Since many have taken the task of compiling a narrative concerning the things that have been made known in our midst, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and those who have become servants of the word delivered them to us, it also seemed good to me, having carefully investigated everything from above, to write to you accurately in orderly sequence, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know exactly the certainty of the things about which you were instructed.

Jesus before His Ministry

John: the new Elijah is foretold

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zechariah who belonged to the division of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous in the presence of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and ordinances blamelessly. But they were childless, since Elizabeth was infertile and both were getting very old.

─ Don’t be afraid, Zechariah,
because your prayer has been heard.
Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son
and you’ll name him John.
There’ll be joy and gladness for you,
and many will rejoice at his birth,
for he’ll be great in the Lord’s presence.
He’ll drink absolutely no wine or beer.
He’ll be filled with Holy Spirit
while still in his mother’s womb.
He’ll turn many sons of Israel to the Lord their God.
He will be His forerunner in the spirit and power of Elijah,
to turn the fathers’ hearts to the children
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous,
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

The people were waiting on Zechariah, and were wondering why he was taking so long in the Most Holy Place. When he came out, he was unable to talk to them. They realized that he had seen a vision in the Most Holy Place, because he was making signs to them and remained mute.
So his service days were over and Zechariah got home.
Then, after these days, his wife Elizabeth got pregnant and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying:
─ This is what the Lord has done to me at the time when He has been gracious to me, to take away my disgrace among men.

Jesus: the Anointed One is foretold

Now in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the messenger Gabriel was sent by God to a town of Galilee called Natsareth to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The name of the virgin was Mary.
When Gabriel came to her, he said:
─ Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!
She was very disturbed at the statement and was pondering what kind of salutation this might be. But the messenger told her:

─ Don’t be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Look, you will become pregnant,
give birth to a Son,
and you will name Him Jesus.
He will be great
and will be called Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give Him
the throne of His ancestor David
and He’ll reign over Jacob’s descendants forever
and His kingdom will be endless!

Then Mary told the messenger:
─ How is this gonna happen, since I haven’t been intimate with a man?
The messenger responded:
─ Holy Spirit will come upon you and power from the Most High will overshadow you. For this reason the child to be born will be holy and will be called Son of God. And check this out: Elizabeth, your relative - she got pregnant in her old age. And she, who people called “infertile”, is in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.
In response, Mary said:
─ See, I’m the Lord’s slave. May it happen to me according to your word.
Then the messenger departed from her.

The Mother of the Prophet and the Mother of the Lord

Then in those days, as Mary got up, she quickly traveled to a Judean town in the highlands and entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Then when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in Elizabeth’s womb and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.
She shouted at the top of her lungs:
─ Blessed are you among women, and blessed is your child in your womb! Why should this happen to me - that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Because look, as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb got really happy and jumped inside me! Blessed is she who believed that what the Lord said to her would be brought to completion!

Mary’s Song: Magnificat

Then Mary said:

─ My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
and my spirit is glad in God my Savior,
because He’s considered His slave’s humiliation.
From now on all generations will consider me blessed!
For the Mighty One has done great things to me.
Holy is His name!
His mercy is from generation to generation
on those who fear Him.
He has shown strength with His arm.
He has scattered the proud of heart and mind.
He has brought down rulers from thrones
and exalted the humble.
He has satisfied the hungry with good things
and He has the rich away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
remembering His mercy,
just as He spoke to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his descendants forever.

Then Mary lived with Elizabeth for about 3 months and then went back home.

The new Elijah is born

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown His great mercy to her, and they started rejoicing with her.

On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were calling the child after his father’s name, Zechariah. But his mother Elizabeth said:
─ Absolutely not! His name will be John.
They told her:
─ There’s no one in your relatives who’s called John.
Then they were making signs to the child’s father to know what he would call him. After asking for a writing tablet, he wrote, saying:

HIS NAME IS JOHN.

And they all were impressed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue released, and he was speaking, blessing God. Fear came upon everyone who lived around them, and in all the highlands of Judea, all these things were being talked about. Everyone who heard these things kept them in their hearts, thinking:
─ What will be of this child?
For the Lord’s hand was with him.

