Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, December 24, 2023
by Madison Johnston, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: The work of building God’s kingdom is meant to be shared—and that means that the joy of God’s grace is, too.
It’s curious that, in this passage of text, Elizabeth is the one who corrects her neighbors and relatives. After all, we are told that instructions to call her child “John” were given to Zechariah—we are also told that Zechariah is the person whom this community considers ultimately authoritative regarding her child’s name. (Zechariah doesn’t just reiterate the name “John” for the crowd. He also goes on to prophesy in Verses 67-80, shutting down any potential arguments like those they presented to Elizabeth).
While she is the one whose body bears the literal weight of this promise from God, Elizabeth actually seems to have very little to do with the birth of John as it is relayed here. Her involvement is passive—it is simply mentioned.
So why would the author of the Gospel of Luke include Elizabeth at all in this back-and-forth at the briss? What is the point of having her intercede if the crowd won’t listen to her or believe her?
The Spirit could be trying to tell us on this last Sunday of Advent—this Christmas Eve—that the work of God is so big, so incredible and so unlike anything else we encounter in our lives that the news of it doesn’t always take or sink in the first time around.
If we read between the lines in this passage, we know that Zechariah told Elizabeth everything that the angel told him. It seems like the two of them considered this promise to be a team venture, and not just because Elizabeth was the one who would conceive, grow, deliver, and raise John. It’s clear to us as readers that Elizabeth had internalized the cosmic significance of the angel’s word—it’s clear that she believed down to her bones that her son would be an integral part of God’s work in the world and that his name needed to reflect that. Elizabeth knew that the angel was telling the truth, so she was determined to follow the path he laid out, down to the details of it (details like John’s name). There aren’t many other reasons why she would have ignored tradition or gone against the grain when her neighbors and family members suggested calling her child after his father.
Zechariah is a fierce advocate in this story. He defends and supports Elizabeth in what she is saying, mirroring her faith and strengthening it in the process. Because the two of them are united by the word of God, and because they profess it together, they are able to instill awe and belief where there was once skepticism and doubt. They are able to turn the focus of an entire community toward something divine instead of something mundane. They are able to plant the idea of something new instead of promulgating the same old, same old.
There are going to be seasons in each of our faith journeys where we feel like Elizabeth—unheard, discredited and brushed aside. There are going to be seasons, too, where we feel like Zechariah—chosen, valued and inspired. Our good news today is that the word of God is only ever meant to be heard, understood and internalized as a community venture. We will have each other to lean on and we will have opportunities to advocate for each other. We can expect that living out God’s promises will bring challenges with it, but we can also expect that it will bring joy beyond our wildest imagination.
