What Will This Child Be? Luke 1:57-66

Every parent dreams about their child’s future. Most parents wonder what their little baby will do and be when he or she grows up. I think it is fair to say that all parents are highly optimistic when it comes to dreaming about their child’s future. Some parents do more than dream, they think they have a pretty solid idea of what the best life for their child would look like, so they go to work to make sure their son or daughter gets into the right schools, has the right friends, are involved in the right extracurricular activities, and begins building a strong resume at an early age. How early? Well, it’s never too early to get a head start on the competition! There is no greater evidence that your child will turn out to be successful, well-adjusted, and gain great notoriety than to be able to show that he or she graduated summa cum laude from grade school, middle school, and high school, captained the sports team, played first chair in the orchestra, captained the chess club, had the leading role in the high school production of Hamilton, and knocked both the SAT and ACT out of the park! 

Zechariah and Elizabeth were not the typical parents. You and I had no idea what God’s plan was for our children on the day they were born. Zechariah and Elizabeth were told God’s plan for their son before they ever laid eyes on him. John would “be a joy and delight” to his parents and “many will rejoice at his birth.” Their son would “be great in the sight of the Lord.” He would “never drink wine or beer,” “be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb,” “he would turn many in Israel to the Lord their God,” he would be the forerunner of the Lord, “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,” “the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous,” and prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. Zechariah, John’s father, knew all of this before Elizabeth was even pregnant because the angel Gabriel had told him as much while Zechariah was serving in the temple in Jerusalem. 

If you will remember our last study together, when Gabriel delivered this message to Zechariah, then you will remember that Zechariah responded to Gabriel’s message in the most unremarkable way. Zechariah, in effect said, “Really? I’m old, my wife is old…are you sure about all of this?” Gabriel said, “Not another word from you until all of this comes to pass.” And this brings us to our Scripture for this morning. Will you turn with me to Luke 1:57-66 and let’s read it together.

57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. 59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John." 61 They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name." 62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him. (Luke 1:57-66 NIV)

Luke tells us, “When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.” Solomon, in Ecclesiastes, tells us,

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 NIV)

In Psalm 31:15 David wrote, “My times are in your hands;” And in Psalm 139:16, David wrote,

16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. (Psalm 139:16 NLT)

Each and every day of Zechariah and Elizabeth’s lives were in God’s hands. Zechariah and Elizabeth had their own plans for their lives, just like each of us, but their plan to have a child never became a reality until they were well past their childbearing years. God had a plan and His plans never fail. The story of Zechariah and Elizabeth should be a good reminder for you and me. The failure of our plans to become reality can be crushing, but we need to remember that His plan for our lives will never fail. This should motivate us to spend far more time seeking to grow in our relationship with the Lord than designing and executing our own plans for our lives. Every day of your life, every day of my life, is in His hands and we can trust Him my friends. 

Once the baby was born and they laid him in Elizabeth’s arms, joy flooded the room where neighbors and relatives had gathered to celebrate with Zechariah and Elizabeth. Do you remember the prophecy of the angel Gabriel back in verse 14 when he told Zechariah,

14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, (Luke 1:14 NIV)

The fulfillment of the prophecies were beginning to unfold as we are told that Zechariah and Elizabeth’s neighbors and relatives “shared their joy.” Elizabeth’s joy reminds me of another mother’s joy that we read about in God’s Word. Sarah, like Elizabeth, had never had a child and was well beyond her child bearing years when she gave birth to Isaac. Sarah had to have been older than Elizabeth. We don’t know how old Elizabeth was at the time of John’s birth, but we do know that Sarah was 90 years old when Isaac was born. After Isaac’s birth, we read in Genesis 21:6-7,

6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” (Genesis 21:6-7 NIV)

Sarah’s joy was so overwhelming she couldn’t stop laughing! Who would have ever thought that a woman who had been barren her whole life would have a baby when she was 90 years old?! There was another commonality between these two geriatric moms and it was God’s mercy. Look at Luke 1:58 with me.

58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. (Luke 1:58 NIV)

The neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown Elizabeth great mercy, “μεγαλύνω ἔλεος” (megalynō eleos). The Lord had not only shown Elizabeth mercy, but He had shown her “mega mercy!” What is God’s mercy? It is God’s favor, His kindness, His goodness. Mercy is God’s grace showered upon undeserving people. God had been better than good to this elderly couple who had faithfully served Him throughout their lives, even when their prayers weren’t being answered. God didn’t show Zechariah and Elizabeth His mercy because they had been faithful, but He showed them His mercy because that is what He is, He is merciful, full of mercy! This Greek word for “mercy” occurs 27 times in the New Testament, but let me show you just one so you can begin to understand how merciful God has been to you and me. Turn with me to Ephesians 2.

