WHAT'S IN A NAME?

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.
Luke 1:59‭-‬64 ESV

¶The angel Gabriel told the priest Zechariah what to name the son he was being given, John, then struck him mute. At his birth, though, it is his mother Elizabeth who announces his name to be John. Zechariah is there to confirm it, and in doing so is delivered to speak again. Zechariah might have been rendered mute, but Elizabeth knew the name, and announces it even before him, though it was to him that the angel had spoken it. "Zechariah" was a name full of both prophetic and priestly promise, but it was set aside by parents who had been struck dumb and made full by the power of God. God loves Israel, and claims them for His own. He's forever faithful to His covenant promises. But to finish the work, the clay pot must be broken, the old wine skin must be burst. Israel must fulfill its role as a sacrifice for the world. There was only One out of Israel holy enough to accomplish this, and the story of His coming begins with a child named John.