I WAS ASKED TO BRING THE GOSPELS INTO EASY ENGLISH FOR CHILDREN— Keith Hunt
Chapter Two:
Announcement that Mary is to Bear God's Son
God the Father had promised and prophesied many times in different ages under the Old Testament period that one day He would send a Messiah Savior to earth to not only live a holy sinless life, to show people the perfect ways of the Lord, but also to die for the sins of every person who has ever lived. This Savior would have to be more than just a human person as you and I are, in order to be able to take upon Himself the sins of every person. He would also have to be a part of God. It was during the sixth month of Elizabeth carrying the baby John that God the Father would start to fulfil those many Old Testament prophecies concerning the one to come who would be a part of Himself, would be His very own Son, yet born of a physical woman, and in that way this Messiah would be both of the human family and the God family. It would all come about in such a manner that it would be a miracle never done before nor again after. The angelic messenger Gabriel was sent to a town in the district of Galilee in Palestine, called Nazareth. He was to go to the cousin of Elizabeth, to a young lady called Mary, who was to be married to a man named Joseph. She had never been married, and had never slept with a man, so she was what we call a virgin. Gabriel came to her and said, "Hello Mary. You are highly favored, and the Lord God is with you. You are very blessed among women." When Mary saw the angel Gabriel she was troubled and perplexed. She wondered in her mind what these words from Gabriel meant. The angel could see that she was troubled by the words he spoke and went on to explain to her why God had favored her, and what the blessing would be that she would receive. "Fear not and be not upset Mary, for you have truly found favor with God. You shall become pregnant, have a baby growing inside of you, in your womb. The baby shall be a male child, and you shall call him Jesus (meaning Savior, someone who saves others). He shall be great, and shall also be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God shall give unto Him one day the throne of the ancient king David, whom you are descended from, and shall reign over the people of Jacob for ever. And of His Kingdom there shall never be an end." We have seen from the Bible Story of the Old Testament that Jacob was the father of 12 sons who became, through their descendants, the 12 tribes of Israel. David was later the second and most famous king of Israel. God had promised to him that his throne, his line of children, would always exist. And the most famous and by far the greatest of his line of children would be this promised Messiah Savior, whom today most of the world knows as Jesus Christ. To this Jesus, God the Father had also promised Him the throne of king David and a Kingdom that would never end. There are many prophecies in the Old Testament that confirm these two important promises to be given to Jesus one day. Those two promises were never realized or fulfilled in the physical life time of Jesus, but they still stand, yet to be given to Him sometime in the future. Mary was now even more puzzled at all these words from Gabriel, telling him that she could not understand how this could come about, becoming pregnant with a child, for she was not married and had never slept with any man. Gabriel answered her, and explained more, "The Holy Spirit, the very nature and power of God shall come upon you, work a miracle in your body, and you shall become pregnant with a holy child. This child shall not be from a physical man but a child from God, so He shall be called the Son of God." The angel wanted Mary to know that for God there was nothing He could not do, and so went on to say, "Your cousin Elizabeth is very old, passed the years of normally being able to have a child, yet she is also pregnant with a baby, and this is the sixth month of her pregnancy. So you see, with God there is nothing that is impossible for Him to do." Mary being a godly and faithful woman, now had trust and assurance in her heart that what Gabriel had told her would indeed come to pass, and be fulfilled just as God had said. She was happy and delighted to be the one whom the Lord God had chosen to bear His Son. She told the angel this and Gabriel then departed from her (Luke 1:26-38). What a blessing indeed this was for Mary. I'm sure she must have been stunned and speechless for a few days, as she meditated and thought about these words from the angel Gabriel. God the Father would need a woman of outstanding service, loyalty, and spiritual dedication, to be the mother of His Son. Someone who would care and protect and guide His son in every physical and spiritual way. What an honor indeed to be the woman chosen by God to undertake this service and duty. The honor is even more when we consider the very possible age of Mary when she would become the mother of the Son of the Most High. The Jewish society back then was much different than most of our nations of the western world today. It was the general practice and custom of the Jews in those days to marry very young. In fact it was looked upon as a family disgrace if the son was not married by age eighteen. And the young girls, or ladies of the family were often only in their middle teenage years when they married. So it is very probable that Mary was not yet out of her teens when Gabriel came to her with the wonderful news that she was the woman chosen by God to bear His son Jesus. Mary must have truly been a wonderfully serious and dedicated woman in the ways of the Lord, living and loving Him with all of her heart, all of her life, and all of her mind. MARY GOES TO VISIT ELIZABETH After the wonderment of all this had finally sunk into the mind of Mary, she was all excited and quickly wanted to visit Elizabeth her cousin. With speed she headed for the hill country of Judea and entered the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth. As Mary entered the home and called out the usual greetings of those times and culture of Jewish society, the baby John in Elizabeth's womb leaped for joy and Elizabeth was filled even more with the Holy Spirit, being inspired to know that Mary was carrying in her womb the very Lord Messiah. With a loud and electrifying voice Elizabeth exclaimed, "Blessed are you among women Mary, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. What an honor to have the mother of my Lord come to visit me, for as soon as your voice was heard in this house, greeting us, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And what a blessing that you believed what was told you from the Lord God." In passing we can note here that the reaction of baby John in Elizabeth's womb, to the entering of Mary into the house, and the baby Jesus in her womb, shows that babies not yet born but still inside the mother's stomach, are little persons, who can have feelings and reactions of their own, independent from the mother. They are small living persons not just a kind of nothingness mass of bones, blood, and skin, that people can kill and tear out of their body at the pleasure of their own heart and mind, as if it is a bothersome sore or pimple to get rid of. Mary was also inspired by all this, and burst out in praise to God with these words, "My life does praise the Lord, and my mind does rejoice in God my Savior. For he has looked down upon His handmaid, and all generations will know I am blessed. He that is mighty