When the New Testament opens, the heavens had been silent for several hundred years – no angelic visitors, no prophets, no miracles. The Jews were under Roman rule. The conquering general entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple to show Roman dominance over the God of Israel. At the time of Christ’s birth, Herod the King was subservient to Rome.
The Annunciation of John the Baptist
READ Luke 1:5-9
How
was Zacharias chosen to administer in the Temple, out of all the many Priests
that were qualified, and why is it significant?
By casting lots.
This method of choosing the administering
Priest enabled the Lord to place the right person in the right place at the
right time.
READ Luke 1:10-11
What
does the incense represent and why is it relevant to understanding the priest’s
prayer?
The prayers of Israel.
The smell was to remind Israel of the
scent of Eden – the original place where God and man associated.
The shape of the incense burning in the
room formed a “tree” as it hit the roof and billowed outward, representing Eden
and the Tree of Life.
The Tree of Life and its fruit represents
(among other things…) Christ and His atonement.
Where
does the angel appear?
The angel appears at the right side of
the altar of incense because that is where one would be standing if one had
just stepped through the veil from the room on the other side of the veil.
What
is on the other side of the veil?
The Holy of Holies – which represents the
throne room of God.
READ Luke 1:12-13
What
was Zacharias praying for?
He was NOT praying for a son, as is
commonly taught! He and his wife were
both too old anyway and they knew it – that shipped had passed, they believed.
He was not “free-lancing”; a multitude of
people were waiting outside for him to conduct the ceremony and recite the
proscribed prayer – they would have known how long it all took to perform.
READ the prayer: “Be graciously pleased,
Jehovah our God with thy people, Israel, and with their prayer. Restore
the service to the oracle of Thy house…Bless
us, O our Father, all of us as one, with the light of Thy countenance. For in the light of Thy countenance hast
Thou, Jehovah our God, given us the law of life, and loving mercy, and
righteousness, and blessing, and compassion, and life, and peace. (Alfred Edersheim, The Temple, Its
Ministry and Services, p. 129)
So,
what is Zacharias praying for?
The return of God’s presence to Israel
(“light of thy countenance”).
The return of revelation and light to
Israel (“service to the oracle”).
READ Luke 1:17
How
does this prayer result in “being heard” and Elisabeth bearing a son?
The son (John the Baptist) born to
Zacharias and Elisabeth would prepare the way for the “light of Thy
countenance” or Christ, to come to earth.
READ Luke 1:18-19
Was
Gabriel “free-lancing” with this message?
No.
Instead of coming from the next room which is the symbolic presence of
God (the Holy of Holies), Gabriel was coming from the Heavenly Temple and the
ACTUAL throne and presence of God.
The message Gabriel had just given
Zacharias was given to the angel by God and recited word for word – these were
God’s words to Zacharias.
How
can we know this was true revelation from God to a man?
This is how God prefers to speak to
men. He does not speak in ambiguities,
requiring counsels to debate meanings, or scholars to do research, or time to
pass to understand context. True
revelation is clear, definite, unmistakable, and intrudes with sometimes
unwelcome or surprising news. Even when
He speaks in symbols (like Pharoah’s dream), He provides an
interpretation. Sometimes we don’t
understand it all – even when He speaks in complete clarity, but that is done
to our lack of light or refusing to seek after understanding (see 2 Nephi
32:7).
We can also ask God to confirm it to our
hearts.
Gabriel made it very clear what was to
happen and why – the proof of its truth was laid out in the revelation.
Who
was Gabriel on earth and why might he have been selected to announce John’s
birth?
Gabriel was Noah (see History of the
Church 3:386).
Gabriel is the
“archangel of the west” and represents water, appropriate because of the flood.
The flood was
a “baptism” for the earth (see 1 Peter 3:20-22).
John was to
become the “Baptist” and baptize the Christ.
What
is causing Zacharias to doubt God?
Biology.
This is also evidence that he wasn’t
praying for a son.
