They All Marveled

And he asked for a writing tablet,

and wrote, saying,

"His name is John."

So they all marveled.

Luke 1:63, NKJV

They all marveled.

That short little phrase, three words, makes me marvel. What was so extraordinary about Zacharias' written statement regarding the naming of his son? Why did the friends and relatives wonder? Did they really scratch their heads and whisper among themselves about this simple statement, or was their something else involved?

Perhaps some of them understood that the birth of this baby boy had its beginnings in a mystical experience some ten months before, when Zacharias emerged from the temple mute, obviously struck by a vision of some sort. I'm sure they fully expected the silence to wear off eventually so that they could all learn what he had seen, but their wait had been a long one. While Luke records lots of things that Elizabeth said and did during those nine months, it tells us nothing about Zacharias.

Perhaps some of them thought that Elizabeth was simply making decisions in Zacharias' voicelessness that weren't hers to make. Naming a child should be the father's responsibility, and since Zacharias couldn't talk, how could Elizabeth know what his wishes were concerning the child?

Perhaps some of them even thought they knew better, and that John was no proper name for this heir. Zacharias was a proud name with an ancient heritage among their people, John not so much. Two prophets named Zacharias had died martyrs; everyone knew the ignominy of the wayward prophet Jonah and his weekend in the belly of a fish.

But for whatever reason, when Zacharias spelled it out for them, literally, they all marveled. They all wondered. And as I consider those two words, I can't help but wonder myself if perhaps there is another meaning here. That perhaps they all finally realized just how marvelous and how wonderful this event really was. They may not have know it fully then, many of them might never completely understand, but at the center of their attention was the greatest prophet that would ever be born, and in the womb of a teenage girl was their promised Messiah--the penultimate and the ultimate pieces of God's plan for the salvation of mankind. The forerunner had arrived, and the principal was on his way.

How marvelous indeed!