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We sometimes forget that Mary and Joseph’s relatives, friends, and neighbors couldn’t understand what was happening in their lives. The same was true for Zechariah and Elizabeth. How embarrassing that Elizabeth was barren. How doubly embarrassing that Zechariah didn’t have a son. Then rumors started to fly. Why was Elizabeth in hiding? Snickering about Elizabeth during her final months of pregnancy gave way to rejoicing when her baby was born healthy and strong. When everyone gathered a week later for the Jewish circumcision ceremony, however, Elizabeth boldly confronted the older men trying to name the baby after his father. “No!” she exclaimed. “His name is John!” Their shock when Zechariah wrote, “His name is John,” was only superseded by Zechariah saying aloud, “Yes, his name is John! And praise God for all He has done!” Only then could he speak about his miraculous encounter with the angel Gabriel. Luke 1:55-56 goes on to say, “Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills. All who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, ‘What will this child turn out to be?’” The forerunner of Jesus, of course! This is Luis Palau.