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The story we hear of John the Baptist’s birth today is one that amazes me, particularly due to his father’s reaction.
John’s dad, Zechariah, is the first person introduced in the Gospel according to Luke. He and his wife, Elizabeth, are well past child-rearing years when the Angel Gabriel tells Zechariah good news: he and Elizabeth will have a son who will grow to be a great prophet in Israel.
Even though this is an angel telling him these things, Zechariah says the equivalent of “okay, I’m gonna need more proof.” Gabriel, in like response, says the equivalent of “alright. I’ll give you proof. You’ll be struck mute and won’t say another word until the child is born.”
For many of us, such a bad event, whether deserved or not, would be enough for us to grow angry with God. We might even turn away from the Lord. That’s not what Zechariah does. He continues to hold fast to God’s will. When his son is born, he insists on not following the normal tradition of naming the child after himself, but instead does what he knows is God’s will and names him John. The first words out of his mouth on doing so are ones of praise for what God has done and will do.
It can be hard to wait in the bad for good to come. It can be even more difficult not to grow angry with God during our hardships. I hope we can all walk in Zechariah’s example and continue to follow God’s will as we look forward to good times in the future, no matter how distant.