Reading:
Malachi 3: 1-4, 23-24
Luke 1: 57-66
”…’His name is John.’
and they were very
surprised."
The long awaited occasion has come. Elizabeth has
now to give birth to a promised son, and Zechariah has to name the child "John,”
the name given by the angel. The name "John” means "God is
merciful” Friends and relatives are quite surprised with the name. But it
is precisely with this name that we now understand how God is indeed so
merciful to the aged couple and to us.
1. With John, God shows his mercy to
Elizabeth. From the previous gospels we heard the past dawn masses, we are
already quite familiar with Elizabeth. We know her not only as a cousin of
Mary, but also and mostly as a virtuous woman, who religiously keeps the
commandments. But despite her being good and faithful, she has been childless
for years. This was Elizabeth's predicament. And perhaps, in one silent moment
of her life, she must have wondered why after all the years of trying to be
faithful, she would still remain childless. What a cruel fate!
But nothing escapes, from the eyes of heaven.
Every tear that falls and every prayer that comes from a pious soul always
cries out for heaven’s mercy and compassion. And John is precisely the
answer of heaven to the cravings of Elizabeth. With John, Elizabeth's life is never the same again. God is indeed merciful!
2. With John, God shows his mercy to
Zechariah. Zechariah is just like his wife, Elizabeth: He is as pious and just
as his wife, and perhaps even more. He belongs to .the
priestly tribe, and practices his priesthood according to the Law, and just the
way his people expect him to. But like Elizabeth, he is of no child. In his old
age, Zechariah has remained a husband but not a father. "Would I really
become a father?”
When would that be?“ These could perhaps be the kind of questions he
would ask himself at some idle moments of his life.
But Zechariah has his name's meaning fulfilled. Zechariah - which means God remembers - is now indeed being
remembered by God. And with John, not only does God remember Zechariah with
mercy and compassion, but God too wants
Zechariah to remember him as a merciful and
compassionate God. Was it not that moment when Zechariah insisted the name John,
the same moment too when he regained his speech? Coincidental or intentional?
The latter seems to be truer. With John, God has indeed remembered him with
mercy. So, from then on, Zechariah must
remember at the top of his voice that Yahweh is a merciful God!
3. With John, God shows his mercy to
his people. The person of John and the
message he brings bespeak of it. John is the herald of the Messiah This is the special and solitary role God
gives to the person of the Baptist. Even at
this stage, John is already a living proof of God’s
mercy. God does not want his people to be caught unaware, so to say, as the coming of his Son. Thus, he sends John as the
forerunner of the Christ.
But not only that. God shows his mercy by the
message that John brings. As a forerunner,
he prepares the way of the Lord by preaching a gospel
of repentance. John's message is metanoia, i.e., change of heart. It is a call to a radical change of one's
attitude, outlook, and lifestyle or of one's
whole being, for that matter. It is to abhor and detest sin by turning one’s
back on it completely. So that he may
also embrace and live out a
life of grace totally. This is
the message of John. And by responding to his
call and submitting to his baptism, God may stoop upon the sinful man and grant his forgiveness. By his message,
therefore, John again stands out as
God's visible sign of love and mercy:
4 "The sweetest melody to someone’s
ears is his name,” goes one familiar old
saying. This may not be at all true to a few who seem to have regrets why in
heaven's sake they had been given horrible names. But to many and to a majority
whose names bear semblance and correspondence
to culture and tradition, to faith and life, this old saying still holds true. This is what we see in John. By
his name alone, we are reminded that our God is a merciful and a loving God.
"...’'His name is John,’ and
they were very surprised.”