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At the time when the story of the New Testament begins, the land of
Israel, called also the land of Judea, was ruled by a king named
Herod. He was the first of several Herods, who at different times
ruled either the whole of the land, or parts of it. But Herod was not
the highest ruler. Many years before this time, the Romans, who came
from the city of Rome in Italy, had won all the lands around the
Great Sea, the sea which we call the Mediterranean; and above king
Herod of Judea was the great king of Rome, ruling over all the lands,
and over the land of Judea among them. So Herod, though king of
Judea, obeyed his overlord, the emperor at Rome. At the time when
this story begins, the emperor at Rome was named Augustus Cæsar.
At this time, the land where the Jews lived was full of people.
Jerusalem was its largest city, and in Jerusalem was standing the
Temple of the Lord, which king Herod had lately built anew, taking
the place of the old Temple built very many years before, which had
long needed repair. There were also many other large cities besides
Jerusalem. In the south was Hebron among the mountains; on the shore
of the Great Sea were Gaza, and Joppa, and Cæsarea; in the
middle of the land were Shechem and Samaria; and in the north were
Nazareth, and Cana; down by the shore of the Sea of Galilee were
Tiberias, and Capernaum, and Bethsaida. Far up in the north, at the
foot of snowy Mount Hermon, was another Cæsarea; but so that it
might not be confused with Cæsarea upon the seacoast this city
was called Cæsarea-Philippi, or "Philip's
Cæsarea," from the name of one of Herod's sons.
One day, an old priest named Zacharias was leading the service of
worship in the Temple. He was standing in front of the golden altar
of incense, in the Holy Place, and was holding in his hand a censer,
or cup, full of burning coals and incense; while all the people were
worshipping in the court of the Temple, outside the court of the
Priests, where the great altar of burnt-offering stood .
Suddenly, Zacharias saw an angel from the Lord, standing on the right
side of the altar of incense. He felt a great fear when he saw this
strange being with shining face; but the angel said to him:
"Do not be afraid, Zacharias; for I have come from the Lord to
bring good news. Your wife Elizabeth shall have a son, and you shall
name him John. You shall be made glad, for your son John shall bring
joy and gladness to many. He shall be great in the sight of the Lord;
and he shall never taste wine nor strong drink as long as he lives;
but he shall be filled with God's Holy Spirit. He shall lead many of
the people of Israel to the Lord, for he shall go before the Lord in
the power of Elijah the prophet, as was promised by Malachi, the last
of the old prophets. He shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children, and those who are disobeying the Lord to do his will."
As Zacharias heard these words, he was filled with wonder, and could
hardly believe them true. He was now an old man, and his wife
Elizabeth was also old; so that they could not expect to have a
child. He said to the angel:
"How shall I know that your words are true, for I am an old man,
and my wife is old?"
"I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God," said the
angel. "And I was sent from the Lord to speak to you, and to
bring you this good news. But because you did not believe my words,
you shall become dumb, and shall not be able to speak, until this
which I have said comes to pass."
All this time the people outside in the court were wondering why the
priest stayed so long in the Temple. When at last he came out, they
found that he could not speak a word; but he made signs to them, to
tell them that he had seen a vision in the Temple.
After the days of his service were over, Zacharias went to his own
home, which was near Hebron, a city of the priests, among the
mountains in the south of Judea. When his wife Elizabeth found that
God was soon to give her a child, she was very happy, and praised the Lord.
About six months after Zacharias saw the vision in the Temple, the
same angel Gabriel was sent from the Lord to a city in the part of
the land called Galilee, which was in the north. The city to which
the angel was sent was Nazareth. There the angel found a young girl
named Mary, who was a cousin to Elizabeth. Mary was soon to be
married to a good man who had sprung from the line of king David,
though he was not himself a king, nor a rich man. He was a carpenter,
living in Nazareth, and his name was Joseph. The angel came into the
room where Mary was, and said to her: "Hail, woman favored by
the Lord; the Lord is with you!"
Mary was surprised at the angel's words, and wondered what they could
mean. Then the angel spoke again, and said: "Do not be afraid,
Mary. The Lord has given to you his favor, and has chosen you to be
the mother of a son whose name shall be Jesus, which means
'salvation,' because he shall save his people from their sins. He
shall be great, and shall be called the Son of God; and the Lord
shall give to him the throne of his father David. He shall be a king,
and shall reign over the people of God forever; and of his kingdom
there shall be no end."
But Mary could not see how all this was to come to pass. And the
angel said to her:
"The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most
High God shall be over you; and the child which you shall have shall
be called holy, the Son of God."
Then the angel told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was soon to have a
child, through the power of the Lord. And when Mary heard all this,
she said: "I am the servant of the Lord, to do his will. Let it
be to me as you have said."
When the angel had given his message and had gone away, Mary rose up
in haste and made a journey to the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth saw Mary, she was filled with the Spirit of the Lord,
and said:
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed among men shall be
your son! And why is it that the mother of my Lord comes to visit me?
Blessed is the woman who believed that the promise of the Lord to her
shall be made true!"
Then Mary was filled with the Spirit of the Lord, and broke out into
a song of praise. She stayed with Elizabeth for nearly three months,
and then went again to her own home at Nazareth.
As the angel had said, to the aged woman Elizabeth was given a son.
They were going to name him Zacharias, after his father. But his
mother said: "No, his name shall be John."
"Why," they said, "none of your family have ever been
named John!"
They asked his father Zacharias, by signs, what name he wished to be
given to the child. He asked for something to write upon; and when
they brought it, he wrote, "His name is John." Then all at
once, the power to hear and to speak came back to Zacharias. He
spoke, praising and blessing God; and he sang a song of thanks to
God, in which he said:
"You O child, shall be called a prophet of the Most High; to go
before the Lord, and to make ready his ways."
When John was growing up, they sent him out into the desert on the
south of the land, and there he stayed until the time came for him to
preach to the people; for this child became the great prophet John
the Baptist.
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