Issue 2009 #4
Table of Contents:
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The Other Christmas Baby Who Brought Joy
Gabriel promised Zechariah the priest that he and Elizabeth would have a son, and that his name should be John, and listen to this - "And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth."
For that elderly couple this baby would fulfill a longing they had lived with for many decades. Can you visualize how deliriously happy they were? Zechariah was not able to speak, (this was God's rebuke for not believing the message immediately), but it is safe to say that Elizabeth probably could not keep silent. She may have bustled off to tell her friends and relatives.
But there's more! When Elizabeth's younger cousin, Mary, of Nazareth, came for a visit, the baby still in Elizabeth's womb leaped for joy at the sound of Mary's voice. It caused Elizabeth to praise and worship God, for she knew the long-promised Messiah was coming at last. That was another great joy to anticipate.
Elizabeth's reaction confirmed the angel's message, and caused Mary to burst into songs of praise too. We find in Luke what is known as Mary's Song, or the Magnificat, because she magnified the name of the Lord. It is a lovely and intelligent worship of God, showing that she really got the bigger picture of God's purposes and power and majesty.
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever."
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then went home.
Finally the great birth day came for this baby born to the elderly couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth. As soon as their neighbours and friends heard that Elizabeth had given birth to this miracle son, they gathered around to celebrate and rejoice together.
In all the laughter and talking, naming the baby came up. It was assumed the baby would be named Zechariah after his father, but the proud old Dad called for writing material and he wrote, "His name is John."
Upon that announcement his tongue was loosed and he could speak again. Not only did he speak and praise God with great joy, he burst into a song of praise to God, and even prophesied what this baby John would grow up to do as the Messiah's fore-runner.
Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied,
"Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began,
That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
" And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
To give knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace."
May Christmas joy cause you to worship God and magnify Jesus too.
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