Scripture Luke 1:5-80
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who
belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; (A
priest of the 8th division
of 24, the division of Abijah and served at the temple for two one week periods
a year. There were 18,000 priests. A priest only served at the sacrifice once
in his lifetime – this was my one time.) his wife Elizabeth was also a
descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing
all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no
children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.
Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before
God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go
into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning
of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. (As the officiating priest, it was Zechariah's job to
place incense on the heated altar and then prostrate himself in prayer. The
incense represented the prayers of the people. Outside, the people were
reciting this prayer during the incense offering: "May the merciful God enter the Holy Place and accept with
favor the offering of his people.")
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the
altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with
fear. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your
wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He
will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or
other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from
birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord
their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of
Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient
to the wisdom of the righteous — to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man
and my wife is well along in years." The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have
been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be
silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not
believe my words, which will come true at their proper time."
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so
long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized
he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but
remained unable to speak.
When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife
Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and
taken away my disgrace among the people."
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.
The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored!
The Lord is with you."
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this
might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will
be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will
give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of
Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." "How
will this be," Mary
asked the angel, "since
I am a virgin?" The
angel answered, "The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow
you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth
your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to
be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,
where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard
Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the
Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed
is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord
should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the
baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the
Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my
Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on
all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things
for me — holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from
generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered
those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from
their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good
things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he
said to our fathers."
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her
neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they
shared her joy.
On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to
name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John." They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who
has that name." Then
they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the
child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote,
"His name is John." Immediately his mouth was opened
and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. The neighbors
were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were
talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it,
asking, "What then is
this child going to be?"
For the Lord's hand was with him.
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of
salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy
prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who
hate us— to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the
oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before
him all our days. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his
people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us
from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to
guide our feet into the path of peace." And the child grew and became strong in spirit;
and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.
