Why Was It Important?

His mother answered and said,

"No; he shall be called John."

But they said to her,

"There is no one among your relatives

who is called by this name."

so they made signs to his father--

what he would have him called.

and he asked for a writing tablet,

and wrote, saying,

"His name is John."

Luke 1:60-63, NKJV

All the well-intentioned relatives were truly intent on naming the baby Zacharias, after his father. This was the firstborn son, likely the only son that would ever be born to Zacharias and Elizabeth, therefore he should be given his father's name. It all made perfectly good sense to everyone standing around the recently-circumcised and squalling infant. Zacharias had to be this child's name.

But Elizabeth said, "No."

"No?" they asked.

"He shall be called John."

In those days, John, or Yochanan in Hebrew, was not an uncommon name. Because of the Maccabeean revolt 165 years earlier and the high regard in which Jews held the family of Mattathias Maccabee, his name and the names of his sons--John, Simon, Judah--were popular boys names for generations in Israel. However, Zacharias and Elizabeth must have been from a different priestly family than the Maccabees because when Elizabeth stated the baby's name, the friends and relatives looked at each other in surprise and said, "Why would you want to name him John? No one in your family has this name?"

So they went over Elizabeth's head and appealed to Zacharias, who hadn't spoken in nine months. His answer was the the same, scrawled out on a writing tablet--"His name is John."

And so it was. Not because Zacharias admired the Maccabees--though perhaps he did. Not because Elizabeth had spent hours flipping through the pages of a baby names book looking for names she liked. They were calling their baby boy John because that is what the Lord, through the angel Gabriel, had told them to do. While Zacharias had been burning incense in the temple at Pentecost the year before, the angel appeared to him with the news that his prayers for a son had been heard and were about to be answered. He was further informed that his son would have a great ministry in Israel, a ministry "in the spirit and power of Elijah", and that he would turn Israel back to the true worship and prepare them for their Lord. And the angel commanded Zacharias to name his son John.

I can understand why Zacharias and Elizabeth were so insistent upon naming their son John. If you are a godly person seeking to do God's will, you are going to follow his instructions to the letter, especially when those instructions came with the little miracle God was sending you. It would be a slap in the face of God for them to accept the gift of their child and then name him anything other than what the Lord said to name him. So for Zacharias and Elizabeth there was really no other option.

What piques my curiosity is why God would be so insistent upon the baby's name. So here are some thoughts.

They could have named him Elijah--but then that might have really stirred up some fanatical fervor on both sides of the political and religious equation once he started preaching at the Jordan River. He might never have been able to seriously deny being Elijah, if that had been his name, and the conversation in John 1 would have taken on an entirely different meaning. John had to be able to say, "I am not" to their questions.

They could have named him Zacharias, which means God has remembered. But this child's name was not about God remembering His promises. It was about Him acting upon His plan, put in place from before the foundation of the world. This child was an integral part of that plan, and he had a specific place in it. Besides, I don't think Zacharias the Baptist rolls off the tongue as easily as Johnthebaptist.

But John. Zacharias and Elizabeth belonged to a people who knew something about naming babies, who understood that a child's name could very well reflect if not define his character, his personality. And John is a name with no small significance in light of John's short ministry. At about 30 years of age, John shows up at a public river crossing and starts preaching to the travelers: REPENT! He starts talking about sin and judgment, calling people out by name and revealing their sins. He preaches about axes and winnowing fans and fires ablazing. And he announces that Messiah is coming. His message was a hard one, sometimes a harsh one. Many would respond and be baptized; others would reject and curse his name. Eventually he would be thrown into prison because his speeches weren't politically correct. And ultimately he would give his life for his proclamation of judgment.

God sent a message of judgment, but he sent it through a messenger with the right name, for John means God is gracious and merciful. For in judgment, God always remembers mercy!