These verses tell the story of a birth - the most important birth that ever takes place, the birth of the Son of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Throughout all the circumstances around His birth, we see the hand of God ordering the smallest details according to His plan for this incredibly important event. Christ is born at a

It’s maybe hard for us, looking back and clearly seeing God’s promise of a Saviour being fulfiled in Jesus Christ, to understand the mindset of someone like Zechariah, to fully appreciate the overwhelming joy he feels in what is going on. As his dumbness is removed, the very first words he says are praise to God. The oldest promise God

When Elizabeth gives birth to a son, all her relatives and friends rejoice with her. Though it is a small thing, rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep, is a godly thing (Romans 12:15), and it is something that our Lord Jesus Christ did, rejoicing at a wedding and weeping at a funeral (John 2 and

Mary’s song of praise to God teaches us several things about our own prayers to God. First of all, Mary’s song is very similar both to Hannah’s in 1 Samuel 2:2 and the Psalms. Mary is so familiar with Scripture that her praise is full of phrases from God’s Word. We should work to become more and more familiar with

Mary, a virgin engaged to be married, has just been visited by the angel Gabriel who has informed her that some miraculous things are going to happen to her, and that the prayers of God’s people for thousands of years are soon to be answered. If this had happened to you, what is the first thing you would have done?

The incarnation - God becoming man, conceived in the womb of a virgin, and born without sin - is a miracle and a mystery. We can’t explain how it happened, and we shouldn’t try to speculate. It is enough to know and believe that it happened. The angel doesn’t explain to Mary in detail how this miracle will happen, and

Here in these verses is the announcement of one of the most important things that has ever happened - the incarnation and birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And where is this announcement made? In an obscure town, of an obscure region, in an obscure country to an obscure, probably poor, girl. It would have been a humiliation for Jesus,

Righteous and holy as Zechariah is, the angel’s words seem impossible. He is a Jew, an educated Jew - he should have known better. He should remember the births of Isaac, Samson, and Samuel, and that nothing is impossible with God. But he is thinking in man’s terms not God’s. Unbelief is at the heart of all our sin. It

Just because God doesn’t answer our prayers for a long time, doesn’t mean the answer is no. Zechariah and Elizabeth have prayed for a child for years and years. Finally, God is answering their prayer. This should encourage us, especially as we pray for the salvation of others. God, who knows the best time for a child to be born,

God’s Word has prophesied that when the Messiah comes, someone will go before Him to prepare the way (Malachi 3:1). This forerunner is going to be born into the family of a priest. We can hardly begin to imagine how amazing and important the angel’s message to Zechariah is. It is the first time God speaks to Israel since the