Friday, December 22, 2017

The Other Christmas Birth


The Christmas story contains the narratives of two miraculous births, both recorded in Luke 1 and both announced by the angel Gabriel. The births of Jesus and John the Baptist are intrinsically connected to each other in Scripture as God promised the Messiah would be preceded by a forerunner (Malachi 4). I’m not saying both births are equally important, but each is crucially important in its own way.

For over 400 years after this promise, God remained silent while the Jews expectantly waited and looked for both to arrive. To this day, when our Jewish friends observe Passover they still set a place and leave an empty chair for Elijah. Luke records in detail the important story of the forerunner John the Baptist, starting with his father Zechariah the priest. Read More

Image: Public Domain

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