READ Luke 1:20-22
What
were the other Priests and people thinking when Zacharias did not come out of
the Holy Place at the appointed time?
He’s had a heart attack or stroke and
we’ll not be able to go in there and get the body until the evening ceremony.
What an inconvenience.
Why
was Zacharias really struck dumb?
As a very public sign to the Priestly
leadership at Jerusalem that Zacharias had seen a vision.
To push the God’s public relations and
marketing campaign for this birth into high gear. All of Jerusalem and Judea knew about
Zacharias, Elisabeth and John – this very public event occurred in the
religious and cultural center of Israel – people were talking about it for
years afterward. In fact, the public
nature of this miraculous birth led to Zacharias’ eventual death.
What
would have happened if he had not been struck dumb and had come out and told
the Priests what had happened?
They would not have believed him.
He would have been discredited and the
story hushed up.
The Priestly class was not likely to
welcome the message of a Messiah – as we ultimately saw 34 years later.
The Annunciation of Jesus of Nazareth:
READ Luke 1:26-30
Why
was Mary troubled about Gabriel’s saying that she was “highly favored”?
She is extremely humble – she does not
think of herself as blessed among (above) women.
READ Luke 1:31-33
How
is this child the answer to Zacharias’ prayer?
This “son of the Highest” is Jehovah, the
one to whom the prayer was addressed – the “light of His countenance” was
coming to earth.
READ Luke 1:34-38
While
Zacharias had his own challenges to overcome, what is Mary’s issue with this
birth?
She is not married; but she is virtuous,
so she is a virgin.
But the world will not believe this when
she becomes pregnant – her reputation will be destroyed.
How
will this problem be resolved?
A god who can enter a locked room without
damaging the building can just as easily cause pregnancy while leaving the
mother a virgin.
With God, nothing is impossible! Mary learned this firsthand to be true and
this phrase likely became a family motto, as Christ uses it in his ministry
(see Matt 19:26).
Regardless of the mechanics, Jesus of
Nazareth was the son of God the Father – the only begotten son.
Some have speculated that Mary was
actually the condescension of Heavenly Mother to earth – as 1 Nephi 8:8-20 asks
“knowest thou the condescension of God?” followed immediately by a vision not
of Christ but of Mary. I find some
doctrinal problems with this idea (how can the Goddess – part of the Elohim -
put aside her glorified physical soul to be born into a mortal earth if the
Father cannot do this as His body is inseparably connected to His spirit and
needs a Son to perform the Atonement) but clearly this is an area of knowledge
I know extremely little about.
READ Matthew 1:18-19
Remember that Mary went immediately to
Judea to visit her cousin Elisabeth for the final 3 months of Elisabeth’s
pregnancy (and likely the birth of John).
She was 3 months pregnant herself when she returned home.
What
happened when Mary was “found with child” upon her return to Nazareth?
Nazareth was a small town… the rumor mill
must have been terrible.
Joseph decided to divorce her quietly,
instead of hauling her in front of the Council or having her put to death,
which would have been within his rights by Jewish law.
Joseph must have been devastated by what
he must have thought Mary had done in Judea while she had been visiting
Elisabeth.
READ Matthew 1:20-24
When
did Joseph marry Mary?
That night.
Do
you think that dispelled the rumors?
No, but it indicted Joseph as the
“father” instead of some strange man in Judea.
What
does that tell you about the man tasked with raising the Only Begotten Son?
He was a man of integrity.
He loved Mary.
He loved God.
He was willing to do whatever it took –
including destroying his own reputation in the eyes of men – he “feared” God
more than he feared men.
Why
did Jesus have to be the begotten son of God?
So that He could stand the infinite and
eternal suffering required to redeem all mankind – so He could withstand all
the suffering that a God could suffer.
So that He could also have life in
Himself, so that He could attain to the resurrection of the dead and save all
of those who were depending upon Him for salvation.
Why
did His mother have to be mortal?
So that He could suffer and die like all
other mortals.
So that He could be tempted in all things
and be subject to Satan – BUT GIVE NO HEED TO THEM.
