Luke 1:5-25

The birth of John was announced -- Luke 1:5-25: The birth of both John and Jesus took place while Herod was king of Judea. During this time there was a good man names named Zacharias. He was a priest of the course of Abia. His wife was a descendent of Aaron. Her name was Elisabeth. Both Zacharias and Elizabeth were loving toward God and obedient to Him. They were old and had not been able to have children. On an occasion when Zacharias was fulfilling his priestly duties of burning incense in the temple an angel appeared to him and told him that he and his wife would have a son. The angel also said "you must name him John." It was predicted that John would grow up to be a great servant of the Lord. The angel said, "He shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." His work would be to go before the Lord in the power and spirit of Elijah to prepare the way for the Messiah. Zacharias asked Gabriel how he could know these things were true. He again said that he and Elizabeth were very old. The proof was that Zacharias would not be able to speak until John was born. When Zacharias exited the Temple the people knew that he had seen a vision. Shortly after this he went home and soon Elizabeth was expecting a baby. She hid herself five months. She felt that God had taken away her reproach among the people.