Happier Naming Stories

There are happier naming stories in the Bible. Here are a couple…

57 Now it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, and it was a boy. 58 The word spread quickly to her neighbors and relatives that the Lord had been very kind to her, and everyone rejoiced with her.
59 When the baby was eight days old, all the relatives and friends came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. 60 But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!”
61 “What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” 62 So they asked the baby’s father, communicating to him by making gestures. 63 He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John!” 64 Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.
65 Wonder fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills. 66 Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “I wonder what this child will turn out to be? For the hand of the Lord is surely upon him in a special way.”

18 Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly.
20 As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,* for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All of this happened to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and he will be called Immanuel*
(meaning, God is with us).”

Both John the Baptist and Jesus had names assigned by God in ways that set them apart for the work they were to do. In the story of Jesus’ birth two names are given, Jesus and Immanuel. Eventually many names were given to Jesus with some of them even nailed above his head on the cross. But his very first name was given to him by his father. Please don’t miss this…father’s name their children. Upon birth and over and over again throughout their lives we label our children in countless ways.