URC Daily Devotion Friday 22 November 2024

St Luke 1: 57 – 66

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbours 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 neighbours, 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.

Reflection
I have always been rather intrigued by the meaning of names; and so, when the time came to name our children, we chose names that we were fond of and then looked up their meanings to ensure that they were the characteristics which we would like our children to have, once grown. For example, one of the meanings of a name we liked was ‘weary cow’ (we didn’t think this was a particular characteristic we longed for in anyone) but spelt a different way means ‘bearer of good news’!
According to a webpage titled Behind the name, John means ‘YHWH is gracious’, and Zechariah means ‘YHWH remembers’. It’s as if the whole passage of Luke 1 is summed up in the meaning of these two names.

Elizabeth has not been able to have children – a curse in a culture where children are so valued to carry on one’s family name; and now she has, at an advanced age, given birth to a son, who, as we know, will announce his cousin’s Lordship. So not only was YHWH gracious (defined as ‘courteous, kind, and pleasant’ according to the online Oxford dictionary), in remembering Elizabeth and giving her a child, but YHWH is gracious (defined as ‘showing divine grace’) to the child who will be the first to recognise Jesus as the Messiah – both in the womb and then later in his own public ministry.

Priest Zechariah must have often wondered what YHWH was remembering, because perhaps he felt it wasn’t him! Until YHWH did remember! And the rest, as they say, is history.

We chose names for our children because of who we hope they will become, but YHWH chose us because of who we already are, no matter our name, no matter our age and no matter our status in society.

YHWH is gracious and remembers.

Prayer

YHWH, thank you that you are a remembering, gracious, personal God who, no matter who I am or where I may be in my life and faith journey,  has not forgotten me and still calls me by name. Amen.