The time arrived for Elizabeth to give birth to her son. The word spread quickly to all of her neighbors and relatives about how merciful God had been to her, and they celebrated with her about her son’s birth.

Eight days after the baby was born, at the circumcision ceremony, everyone thought that the child was going to be named Zachariah after his father, but Elizabeth protested, saying “No! He will be called John.”

The guests said to her “None of your relatives has that name, so why would you name him that?” They motioned to his father to find out what the child’s name should be. To everyone’s surprise, he wrote “His name is John” on a piece of paper.

Immediately he was able to speak and he began to praise God. All of the neighbors became greatly concerned, and the news of this unusual occurrence spread throughout the hillside of Judea. Everyone who heard the news thought about it very deeply, saying “I wonder what this child will become?” They could tell that the hand of the Lord was with him.

LK 1:57-66