Zechariah’s Prophecy: Benedictus

Then Zechariah, John’s father, was filled with Holy Spirit and prophesied:

─ Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
because He looked after His people and redeemed them,
and raised up a powerful savior for us
from the family of His servant David,
just as He spoke by the mouth
of His holy prophets from ancient times
that He would save us from our enemies
and from the grip of those who hate us.
He has shown mercy to our ancestors
and to remember His holy covenant,
an oath that He swore to our ancestor Abraham.
He granted us the privilege,
since we have been rescued from our enemies’ clutches,
to serve Him without fear
in holiness and righteousness in His presence
every day in our lives.
And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High
for you will precede the Lord to prepare His ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to His people,
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of our God’s deep compassion,
by which the Rising Sun will visit us from on high
to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into a way of peace.

And the child continued to grow and be strengthened in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he was revealed to Israel.

The Lord is born

Then in those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree to register, as usual, the whole empire for taxes. This registration first took place when Quirinius was procurator of Syria. Everyone was going to be registered, each to their own city.
Then Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, due to him being from David’s house and family line. He went to be registered with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

Then it happened that, while they were there, the day came for Mary to give birth. And she gave birth to her Son, the firstborn. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a feeding trough, because there was no place for them in the guest room.

Heaven’s Song: Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

In that same region, shepherds were camped out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock at night.
A messenger of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were extremely afraid. The messenger told them:
─ Don’t be afraid! Because look, I bring y’all good news of great joy, which is meant for everyone: today, in the city of David, a Savior has been born to y’all - He is the Anointed One, the Lord! This is the sign: Y’all will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a feeding trough.
Then, all of a sudden, a multitude of the Heavenly Army appeared with the messenger, praising God and saying:

─ Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased!

Then while the messengers were leaving the shepherds and going back to the sky, the shepherds were saying to one another:
─ Let’s go to Bethlehem now! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has shown us.
So they hurried up and found both Mary, Joseph and the Baby, lying in a feeding trough. Then, having seen, they proclaimed abroad about what they were told concerning this Child. And all who heard marveled at what the shepherds had said.
But Mary was treasuring all these things in her heart and meditating on them.
Meanwhile, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen as they were told.

Jesus is presented in the temple

Afterwards, when the eight days to circumcise the Child were completed, then He was named Jesus. He had been given this name by the messenger before He was conceived in Mary’s womb.
When their days of purification, according to the Law of Moses, were completed, they brought Jesus to Jerusalem, to present to the Lord (as it has been written in the Law of the Lord that “Every firstborn male will be dedicated to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice (according to what had been said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons”).

Simeon’s Prophecy: Nunc Dimittis

Now check this out: there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, patiently waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to Simeon through the Holy Spirit that he wouldn’t die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
Guided by the Spirit, he went into the temple and, when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him according to the custom of the Law, he took Him in his arms, blessed God and said:

─ Master, you may now let your slave depart in peace
as You have promised,
for my eyes have seen Your salvation
which You have prepared
in the presence of all peoples:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for the glory of Your people Israel.

Jesus’ father and mother were marveling at the things that had been spoken about Him. Simeon blessed them both and told His mother Mary:
─ Look, this Child is destined to be a reason for the falling and rising of many in Israel and a sign that will be opposed, so that the deep thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. Also a very large broadsword will pierce through your own sword.

Anna the Prophetess

There also was Anna, a prophetess, daughter of Phanuel, from the tribe of Asher. She was very, very old, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, and being a widow for 84 years. She never left the temple and continually served day and night with fasting and heartfelt petitions to God. At that moment, she came and started giving thanks to God and talking about Jesus to all those who patiently waited for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Jesus was a little boy too

So after they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to their town Nazareth in Galilee. The Child continued to grow and become strong. He was being filled with wisdom, and God’s grace was upon Him.

His parents constantly went every year to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. One day, when He was 12 years old, they went up as was the custom.
After those days had ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it. Supposing Jesus was with the pilgrims, they traveled for a whole day and started looking for Him among the relatives and acquaintances. Since they didn’t find Him, they went back to Jerusalem, searching carefully for Him there.

After 3 days, they found Jesus in the temple courts, sitting in the middle of the teachers, both hearing them and asking them questions. All who heard Him were amazed at His intelligence and His answers. When His parents saw Him, they were struck with amazement. They told Him:
─ Boy, why did You treat us like this? Look, Your father and I were worried sick looking for You!
But He told them:
─ Why were you two looking for Me? Didn’t you know I have to deal with My Father’s things?

But they themselves didn’t understand what He was talking about. Nevertheless, He went down with His parents and came to Natsareth, and He continued being obedient to them.
His mother was treasuring these things in her heart.
And Jesus continued to advance in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.

Footnotes