How Did God’s Spirit Inspire Those Surrounding Jesus’ Birth? Ep. 1416: Christian Questions Podcast

[00:11:58] Because he doubted, Zacharias was unable to speak for 9 months! What did he say once John was born?

[00:27:51] How did the holy spirit affect Elizabeth and Mary?

[00:42:33] What do we learn from Simeon and Anna?

We all love to tell the story of Jesus’ birth. We love the vulnerability behind God’s choice of Mary, the young woman who was engaged to Joseph to be Jesus’ mother. We love the humility of his being born in a stable because there was no room at the inn. We love the magnificence of the angel announcing his birth to shepherds and then having the heavenly host of angels praising and glorifying God. We love the reverential sobriety of the wise men coming with gifts for the small child, Jesus. Some of the things we don’t focus as much attention on are how God used specific individuals surrounding all of these events to speak in a prophetic way and outline in great detail what this series of incredible experiences would mean. Today we pause and consider the words of Zacharias and Elizabeth who were the parents of John the Baptist, Mary, the mother of Jesus, Simeon the prophet and Anna the prophetess.

Zacharias

Let’s begin with Zacharias, the Jewish priest who, because of his initial doubt, was struck mute by the angel Gabriel until the birth of his son John. This silence became a period of reflection, enabling him to connect Old Testament prophecies with Gabriel’s announcement. At John’s circumcision, Zacharias was again able to speak. He prophesied about both John’s role as forerunner and Jesus as the "horn of salvation." His prophecy was powerfully based upon the words and promises of the Old Testament.

Elizabeth and