The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 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. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 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. 16 Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17 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.”
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 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. 20 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.”
21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 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.
23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “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.”
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 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, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 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. 36 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. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
My Understanding: Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, were upright in the sight of God. They observed all of God’s commands and regulations blamelessly. Zechariah was one of the high priests who went before God to make atonement for the sins of the people on a yearly basis. Mary, who was pledged to be married to Joseph, and was a cousin of Elizabeth, was a young virgin girl who was highly favored by God. Both Zechariah and Mary received visits from the angel, Gabriel, and were given messages concerning the births of sons.
Zechariah’s son was to be born naturally, even though he and Elizabeth were well along in years. God must have opened Elizabeth’s womb, though. Mary’s son was to be born of the Holy Spirit of God without natural relations with any man. Both of their sons were to be very special. One was to be the forerunner for Jesus Christ in turning the hearts of the people of Israel back to the Lord their God and in preparing the people for the coming of Jesus Christ, their promised Messiah. And, the son to be born to Mary of the Holy Spirit was to be the very Son of God and God himself, as our God is a triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ, Mary’s son, was very God and very man. He is the one John spoke of when he said, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
When Zechariah was told by the angel Gabriel that he and Elizabeth were to have a son in their old age, although he was a righteous man, still he doubted. He asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” When Mary was told by the angel Gabriel that she was to have a son by the Holy Spirit, she responded, as well, with a question: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” On the surface, this may appear that they were both questioning what the angel said based upon what they saw as physical impossibilities. Yet, there was a distinct difference between Zechariah’s response, which was one of unbelief, and Mary’s response, which was one of belief.
Zechariah wanted to know how he could be sure that what the angel Gabriel was telling him was the truth. Perhaps he was looking for some kind of proof or a sign of some sort. We are not told much other than the question he asked Gabriel, and the fact that Gabriel saw his response as one of unbelief in what Gabriel had told him. He doubted. He lacked the faith to believe that God could cause him and his wife to have a son in their old age. Yet, Mary’s response was much different. She did not ask how she could be sure if it was the truth. She believed it was. Her question had a more practical nature to it. And, her question was proof that she believed the angel. She knew she was a virgin, so she just wanted to know, in all practicality, how this was going to take place.
Since Zechariah’s response was one of unbelief, the angel told Zechariah that he was going to be silent and not able to speak until the day that John, Zechariah’s son, was born. Since Mary’s response was one of belief, the angel answered her question and he explained to her what she should expect and how this was going to happen. This took more faith for Mary to believe that she would be pregnant of the Holy Spirit than it took for Zechariah to believe that he and his wife would give birth in their old age, yet she had faith. It took much more commitment on Mary’s part to accept what the angel had said to her, because how would she explain her pregnancy? She would be tagged as impure and forever people would think she had been unfaithful to Joseph or that she and Joseph had committed sexual sin together. Zechariah just had to believe that his son was to be the forerunner of the Messiah, which is a big enough step of faith right there. Zechariah was a priest. He was a righteous man. You would think that his response should have been more of faith than that of a young girl. Maybe that is why the Lord Jesus said we should have child-like faith. Sometimes the more schooled we are the harder it is for us to accept the things of God that children can accept so easily. Yet, Mary believed. And, Zechariah doubted.
The angel told Mary that nothing was impossible with God, which was evidenced by the fact that Elizabeth was six months pregnant by the time Mary was visited with the angel Gabriel. And, Mary’s response to this declaration by the angel was: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” Wow! How many of us would believe like Mary did? Or, how many of us would doubt like Zechariah did? Zechariah just had to believe that God was going to give him and his wife a son in their old age, yet a very special son. For Mary, this was total commitment. She had to give her body, her reputation, the possibility that she might be stoned to death for being pregnant outside of marriage, and her very life. How many of us would so readily and easily believe God to do something in our lives that would cost us our reputation, our youth, perhaps, and/or our very lives? Mary had to put her all on the altar that day when she said to the angel, “May it be to me as you have said.”
God has a calling for each one of us. Some of us may be given more acceptable tasks that may or may not get us honor on this earth. Others of us may be given much harder assignments, such as Mary’s, to where our assignment means we give up our rights to be thought well of and/or to be liked and admired by people. Either way, we should all be bearing Christ in our bodies, i.e. we should be crucified with Christ, so that we (our flesh) no longer live, but Christ lives within us (as master), and the lives we now live we live by faith in the Son of God who gave himself up for us when he died on the cross for our sins (see Galatians 2:20). So, we should all have the same attitude as Mary. No matter what God calls us to do or what assignments he gives us and no matter what it may cost us in this life, we should all say with Mary: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” I pray that will be the heart response of all true believers in Jesus Christ today.
Jesus, Lead Me / An Original Work / July 22, 2011
Jesus, lead me all the way.
Be my hope and be my stay.
Gently lead me where I should go,
So Your Spirit, I want to know.
Open up my heart to You.
Fill me with Your love and truth.
Make my heart want to obey.
Be my Lord today. Gently lead alway.
Jesus, lover of my soul,
Cleanse my heart, and make me whole;
Be transformed in my heart today,
As I turn from my sin and pray.
Make Your will known to my heart.
May I not from You depart.
How I long to hear You now,
As I humbly bow. Jesus, hear me now.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Link to Song
1 comment:
I need to have faith like Mary. I can't imagine being in her place and and stigmatized as she was. I would find it difficult to believe that God would do something like that in my life.
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