Truth or Tradition

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

TRUTH OR TRADITION

Luke 1:59-66

59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John." 61 They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name." 62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him.

NIV

Here we have the fulfillment of what Gabriel told Zechariah. We have already witnessed the birth of John as it was told and now we see that at the circumcision ceremony where it was custom to name the child, Zechariah gets his voice back just as he was told it would happen. Once again we are witness to the ways of the world as opposed to the ways of God. It was the custom, almost a rule as it were, to name a child after someone in the family tree, a past relative. When Elizabeth said that this child would have the name of John, the people were rather put back, but she insisted yet the people did not want to follow her desire so they through signs ask Zechariah and he too insisted his son would have the name John. The life lesson we learn here is that we should always insist on following the directions of God rather than the custom of the people. When Zechariah did this, he received his voice back and because of that the neighbors were filled with awe. Of course when he began to speak he was praising God, because he knew God had fulfilled his promise. We also see that it was not just his neighbors but all throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Of course there was all sorts of wonder has to what kind of man John would become, but the point here is that we should be making sure we follow God and not the customs of men, which would include the customs in the church as well. Tradition is a good thing, and in itself is not bad, but when it supersedes the truth of God it can be dangerous. Zechariah and Elizabeth knew the truth of God in this matter of want their son would be named and followed that truth against all tradition. As a result God fulfilled his promise and he was praised and word spread of this event.  If we desire to see God act in our lives in miraculous ways perhaps it would be wise for us to pay closer attention to his truths allowing those truths to supersede the customs or traditions of men. Then people will be in awe, God would be praised and word would spread all throughout the hill country of our towns. So it comes down to an old phrase God gave this man years ago. Truth or tradition?