3 …Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:3b-5 NIV)

Elizabeth and Zechariah aren’t the only ones who have been shown “mega mercy!” Each and every one of us, those who were once dead in our sins, but made alive by His merciful grace found in Jesus, have been shown His mercy in abundance. Let’s move on. Take a look at verses 59-60 with me. 

59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John." (Luke 1:59-60 NIV)

Eight days after John was born they took him to be circumcised, just like every Jewish boy who had been born since Abraham. God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17:4-8. Read it with me. 

4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:4-8 NIV)

God told Abraham that he was to be circumcised as a sign of the covenant and every Jewish male after him would undergo the same procedure, on the eighth day after their birth, as a constant reminder of God’s covenant relationship with His people.

When the family and friends gathered together for the circumcision ceremony, Luke tells us “they were going to name him after his father Zechariah…”  Circumcision on the eighth day was a biblical mandate, but there is nothing in God’s Word about naming children after their father. The conversation barely got started when Elizabeth stepped in and said, “No! He is to be called John.” The friends and relatives pushed back: “There’s no one among your relatives who has that name.” Zechariah and Elizabeth’s friends and family had no idea that Elizabeth’s little boy’s name was chosen by God before she was ever pregnant. The crowd turned and looked at Zechariah. Let’s read together from Luke 1:62-63.

62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." (Luke 1:62-63 NIV)

When we read that Zechariah “asked for a writing tablet,” we are reminded that from the moment Zechariah questioned Gabriel at the temple, all throughout Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Zechariah had not spoken a word.

At the beginning of verse 62, we read, “They made signs to his father…” The angel Gabriel told Zechariah that he would be unable to speak until the promise was fulfilled, but it seems that Zechariah was not only unable to speak, but he was also unable to hear since Luke tells us “they made signs” to Zechariah to find out what he would like to name the child. 

Think of all of those days, all of those months of utter silence. Unable to hear, unable to speak, God had Zechariah’s full attention. There was no outside interference. Nothing to distract him from thinking about the encounter he had with the angel Gabriel, who had been sent from God to deliver the message. It is so hard to hear from God when there is so much noise competing for our hearts and minds. I’ve heard over and over again that there has never been a time in all of human history when we have been so connected as we are today. Not only are we connected, but we are constantly bombarded by noise. In the midst of the noise, the constant, deafening noise, it is possible to disconnect and find a quiet place where we, like Zechariah, can give God our full attention. 

If you read the Gospels, you will quickly discover that Jesus experienced constant pressure. There was a constant pull on Jesus, constant harassment, the noise of the crowds, the demands of those who wanted His help, and the opposition from His enemies. Jesus would heal people and tell them, “Don’t tell anyone…” In Luke 5, Jesus healed a man who had leprosy and once again He said, “Don’t tell anyone…” Then, in the next verse we read,

15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:15-16 NIV)

What I really wanted you to see is that last verse, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Jesus made it a point to find a quiet place, a lonely place, an isolated place where there were no crowds, where there was no noise, so He could be alone with the Father. We would be wise to follow Him to those lonely places where we can be alone with the Lord and allow Him to speak to us from His Word. 

For more than nine months Zechariah experienced utter silence. Family members didn’t know what the Lord had been doing in his life, but Zechariah knew. They handed Zechariah a writing tablet and at once he wrote, “His name is John.” Actually, in the Greek New Testament, “John” is placed at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis. “There will be no more discussion. Elizabeth and I are not taking questions. The boy’s name is John!” 

Something significant is happening here and I don’t want us to miss it. This is really not a story about Zechariah and Elizabeth and their long awaited son, John. John was not a name that the elderly couple had chosen. His future would not be a plan the two of them had designed and executed. No, not at all. This was God’s plan, His purpose, His remarkable story of redemption that was underway after 400 years of silence.

