Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.  And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father,  but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.”

 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”  And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.  And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered.  

And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.  And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea,  and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah didn’t believe when the angel Gabriel came to him. And so he was silenced. But now he not only believed, but he obeyed, and called his son John. John means “Yahweh is Gracious.” But to call him a name other than the father’s name was very counter-cultural and defied all social norms, something I’m sure that created problems with his family.

Now for Elizabeth she went from being the “disgrace” of the town to being the joy. And the topic of much discussion. She went from being treated as less valuable to being the central celebration of motherhood.

Something was new was happening. Something was different. And the townspeople were starting to wonder. As did the whole region.

Rightfully so. Everything was about to change.

The only question was, would they change?