Advent: A Time of Love

⁵ When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest by the name of Zechariah from the priestly group of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was from the family of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were good people and pleased the Lord God by obeying all that he had commanded. ⁷ But they did not have children. Elizabeth could not have any, and both Zechariah and Elizabeth were already old. ⁸ One day Zechariah's group of priests were on duty, and he was serving God as a priest. ⁹ According to the custom of the priests, he had been chosen to go into the Lord's temple that day and to burn incense, ¹⁰ while the people stood outside praying. ¹¹ All at once an angel from the Lord appeared to Zechariah at the right side of the altar. ¹² Zechariah was confused and afraid when he saw the angel. ¹³ But the angel told him: Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayers. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you must name him John. ¹⁴ His birth will make you very happy, and many people will be glad. ¹⁵ Your son will be a great servant of the Lord. He must never drink wine or beer, and the power of the Holy Spirit will be with him from the time he is born. ¹⁶ John will lead many people in Israel to turn back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ He will go ahead of the Lord with the same power and spirit that Elijah had. And because of John, parents will be more thoughtful of their children. And people who now disobey God will begin to think as they ought to. This is how John will get people ready for the Lord. ¹⁸ Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this is going to happen? My wife and I are both very old.” ¹⁹ The angel answered, “I am Gabriel, God's servant, and I was sent to tell you this good news. ²⁰ You have not believed what I have said. So you will not be able to say a thing until all this happens. But everything will take place when it is supposed to.” ²¹ The crowd was waiting for Zechariah and kept wondering why he was staying in the temple so long. ²² When he did come out, he could not speak, and they knew he had seen a vision. He motioned to them with his hands, but did not say a thing. ²³ When Zechariah's time of service in the temple was over, he went home. ²⁴ Soon after this, his wife was expecting a baby, and for five months she did not leave the house. She said to herself, ²⁵ “What the Lord has done for me will keep people from looking down on me.”

Luke 1:5-25

²⁶ One month later God sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in Galilee ²⁷ with a message for a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to Joseph from the family of King David. ²⁸ The angel greeted Mary and said, “You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ Mary was confused by the angel's words and wondered what they meant. ³⁰ Then the angel told Mary, “Don't be afraid! God is pleased with you, ³¹ and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of God Most High. The Lord God will make him king, as his ancestor David was. ³³ He will rule the people of Israel forever, and his kingdom will never end.” ³⁴ Mary asked the angel, “How can this happen? I am not even married!” ³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come down to you, and God's power will come over you. So your child will be called the holy Son of God. ³⁶ Your relative Elizabeth is also going to have a son, even though she is old. No one thought she could ever have a baby, but in three months she will have a son. ³⁷ Nothing is impossible for God!” ³⁸ Mary said, “I am the Lord's servant! Let it happen as you have said.” And the angel left her.

Luke 1:26-38

¹⁸ This is how Jesus Christ was born. A young woman named Mary was engaged to Joseph from King David's family. But before they were married, she learned that she was going to have a baby by God's Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Joseph was a good man and did not want to embarrass Mary in front of everyone. So he decided to quietly call off the wedding. ²⁰ While Joseph was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, the baby that Mary will have is from the Holy Spirit. Go ahead and marry her. ²¹ Then after her baby is born, name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” ²² So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, ²³ “A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.” ²⁴ After Joseph woke up, he and Mary were soon married, just as the Lord's angel had told him to do. ²⁵ But they did not sleep together before her baby was born. Then Joseph named him Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25

⁸ That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep. ⁹ All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord's glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened. ¹⁰ But the angel said, “Don't be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy. ¹¹ This very day in King David's hometown a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. ¹² You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay.” ¹³ Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said: ¹⁴ “Praise God in heaven! Peace on earth to everyone who pleases God.” ¹⁵ After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let's go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about.” ¹⁶ They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying on a bed of hay. ¹⁷ When the shepherds saw Jesus, they told his parents what the angel had said about him. ¹⁸ Everyone listened and was surprised. ¹⁹ But Mary kept thinking about all this and wondering what it meant. ²⁰ As the shepherds returned to their sheep, they were praising God and saying wonderful things about him. Everything they had seen and heard was just as the angel had said.

Luke 2:8-20

¹³ After the wise men had gone, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Hurry and take the child and his mother to Egypt! Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is looking for the child and wants to kill him.” ¹⁴ That night, Joseph got up and took his wife and the child to Egypt, ¹⁵ where they stayed until Herod died. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, “I called my son out of Egypt.”

Matthew 2:13-15