From: Luke 1:57-66, 80
The Birth and Circumcision of John the Baptist
[57] Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave
birth to a son. [58] And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the
Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
[59] And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they
would have named him Zechariah after his father, [60] but his mother
said, "Not so; he shall be called John." [61] And they said to her,
"None of your kindred is called by this name." [62] And they made
signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called.
[63] And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John."
And they all marvelled. [64] And immediately his mouth was opened and
his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. [65] And fear came on
all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through
all the hill country of Judea; [66] 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.
[80] And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the
wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
Commentary:
59. Circumcision was a rite established by God under the Old Covenant
to mark out those who belonged to His chosen people: He commanded
Abraham to institute circumcision as a sign of the Covenant He had made
with him and all his descendants (cf. Genesis 17:10-14), prescribing
that it should be done on the eighth day after birth. The rite was
performed either at home or in the synagogue, and, in addition to the
actual circumcision, the ceremony included prayers and the naming of
the child.
With the institution of Christian Baptism the commandment to circumcise
ceased to apply. At the Council of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:1ff), the
Apostles definitely declared that those entering the Church had no need
to be circumcised.
St. Paul's explicit teaching on the irrelevance of circumcision in the
context of the New Alliance established by Christ is to be found in
Galatians 5:2ff; 6:12ff; and Colossians 2:11ff.
60-63. By naming the child John, Zechariah complies with the
instructions God sent him through the angel (Luke 1:13).
64. This miraculous event fulfills the prophecy the angel Gabriel made
to Zechariah when he announced the conception and birth of the Baptist
(Luke 1:19-20). St. Ambrose observes: `With good reason was his tongue
loosed, because faith untied what had been tied by disbelief"
("Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam. in loc.").
Zechariah's is a case similar to that of St. Thomas, who was reluctant
to believe in the resurrection of our Lord, and who believed only when
Jesus gave him clear proof (cf. John 20:24-29). For these two men God
worked a miracle and won their belief; but normally He requires us to
have faith and to obey Him without His working any new miracles. This
was why He upbraided Zechariah and punished him, and why He reproached
Thomas: "Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those
who have not seen and yet believe" (John 20:29).
80. "Wilderness": this must surely refer to the "Judean wilderness" which
stretches from the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea to the hill
country of Judea. It is not a sand desert but rather a barren steppe
with bushes and basic vegetation which suit bees and grasshoppers or wild
locusts. It contains many caves which can provide shelter.
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.