When, on the eighth day, they came to attend the circumcision of the child, they wanted to name
him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “Not so; he shall be called John.” They said to
her, “But no one in your family has that name!” and they made signs to his father for the name he
wanted to give him. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet, and wrote on it, “His name is John;” and
they were very surprised. Immediately, Zechariah could speak again, and his first words were in
praise of God.
A holy fear came on all in the neighborhood, and throughout the hill country of Judea the people
talked about these events. All who heard of it, pondered in their minds, and wondered, “What will
this child be?” For they understood that the hand of the Lord was with him.
Reflect:
Scriptural passages sometimes serve as brilliant windows to human psychology too. Look at
today’s scene: Wanting to know what name Zechariah would like for his son, his relatives and
neighbors “made signs” to him. Zechariah was only mute; he was not deaf! They could have
asked him simply and directly in words as he could hear perfectly! Instead, seeing him mute,
they simply imitated his muteness, unthinkingly. Well, that sums up human history as well. As
René Girard, a French- American thinker who is the proponent of mimetic theory (mimesis =
imitation), has observed, we human beings are such compulsive imitators that we borrow one
another’s desires as well, not knowing what to desire, and end up in all conflicts. Imitate, we
must. It is in our nature. But we must imitate intelligently and the right model. Christ offers
himself as this model: “Learn from me… and you will find rest” (Mt 11:29).
© Copyright Bible Diary 2022