has chosen for us.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Pete (left) is a former Wesley intern and a faithful friend, brother, and servant of Christ. Currently pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Duke Divinity School and serving as a licensed pastor at Bynum UMC in North Carolina, he continues to be a dedicated disciple of Jesus and remains close to the hearts of those in our community. We are so grateful for his devotion to the Church!