Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24; Luke 1:57-66
The name John means The Lord is gracious. Elizabeth’s insistence on the name confesses her recognition that her child is a gift from God, not a given. John is a sign that God is not our speculation, a probability posited by our questions, but is here before our questions were posed, before we came to be. And God seeks us concretely in our lives. Surely, that’s the point of Advent.