Tuesday after Gaudete, The Third Sunday in Advent
Posted on December 14, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 1:57-66 (NKJV)
1:57 Now Elizabeth’s full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. 58 When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her.
59 So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. 60 His mother answered and said, “No; he shall be called John.”
61 But they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” 62 So they made signs to his father—what he would have him called.
63 And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, “His name is John.” So they all marveled. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. 65 Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. 66 And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, “What kind of child will this be?” And the hand of the Lord was with him.
Devotion
Rightly understood, we should not be offended by the protestations of those who were assembled for the circumcision of St. John. St. Luke records, “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.”
In an age of atomistic individualism, many people have a ‘gut’ reaction to support a mother (or father) labeling a child with a name chosen in a momentary fancy. But those who initially protested naming the child “John” were arguing from an understanding that a child lives in relationship to his entire family, and within the Church and civil society. Lacking the knowledge that the Lord had decreed that which Zacharias confirmed (“His name is John”), they were right to emphasize the naming of Zacharias’ son in such a way as to affirm his place within Church, State and Home. The giving of the name in connection with circumcision emphasized a boy’s place within the Three Estates.
But the Lord had determined a place for His messenger which necessitated a name which broke with the continuity of his family. “His name is John.” “And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, ‘What kind of child will this be?’ And the hand of the Lord was with him.” The circumstances of his naming and circumcision bore witness to the divinely-given vocation which St. John would fulfill.
Prayer: Lord, we beseech Thee, give ear to our prayers, and lighten the darkness of our hearts, by Thy gracious visitation; Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for Advent: Stir up, we beseech Thee, Thy power, O Lord, and come, that by Thy protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins, and saved by Thy mighty deliverance; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
