60- And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
61- And they said unto her, there is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
62- And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
63- And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.
64- And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.
Make sure that all doubt and pride is dispelled so that your language does not condemn you as Zechariah
65- And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea.
66- And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying,What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.ors and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
59- And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
60- And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
61- And they said unto her, there is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
62- And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
63- And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.
64- And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.
65- And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea.
66- And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying,What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.
And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,
68- Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
69- And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
70- As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
71- That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
72- To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
73- The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
74- That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
75- In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
76- And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
77- To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
78- Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
79- To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
80 Now the child grew and became strong in spirit. And he dwelt in the deserts until the day that he stood before Israel.
I am going to speak on the last verse which is of paramount importance as a conclusion, although it is the subject of a whole other text, but I will not leave you on hot coal.
You see, even how holy He was, Jesus had to live his childhood and grow by strengthening his spirit.To remain in the desert meant that he did not have to intervene in the work of John the Baptist who was preparing the way for him until the day he presented himself before Israel.
Have you ever wondered what Israel is doing here? It will be part of another debate. In the meantime, search in yourselves.