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We begin the book of Luke with the angel Gabriel appearing to Zacharias and telling him that he and Elisabeth would have a son. Zacharias was the priest and one of his duties upon entering the temple was to burn the incense. (This was done twice daily as the people saw the smoke from the burning incense they prayed and the smoke symbolized their prayers being lifted to heaven.) Zacharias and Elisabeth had a couple of things in common with Abraham and Sarah, they were old and Elisabeth was barren: “And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.” However, God had seen that they followed all of his commandments and ordinances and he considered them “blameless.” (That is something we should work to achieve, blamelessness in the sight of God.) When Gabriel told Zacharias that he and Elisabeth were to have child, he expressed both doubt and a lack of faith. Gabriel struck him dumb because of that until his son, John’s, birth. Poor Elisabeth was ashamed when she found out that she was pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. But Gabriel had told them that “they would have great joy and gladness; and many would rejoice at his birth.” (John is another good example of God having plans for us even before we are born. Like the prophet, Jeremiah, God stated that he was working on John even before he was even born. “...he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.) John had a special purpose, to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus: “And he (John) shall go before him (Jesus) in the spirit and power of Elias (this can be cross referenced in Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 4:5), to turn the hearts, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Gabriel (He was a busy angel, he had also delivered messages to the prophet Daniel 500 yrs. prior to this.) then visited Mary the cousin of Elisabeth: “Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” Of course Mary thought this was a strange way to greet a person but Gabriel told her everything was fine and then gave her the most wonderful news: “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. Mary, a virgin, explained to Gabriel that this was not possible (It is important to note that she didn’t doubt, she just matter of factly explained the situation to Gabriel) : “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow the: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” He also told her that her elderly cousin Elisabeth was pregnant: “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Mary told Gabriel that she would be obedient to God’s will. Mary went immediately to see Elisabeth after the angel had left and when she greeted her cousin, Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. Elisabeth recognized that Mary would be “the mother of her Lord”. John was born and when the time had came to (eight days) circumcise him, he would also be named. Zacharias wrote out his John’s name and immediately he was able to speak and he “praised God”. Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and he prophesied about the coming of Jesus. John grew up in the desert until the time came for him to go to Israel. Jesus was born in Bethlehem as had been prophesied by the Micah: “But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Mary and Joseph did not even live in Bethlehem but God took care of everything and by the decree of Caesar Augustus they had to travel to Bethlehem to pay their taxes.
Approximate Word count = 2781
Approximate Pages = 11.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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