has done great things in my life and body. He is truly Holy, and His mercy and love is indeed upon them that respectfully fear Him, from generation to generation. He can put down those who are proud and mighty in their own eyes, and exalt and set on high those of humble attitude of mind. Those who are hungry for good righteous things He fills, and those who think they are rich in knowledge He gives none of His truths to. He has been faithful with the promises He gave to Israel, and remembers His mercy that He said He would give to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his descendants forever." Here we see some of the mindset attitude of this young lady Mary. An attitude of humbleness and a willingness to be filled with the true ways, the good ways of the Lord God. She was even as a young woman, a fine example of what a servant and child of God should be. And Mary stayed in the home of Elizabeth for about three months and then returned to her own household (Luke 1:39-56). THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF JOHN At last the nine month period of pregnancy for Elizabeth had come to an end and it was time to bring forth her boy into the world for all to see. All went well in her delivery and many of her neighbors and cousins rejoiced with her, knowing that God had performed great mercy towards her in her old age by giving her and Zacharias a son. As was the law of God the parents came on the eighth day to circumcise the child. And as was also the common custom of the day, the child was going to be given the name of his father. He was going to be called Zacharias. But his mother protested and said, "No, he is not to be called Zacharias, but he is to be called John." The people around were taken a back by this, for there was not one in the immediate descent of the family that was called by the name of John, and calling a child by a name that none in the family was called was just not done in those days. The people looked at Zacharias, making signs to him with their hands, for as yet Zacharias could still not speak. They wanted to know what he had to say on this matter of the naming of the child. Zacharias asked for a writing tablet which was brought to him. He wrote, "His name shall be called John." Everyone just marvelled at this whole thing. It was not the way it was usually done. As soon as Zacharias wrote those words God performed another miracle, as He immediately gave him his voice back, which he used right away to praise God. You can imagine the scene. Many were there who were there when Zacharias came out of the Temple about nine months earlier not able to speak, and now when Zacharias officially named the baby with the name of John (according as Gabriel the angel had said he was to be named nine months earlier), his voice was restored to him and he could speak once again. A fear of God came upon all that stood there, and what had taken place was told to others all over the hill country of Judea. People that heard all this began to wonder and think about what this child John would do in his life time. They knew something special was to become of this child. Indeed it was to be so, and the hand of the Lord was with John, for the Lord did have a special work for him to perform later in his life. God inspired Zacharias at that time to speak forth that which was the overall teaching and promises of the Lord by the holy prophets from the Old Testament. "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has come to visit and to redeem His people, and has raised up salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as was spoken by His holy prophets from old time. That we should be saved from our enemies, and from those who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to us from the time of our ancient fathers, to remember His covenant and the oath which He swore to our father Abraham. To grant us deliverance from our enemies, so we could serve Him without fear. To serve Him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life." As we read these words spoken by Zacharias we could be puzzled by them somewhat. For, even today, two thousand years later, the Jews are not delivered from their enemies and from those who hate them. Over in the land of Palestine there is still much trouble, fighting, killing, and hate going on between the Jews, the Arabs, and the Palestinians. Yes, God had given a promise, a covenant, and swore by an oath to people like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the great fathers of the Jews and people of Israel) that one day the children of Israel would be fully and completely delivered from their enemies to serve God in holiness and righteousness, without any fear of being persecuted or killed. Many of the prophets of the Old Testament have so written also. God will in His time bring all those promised to pass. The ancient prophets show that the literal fulfillment of those promises and of what Zacharias was saying, will not take place until Jesus the Messiah comes again in power and glory to set up the Kingdom of God on earth. Then the people of Israel will be delivered from the fear of hate and killing that often comes from their enemies. So how are we then to understand these words of Zacharias in the context of the birth of this man-child John? We are to understand them in a "spiritual" sense, that the time had come for God to work a wonderful work of salvation in many of the lives of the Jews and people of Israel. Many were to be delivered from all the mental and emotional sorrow of the mind, from the inner fear of the heart. They would find deliverance from sin and guilt, so they could live with peace in their mind, to serve God in holiness and righteousness. This understanding is clearly what Zacharias wanted to convey to the people there at that time and to us today, as we read the remaining words that he spoke. "And you child (referring to John) shall be known as the prophet of the Most High; for you shall go before the Lord (Jesus the Messiah) to prepare His ways. To give the knowledge of salvation to His people, the forgiveness of their sins, through the loving mercies of our God. When the day them comes from on high to give light to those who are in darkness and in the shadow of death. To then guide our feet into the way of peace." Ah yes, the wonderful promised time had arrived when God the Father was about to fulfil the sending of His Son to earth to take upon Himself the sins of the whole world, so His mercy could be given to all those who would be called to receive it. So many in Israel and in all other nations could find the forgiveness of their sins, and be guided into the way of salvation and peace of heart and mind. In this plan of God, it had been decreed that a human man would go before the coming of the Messiah Savior, to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins to all who would listen. To prepare the hearts of some for the coming of the Son of God, and the true spiritual deliverance He would bring. This prophet of the Lord God to go before the Messiah Jesus, was to be this child called John. And so it came about as we have just read. And this child John grew and became strong in his mind for the truths and the ways of the Almighty God. And he lived most of his life in the outdoors and the wilderness, until the day came to go forth to preach and teach the word of God to the people. ............................. Chapters one and two written November 2000 |
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