Just look at the names of our three characters and you can clearly see that God is on the move! The first person we met in this story was a priest named Zechariah, which means “God remembers His promise.” Though God’s people had not heard a word from God for 400 years, God had not forgotten His promise to provide the Messiah for His people. Then we met Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, whose name means, “God is faithful.” He is faithful and His promises never fail! Last of all, we have now met their promised son whose name is John, which means, “God is gracious.” In two weeks, when Pastor Tre teaches us about the child born to Mary, we will hear the sweetest name of all, Jesus, whose name means, “God saves!” God never forgets His promises, He is faithful, He is gracious, and He alone can save us from the consequences of our sin through His Son Jesus! Everything we are reading and studying is God’s story of redemption for those who are lost! John MacArthur wrote,

First and foremost the Bible is the revelation of God.  It is His own word on Himself.  More than anything else it is His story.  Behind Zacharias and behind Elizabeth and behind Mary and behind John and even behind the coming of Jesus is the great and mighty revelation of God.  His nature, His character, His works, His purpose, His will, He is being revealed.  In fact, at all points in the Bible, God is teaching the truth about Himself.  He is the one dominating figure in biblical revelation.  The Bible simply is a book about God.  It starts with God and it ends with God and everything in between is about Him. (John MacArthur. The Miraculous Birth of John the Baptist. April 11, 1999)

In verse 64, something remarkable happened to Zechariah, immediately after he wrote, “His name is John.” Luke tells us, “Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.” What were the first words out of Zechariah’s mouth? He praised God! We don’t know exactly what he said, but we do know that shortly after he began praising God, Zechariah began singing praises to God. We will spend all of our time next week studying Zechariah’s song of praise called the Benedictus. We are going to run out of time if we don’t move on. Turn to verses 65-66 and let’s read them together.

65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him. (Luke 1:65-66 NIV)

The family members and all of the neighbors who witnessed these things take place were filled to overflowing with awe, they were astounded, they knew beyond a shadow of doubt that something powerful, something unexplainable apart from God had just taken place. The word spread all throughout Judea and everyone was talking about Zechariah, Elizabeth, their son John, and the mega mercy of Almighty God! 

Everyone, not just Zechariah and Elizabeth’s family and friends, but everyone who heard the story began to wonder, “What then is this child going to be?” Zechariah and Elizabeth had the advantage of being told what their son would be and do by the angel Gabriel, but even then they weren’t given the full story. They were given an outline, but only God would fill in the details as John the Baptist grew from that little baby into the final prophet of the Old Testament and the one who came to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah.

Zechariah was a priest so he was more than familiar with the lifestyle and daily routine of the religious leaders of his day. Being good Jews, Zechariah and Elizabeth kept a kosher diet. No bacon for breakfast, no shrimp cocktails, oysters on the half shell, or rabbit stew had ever graced their table. Surely their son, the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah, would live a life that looked something like the life they had lived. They had no idea.

First of all, Zechariah and Elizabeth probably didn’t live long enough to see John grow up and begin his ministry. Luke tells us, at the end of chapter 1, 

80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel. (Luke 1:80 NIV)

This is all of the information we have about John until he begins his ministry. He didn’t grow up in Jerusalem, dress like a priest, and seek the prime seat at the banquets held by the religious leaders of the day. John grew up in the Judean wilderness, the Judean desert, he wore a robe made out of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey day in and day out. John was neither a foodie nor a fashionista, he had other interests, eternal matters on his mind.

All of those years out in the wilderness, preparing for the day the Lord would call him to speak up and go to work forged a message that would ring out and strike at the hearts of all of those in Judea: “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” John didn’t preach 3 part sermons on how to be better at “this or that,” or how to live your best life now. He didn’t even have three sermons. “Repent, repent, repent. Stop sinning and turn back to God, the Messiah is on His way!” Kent Hughes writes,

What a gift John gave his people by preaching on sin and judgment. This is too often neglected today.. In some quarters the gospel is preached as the way to the good life and upward mobility, but that is not the message we have been given to proclaim. Preaching the true gospel is an inestimable privilege and responsibility, because without an understanding of the depth of our sin, the Incarnation and the atoning death of Christ make no sense. If we do not see ourselves as radically sinful and totally lost, the cross makes no sense at all. But if we are lost, and in fact dead in our sins, the cross makes all the difference, for it is our only hope. When men and women are awakened to the depth of their sin and the fact of certain judgment, the gospel becomes the best news in the world? (Hughes, Kent. Luke: Volume 1. pg. 71)

There is no way John would have ever built a big, successful church today, not with that message. He would need to attend a conference, read a mega pastor’s book on how to build powerful ministries…he would have to change. I’m so glad he wasn’t swayed by the culture, but he remained true to His calling to prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. 

John’s message is as needed today as it was the day he first preached it. You and I need to recognize the depth of our sin, the hopeless situation we are in to ever change our sinful ways apart from surrendering to Jesus and being cleansed by His righteous sacrifice on our part. If you are not a follower of Jesus this morning I pray that you will confess your sin to Him, ask Him to forgive you, and commit your life to following Him for the rest of your days.

Mike Hays

October 5, 2025