CHAPTER 1

King Herod the Great was a non-Jewish Edomite, who ruled Israel for the Romans from 37 to 4 BC. Under Caesar Augustus, the Romans appointed Herod the “King of the Jews.” King Herod was a master-builder that gave him the title “the Great.” His greatest building project was the rebuilding of the temple complex in Jerusalem. He doubled its size and surrounded it by massive walls with gates.

During the rule of King Herod the Great there lived a common temple priest named Zechariah. He belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. Israel had 24 divisions of priests—about 18,000 priests—that served at the temple. A temple priest served in Jerusalem for about two weeks each year. Unlike the elite chief priests, these common priests of the people had other occupations the rest of the year.

Zechariah was probably a farmer or a craftsman. His wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of the priestly lineage of Aaron. Zechariah and Elizabeth were very old. They lived simple and righteous lives before God—blamelessly obeying all the Lord’s commandments and regulations. But sadly, they had no children because Elizabeth could not conceive.

One day Zechariah’s division was on temple duty, and so he went to Jerusalem to serve as a priest before God. According to the priestly custom, Zechariah was chosen by the throwing of dice to go into the temple sanctuary and burn incense on the altar in the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place was located in the center of the temple sanctuary and contained the altar of incense, the golden lamp stand, and the table of consecrated bread. Incense was offered in the Most Holy Place before the morning sacrifice and after the evening sacrifice. Incense— representing prayer—was kept burning continually before the Lord. Each day during the time of the burning of the incense, a large group of worshipers would gather together and pray outside the sanctuary.

While Zechariah was standing at the right side of the altar of incense in the Most Holy Place, the archangel Gabriel suddenly appeared to Zechariah.

When Zechariah saw Gabriel, he was startled and gripped with fear. But Gabriel said to Zechariah, “Do not be afraid, for your prayer request has been heard by God. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a son, and you are to name him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many people will rejoice because of his birth. He will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And John will go before the Lord and fulfill what is written in Malachi 4:5-6, ‘He will minister in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’”

With a puzzled look on his face, Zechariah asked Gabriel, “How do I know this will come true? For my wife and I are very old.” Gabriel said to him, “I am the archangel Gabriel! I stand in God’s presence, and he sent me to tell you this wonderful news. But because you have not believed my message, you will not be able to speak until John’s birth. For my message will be fulfilled at the right time.”

Meanwhile, the people praying outside the temple sanctuary were waiting anxiously for Zechariah to come out from the Most Holy Place. They were wondering why he stayed so long inside the temple. When Zechariah finally came out of the sanctuary, he looked confused and could not talk to the people praying for him. He was just making hand signs to them. Then all the people realized that Zechariah had seen a vision.

Startled by the appearance and promise of Gabriel, Zechariah returned to his home in the hill country of Judea, the southern region of Israel, after his temple service was finished. Soon after Zechariah returned home, Elizabeth became pregnant, and so she stayed secluded in her house for five months. Overwhelmed with joy, she declared, “The Lord has done this for me. In these days he has shown his grace to me and has taken away my shame from among the people.”

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent Gabriel to the small town of Nazareth in Galilee, to visit a young virgin girl named Mary. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who have been greatly blessed! The Lord God is with you!” Mary was overwhelmed by Gabriel’s words and wondered what kind of greeting this was. But Gabriel said to her, “Mary, do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son. You are to give him the name Jesus, which means “the Lord saves.” He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God! The Lord God will give Jesus the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever. His kingdom will have no end.”

Shaking with wonder, Mary asked Gabriel, “How can this happen, since I am a virgin?” Gabriel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High God will overshadow you. Therefore, the one born to you will be called the Son of God, the Messiah. Believe me, for even your relative Elizabeth is going to have a son in her old age. She is now six months pregnant. Nothing is impossible with God!” Then Mary said with confident faith, “I am the Lord’s servant, so let your message to me be fulfilled.”

Then Gabriel left Mary.

As Gabriel had promised, Mary was soon found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. However, when Mary became pregnant, she was legally engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. But because Joseph lived a righteous life and did not want to disgrace her in public, he decided to end his engagement with Mary in secret.

Finding herself pregnant, Mary immediately got ready and hurried to visit Zechariah and Elizabeth in a town in the hill country of Judea. When Mary arrived, she rushed into the house and greeted Elizabeth with joy. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Overflowing with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth declared in a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the son in your womb! Why am I so blessed that the mother of my Lord has come to visit me? As soon as I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. Blessed are you for believing that the Lord would fulfill his promises!”

Then, overcome with wonder, Mary began to rejoice, “My soul magnifies the Lord! My spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has seen the humble heart 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 goes out to all who fear him, from generation to generation. He has done mighty acts with his mighty arm. He has scattered those who are proud in their hearts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted 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, just as he promised our ancestors.”

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home to Nazareth.

God’s promise to Elizabeth came true, and she gave birth to a son. Her relatives and neighbors heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her. Eight days after his birth, all the relatives and neighbors came together to celebrate the circumcision of the baby boy. They were about to name him Zechariah after his father, but Elizabeth quickly spoke up and said, “No! His name must be John.” They were all surprised and said to her, “There is no one in your family who has the name John.” And then they made hand signs to Zechariah, for they wanted to know what he wanted to name his son. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s amazement he wrote, “His name is to be John.”

Suddenly Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and began praising God. He prophesied: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come and redeemed his people. He has raised up the king of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. As God said through the Old Testament prophets long ago, ‘Salvation from our enemies and from all those who hate us—to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath of promise 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 son John, will be called a prophet of the Most High God, for you will go before the Messiah to prepare the way for him. You will give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. For the compassionate mercy of our God—by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven—will shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, and will guide our feet into the path of peace.”

All the relatives and neighbors were filled with amazement, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about the birth. Everyone who heard what had happened was puzzled and asked each other, “Who is this boy going to be?” For they knew the Lord’s hand was with him. John grew up in the strength of the Holy Spirit, and he lived in the Wilderness of Judea until he started his public ministry to the people of Israel.

Now back in Nazareth, when Joseph was still thinking about how to end his engagement with Mary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, for the baby in her womb is from the Holy Spirit. Mary’s first child will be a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what is written in Isaiah 7:14, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel,” which means God with us.

When Joseph woke up from his sleep, he did what the angel of the Lord had told him. He married Mary and took her home as his wife, but he did not have sexual intercourse with her before she gave birth to a son.