Luk0105-20 Gabriel Visits Zacharias.jpg
Gabriel's Special Surprises
 
In the days of King Herod there lived a couple named Zacharias and Elizabeth. This couple were quite old and had never been able to have children. Zacharias was a priest and one day he was praying before the altar of incense. While praying an angel appeared to him and told him that he and Elizabeth were going to have a son. They were to call his name John.

Zacharias asked how such a thing could be because he was old, and so was his wife. The angel told him that his name was Gabriel and that he stood in the presence of God, and because he did not believe he would not be able to speak until all of this had happened.

Poor Zacharias. He was sorry he had not believed but now all he could do was wait till the baby was born. He finished his prayer, then went out to the people. They all wondered why it had taken him so long, but he could not tell them bacause he could not talk. When he had finished his time of duty at the temple he went back to his home.

Six months passed and again this same angel appeared to someone else. This time a young lady whose name was Mary. Gabriel told Mary that she also was going to have a son and she was to call his name Jesus. Mary did not understand how this could happen because she was not yet married. The angel told her that with God all things are possible, and her son would be the Son of God and would be the Messiah. Gabriel also told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was with child.

Although Mary was not yet married she was engaged to a man named Joseph. They were going to get married shortly, but then Mary found out she was going to have a baby. Joseph thought it would be wrong for them to marry and he was going to break-off their engagement. While he was still thinking about this an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel told Joseph that he was to marry Mary for the child that she was carrying was the Son of God. Jesus was the name that the angel told Joseph to call the child.

All of this happened so that prophecy would be fulfilled. When mankind first sinned God promised that a Messiah would come. Messiah means deliver. By accepting this deliverer mankind would be freed from their sins. All through the Old Testament there are prophecies about how the Messiah would come and what He would do. There is even a prophecy as to when He would come.

The priests and rabbis thought that they knew and understood these prophecies, but because of corruption they had misapplied them. They taught the people that when the Messiah came He would free the people from their Roman oppressors and set up an earthly kingdom that would last forever.

Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2). Isaiah tells us, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14). Matthew tells us that His name would be called Emmanuel, which means God with us. What a wonderful prophecy! Fancy God coming in human form to save sinful human beings. But this is exactly what happened.

After the visits from the angel Mary decided to go and visit her cousin Elizabeth. When Elizabeth and Mary met, the child that Elizabeth was carrying leapt for joy within her. Mary stayed with Elizabeth and Zacharias for about 3 months then went home again.

It was about this time that Elizabeth gave birth to a baby boy. All the friends and neighbours came to celebrate with them. Everyone wanted to know what they would call their son. Elizabeth told them his name would be John. Nobody could believe it. There was not anyone in their family by that name. They thought the boy should be named after his father, or at least an uncle. Zacharias who was still unable to speak signaled for a writing tablet. He wrote, his name shall be John. Instantly he was able to speak again. What joy and rejoicing there was in this household.

Nearly 6 months after this Caesar Augustus made a decree that all the people of his kingdom should be taxed. But first they had to be registered in the city of their ancestors. For Joseph this was Bethlehem, because he was a descendant of David. Joseph really did not want to take a trip like this just now, not with his wife due to have a baby any day. The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem was quite a distance, especially as Joseph had to walk it while Mary rode on a donkey. But they had no choice, they had to go. As they journeyed they prayed that they would make it to Bethlehem for the baby to be born.

We can see from this story that one of the prophecies has been fulfilled. By reading more of the Bible Stories we can find out how all the Bible prophecies have been fulfilled. By seeing how God's Word was fulfilled in the past can give us confidence to believe and trust His word in the future.

(Matthew 1, Luke 1-2 Jesuspriv)

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