Dedicated to Henry Browning


Part I: The Quiet Table


Elizabeth:

The silence at the table was not a lack of sound, but a heavy, long-endured presence. The oil lamp cast a warm, flickering glow across the clay bowls and the worn hands of her husband, Zechariah. He was a priest, a man whose life was devoted to precise duty and prayer, yet his eyes held a permanent shadow that matched her own. We were in our fifties, past the expected years of hope, yet every time a young woman passed in the street with a round belly, a sharp pang of grief struck Elizabeth’s heart.


“The olives are good tonight,” Zechariah murmured, pushing a basket toward her.


“Yes. They must be from the lower grove,” Elizabeth replied, the conversation practised and worn smooth by decades.

Zechariah:

He lay beside his beloved, the thin linen sheet barely separating them. Elizabeth had been his first love, his only real joy outside of serving God. Her body, once supple, was now the map of his life—familiar curves, softened edges, and the scent of rosemary and parchment. They had tried for so long, and then, gradually, they had stopped trying, settling into companionship where passion was replaced by deep, enduring tenderness.


Zechariah shifted, pulling her against his chest. She fit perfectly, t

They were defined by what they lacked: children. The pity in their neighbours' eyes had long ago turned to acceptance, but acceptance was a cold blanket. She watched Zechariah meticulously clean his bowl, the small, quiet actions of a man who managed disappointment by maintaining order. She knew he blamed himself, just as she blamed herself, for the barrenness. It was the great shame of their shared life.


They finished their meal and walked hand in hand to their sleeping chamber, the air cool with the close of day.


he way she always had. He ran a gentle hand over the place where a child should have grown, the barren landscape that felt like a permanent accusation against his faith. But tonight, that accusation felt distant. Tonight, there was only the ache of shared existence and the comfort of her skin beneath his fingertips. He kissed her forehead, then her mouth, a kiss that tasted of olives and years, and the old, familiar fire rose.


They made love not with the frantic desperation of youth, but with the quiet, profound knowledge of two people who had weathered every storm together. It was a joining that honoured their history, a prayer offered up not for a miracle, but for the simple, enduring grace of each other. In that long, deep union, something shifted. A light—not bright, but certain—filled the dark chamber. A life, impossibly, was quickened.


Part II: Silence and Surprise


Elizabeth:

Weeks passed in a haze of uncharacteristic fatigue. Elizabeth dismissed it as the heat or the lingering exhaustion of the year’s harvest. But then the signs became undeniable. The gentle swell of her belly, the strange aversion to certain foods, and the memory, so distant it was almost a dream, of her monthly cycle having ceased many seasons ago.


One morning, she woke with a profound certainty. Her hand went to her stomach, and the truth—miraculous, terrifying, and utterly impossible—washed over her.


She found Zechariah preparing for his duties, his mind already on the Temple. “Zechariah,” she whispered, her voice barely steady. “I am with child.”


He paused, his knife hovering over a piece of fruit. He stared at her, his priestly composure shattering into raw, youthful wonder. “A child? Now? Elizabeth, how—? It is a miracle!” he cried out, his voice booming with sudden, unrestrained joy.


Elizabeth rushed to him, her heart pounding with a different kind of fear. “Hush! Zechariah, hush! You mustn’t shout.


What will the villagers think? They will mock us, or worse, accuse us of…” She couldn't finish the thought.


He took her hands, his eyes wet with tears. “Let them think what they wish! It is a miracle, Elizabeth! A gift from God, after all these years!”


Zechariah:


Zechariah, overwhelmed, immediately sought out the local elders. He told them, his voice ringing with conviction, “God has been gracious to us! Elizabeth is pregnant! This is a miracle!”


As Zechariah began to elaborate, insisting on the impossible timing and the divine hand, the words suddenly caught in his throat. He opened his mouth, trying to express the exact nature of the miracle, but only a strangled, useless sound emerged. His voice was gone.


He gesticulated wildly, pointing to Elizabeth’s retreating form, then to his own lips. His friends looked at him with confusion, then sympathy. The old priest had finally been struck silent, rendered mute by his overwhelming—and perhaps overly insistent—proclamation of the miracle. The silence became Zechariah’s penance and his protection.


Part III: The Leaping


Elizabeth:

Elizabeth kept her pregnancy secret for five months, only the quiet knowledge linking her and her silenced husband.


Zechariah, rendered mute, communicated through gestures and writing on a small, wooden tablet. The silence was a curious penance, a forced pause in his lifetime of duty, but Elizabeth saw in his eyes a patient acceptance, a sense of higher purpose to his suffering. He knew the child was divine, and his silence guarded their secret.


It was in her sixth month that the unexpected arrival occurred. Mary, her young cousin from Nazareth, arrived on a dusty donkey, led by a tired servant. Mary was barely thirteen, a maid betrothed to the carpenter Joseph.


