God's Glory Church

And he himself will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah… to equip ready people for the Lord. — Luke 1:17
During the period of the end of the Old Testament times, it seemed as if God was going to hide himself from the people. For four centuries, the Jews believed that God had become indifferent and deaf to their prayers. One hope remained: the coming of the Messiah promised by the prophets. The Jews placed all their hopes on this promise. And suddenly something very important happened: the Angels announced the birth of the Baby.

You can feel the overwhelming joy as you read in Luke’s Gospel about the people’s reactions to this news. The events surrounding the birth of Jesus resemble an extremely positive musical. Various characters fill the scene: a gray-haired priest (Lk. 1:5-25), a stunned virgin (Lk. 1:26-38), an aged prophetess Anna (Lk. 2:36). Mary herself could not refrain from glorifying God with a beautiful hymn of praise (Lk. 1:46-55). Even the unborn John the Baptist began to fight for joy in his mother’s womb (Lk. 1:41).

Luke was careful to point out the direct connection between the birth of Jesus and the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. The angel Gabriel even called John the Baptist “Elijah”, who was sent to prepare the way for the Lord (Lk. 1:17). Indeed, something great and incredible was about to happen on planet Earth. Something bright and joyful happened in a distant corner of the Roman Empire among the sad enslaved peasants.

You have come – and we are happy! Jesus, you are our gift of redemption and hope. We thank you.
“One day in our world, in a poor manger, the One who is greater than the whole world appeared.” — K. Lewis, from the book “The Last Battle”
Author: pbrown-paul