The Life of Christ

• In Lk. 10:21, Jesus expressed this level of joy when He heard of the success of His disciples, who had just gone out on their first mission without Him and performed miracles.

• This was one of His purposes — that they would also perform miracles.

• The word also appeared in Acts 16:34 to express the joy of the Philippian jailor felt the day he and his household got saved.

Lk. 1:59 And it came about that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father.

Circumcision on the 8th day was according to the law that God commanded Abraham in Gen. 17:12.

• According to Lev. 12:2-3 the mother was unclean for the first seven days after the baby was born.

• Circumcision was usually performed by the father, after having been trained by either the Rabbis or his own father; In Abraham’s case he would have to figure it out for himself as this was not part of his culture.

• In the Jewish culture, the father would then pray a blessing and formally declare his son’s name for the first time.

• This was usually not done in the temple since the mother was to continue in her unpurified state of uncleaness for the next 33 days.

• Medical science eventually came to recognize that the 8th day is the best time for circumcision as the blood in the child will now naturally coagulate.

Lk. 1:60-61 And his mother answered and said, “No indeed; but he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.”

The reason for the family uproar was that Jewish tradition demanded that the firstborn son of a priest always receive the same name as his father.

• In this case, however, the angel had told Zacharias the name must be John.

• This created a sizeable struggle for this father; all his life he had hoped for a little Zacharias.

Lk. 1:62-63 And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. 63 And he asked for a tablet, and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished.

The time had come for Zacharias to finally commit himself.

• Would the baby be named John, or would he defy the angel's mandate and name the child Zacharias?

Lk.1:64 And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God.

This is the first time he had spoken in over nine months.

• Zacharias’ last words had been words of doubt, “How shall I know this?"

• Out of his mouth now proceed words of faith and obedience, followed by words of praise.

19