Elizabeth ran out to meet her, concern etched on her face. Mary looked pale, but her eyes held an unnerving, peaceful light. As Mary dismounted, she moved to embrace Elizabeth. In that moment, before their bodies even touched,


Elizabeth’s child—the miracle within her—gave a powerful, unmistakable leap.


Elizabeth gasped, clutching her belly, stepping back in astonishment. “My child… he quickens! He leaps within me for joy!” She looked at Mary, who was smiling, a mysterious, soft smile that touched her eyes. And the prophecy burst from Elizabeth's heart, unbidden. “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!”


Mary’s smile grew wider, her gentle hands reaching for Elizabeth’s arms. “I too am with child,” she whispered. “May I stay here with you awhile? My journey here was… difficult.”


Elizabeth welcomed her without question. The two women, united by impossible miracles and shared vulnerability, settled into a peaceful, expectant routine.


Part IV: The Name


Zechariah:

Zechariah had watched the entire exchange from the porch, a silent sentinel of the miracles unfolding in his home. He saw the greeting, the baby's leap inside Elizabeth, and the strange, solemn joy between the two cousins. He knew in that moment that Mary’s child was not merely a child, but the Lord, and his son, now leaping in the womb, was the Herald. He wrote one word on his tablet: Holy.


For a few quiet days, the manor felt like the eye of a storm. Then, one hot night, Elizabeth’s water broke.


Elizabeth:

The labour was long and hard, the decades of physical life demanding their toll. Mary was there, cool and calm, assisting the midwife. Elizabeth struggled, bearing down, finding a strength she hadn’t known she possessed, driven by the urgency of the life that was finally coming.


A cry pierced the air. The midwife’s hands caught a slippery, long body.


He was born, healthy and whole, with a thick cap of black hair and striking, knowing brown eyes that seemed to absorb the light.


“He is long and healthy! His soul is old!” the midwife exclaimed, catching her breath. “Shall we name him for his father, Zechariah?”


Elizabeth, utterly spent, lay back on the pillows. She felt the heavy mantle of the prophecy that had been placed upon her. “His name,” she said, her voice a dry rasp of exhaustion, “is John!” She closed her eyes and, dreaming of the peace her cousin Mary carried, slipped into sleep as the midwife took the newborn to clean and swaddle.


Zechariah:

Meanwhile, the men of the village, having gathered outside to await the news, approached the mute Zechariah. They informed him of the birth and of the mother's surprising choice. They gestured, asking whether he agreed to name the child John or whether they should name him after his father, as tradition dictated.


Zechariah, suddenly realising his final, necessary action, looked at his tablet, then at the men. He took the tablet and, grasping a stylus, wrote clearly for them to see:


“His name is…”


Before he could write the final word, the air rushed into his lungs, and the silent dam that had held his tongue for nine months broke. He looked at the inscription—His name is—and with a voice rough from long disuse, he finished the sentence with a mighty, prophetic shout:


“His name is John!”


Part IV: The Voice in the Wilderness


In Sacred Scripture, there is no further record of Elizabeth and Zechariah, but the destiny of their son, John, was foretold as he was the first to recognize the unborn Christ in Mary’s womb. The rest, dear reader, becomes set to verse.


The Destiny of John the Baptist


The silence broke, the voice returned, a father’s final word,

For nine slow months of silent doubt, a promised truth was finally heard.

They named him John, a grace bestowed on fields too old for grain,

Destiny flowed upon him, through Jordan’s dust and rain.

No priestly robe, no temple fire, would mark the path he trod,

His altar was the wild desire to clear the way for God.

He wore the camel’s harsh, rough hair, and he ate the locust's meat,

The desert was his chamber, where he polished truth to a fine point.

He cried a voice in barren space, a stark and thunderous sound,

"Prepare the Lord a landing place, make smooth the broken ground!"

He saw the river’s muddy swirl, he saw the crowds confess,

And washed away the shadowed world, in watery holiness.

He stood beside the living flood, a prophet fierce and grim,

And knew the Lamb who broke the wood, and bowed his head to Him.

He saw the Spirit, dove-descended, the moment God stepped in,

The old law’s fiery witness ended, the greater life began.

The Herald's purpose soon fulfilled, by grace, by truth, by sign,

The mighty, ancient promise spilled into the Light Divine.

He pointed once, then stood aside, his purpose clear and brief:

"Behold the Lamb," the Baptizer cried, "The bringer of relief."

Though Herod’s wrath would seal his fate, for virtue he possessed,

And darkness closed the prison gate, to bring his soul to rest,

He knew his destiny was complete, not in the life he lost,

But when he bowed at Jesus' feet, and counted not the cost.