Luke 1

Because it's Christmas Eve, I'm breaking my pattern of full books at a time. Luke and Matthew both cover the Christmas story, so here is Luke 1: http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+1/

Luke writes out his qualifications for telling the story of the life of Jesus, and he assures Theophilus that he is telling the true story from a collection of eyewitness accounts. He says that he followed the story closely from the beginning. No one knows for sure who Theophilus is.

There was a mand named Zachariah, who was a priest. His wife, Elizabeth, descended from Aaron, Moses's brother. One day, while Zachariah did his job in the temple, burning incense for the Lord, an angel appeared to him and told him that his barren wife would have a son, and they were to name him John. Their son would be a great man for the Lord. He will never drink wine and like his parents will perfectly keep to God's standards. Of many things that he will do, among them is restore people of Israel to God and change the way some parents treat their children. John the Baptist is the baby mentioned here. Zachariah asked the angel how this could happen because he and Elizabeth were both old and beyond childbearing years. The angel said that he was Gabriel and stood in the presence of God. Because Zachariah did not believe, God made him mute until all the things the angel spoke would come to pass. When he left the temple, the people saw that he was mute and knew he had a vision while in the temple. After a while, Elizabeth found that she was pregnant and was overjoyed in the Lord. If God speaks to you, listen because He always does what He says He will; in fact, there may be consequences for those who do not listen.

After six months of Elizabeth's pregnancy, Gabriel visits Mary. He tells her that she too will soon be with child. At the time, Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, so she questioned how she could have a child while still a virgin, so Gabriel pointed out that Elizabeth, barren and old, was pregnant; therefore, nothing is impossible for God. Gabriel tells Mary that God chose her because she found favor with God.  Then, he gives her specific instructions. He tells her she will have a son and has to name Him Jesus. He will take the throne of David and rule over the people of Israel forever. His kingdom will never end. Mary hears that He will be the Son of the God Most High. That would be pretty intimidating. Imagine giving birth to God. Imagine parenting God and punishing Him(? Ok maybe not) and teaching Him about worldly things. That would be scary and awesome at the same time. This girl, around 14 was chosen to give birth to God with skin on. God can truly do anything.

After hearing this, Mary goes to visit her relative Elizabeth. Upon greeting Elizabeth, the baby kicks, and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the first account of someone receiving the Holy Spirit. John begins the work the angel promised before he is even born. Elizabeth tells Mary that she is honored to be in Mary's presence, for Mary is the most blessed woman. When standing in her presence, Elizabeth could sense that she was standing in the presence of the mother of God because the baby kicked. Elizabeth tells Mary that Mary is blessed because she believed what the Lord promised her.

Mary praises the Lord. She says her spirit finds joy in Him because He looked on her favorable for being a humble servant. She offers all of the praise back to Him. She says that she will be called blessed because of what He did for her. She brings it back to Him. His name is holy, and He brings joy to the generations. She knows His power and how He uses it. God takes down cocky people who try to overshadow Him and places humble people in their places and chooses such people to do great things, like Mary. Most importantly, she speak about how He kept His promises to Israel, His chosen people. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months before returning home.

When the time came for John to be born, she had a son. It didn't take long for her neighbors to hear about what God had done for her. They were all amazed. As with the Jewish custom, they circumcised him on the eighth day, and all those with Elizabeth wanted to name him Zachariah after his father. Elizabeth would not allow it and insisted they name him John. Because the people thought she was too stubborn, they went to Zachariah and he wrote that the boy should be named John, and at that moment, he coud speak again. Immediately, he praised God for what had happened and what would happen. He was filled with the Holy Spirit. He talked of how John was a sign that God was making good on His promis to the people of Israel. He said that a king was coming from the line of David. He reminds everyone of the Lord's promise to deliver the Israelites from their enemies and all who hate them and have power over them. He does all of this through Jesus. He tells his son that he is a prophet of the Lord. John will go before Jesus and prepare the way. He will let people know that there is an easy way to be saved. They can receive new life through repentance. Jesus will be proof of God's mercy and a light in the darkness. He will guide us all on the way of peace. John lived in the desert until his time came to do what the Lord instructed him to.

Now everything is set up for the Christmas story. God has spoken of everything He will do and shown how it will fulfill promises He made to the Old Testament prophets. Now, He can put His plan into action.