Here in Luke, we're told of an
old man who was a priest. His name was Zacharias. And he
was married to an old lady. She was an older
lady. These two were really old. And they had had no children.
She was barren, verse 6 says. Now, while Zacharias was ministering,
The angel came and Gabriel came to the house. He made a house
call in verse 11 and said, Zacharias, you're gonna be a daddy. Zach,
I'm gonna call him by his abbreviated name. Zach, the priest, the holy
man of God was scared and doubtful. He didn't believe it. In verse
24, we're told that after church was over for Zach, I'm kind of
paraphrasing King Clark, he went home. and there must have been
shenanigans going on because Elizabeth gets pregnant. Here's
an old man and a woman, an elderly woman being intimate, and lo
and behold, Elizabeth is pregnant. Isn't that exciting? Now, what
do you think that the normal church people said about that?
First of all, he's a dirty old man, probably. I mean, you have
all kinds of kinds of thoughts. The truth is, Zach went home
and there was the normal making of a baby took place. And he
was fearful about this happening and it actually happened. Can
you imagine what Zach was thinking? We're told later on in the chapter
in verses 26 through 31 that Gabriel makes another visit. This time to a young lady named
Mary, who is Elizabeth, the older lady who's now pregnant, six
months. Gabriel appears to Mary, the
mother of Jesus, and says, hail thou favorite among God. Well, that would be quite an
announcement. You're one of God's highly favored people. You're
gonna have a baby. Now, I don't know where Joe was,
but I can tell you Joe isn't going to believe this. I mean,
you think about it. Joseph, right? He was engaged
to Mary. Are we really getting down where
we live now? You know, put up your cross and,
you know, around your neck and don't be sanctimonious. Just
think about the awesome miracle that this was that happened. Mary, you're going to have a
baby." She said, well, how am I going to do that? I've never
known a man. That doesn't mean didn't know
a man's name. She'd never had intimate sexual
relationships with a man. She was a virgin. Do you think
there was no rumors going around that people were not talking
behind? Well, even the Pharisees later
on accused Christ of being a bastard child. You don't even know who
your daddy was. Your mother got pregnant. Huh. So, what happens is, I mean,
I don't know. I tried to think behind the scenes
about, you know, Mary tried to tell Joseph. And by the way,
that is a miracle when she told him. I would be getting the shotgun
out. But you know, in a miracle way,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and said, it's true.
It's true. Can you imagine the power of
the Holy Spirit dealing with Joseph and Mary and Elizabeth
and Zacharias? How God had this so perfectly
planned? Yeah, I'm going to have a baby,
Joe. Yeah, but we haven't got married yet. We're just engaged. I've never known any man as a
miracle. God come to earth. Can you believe
it today? I tell you, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ today and thou shalt be saved. Elizabeth comes along
and Mary tells her, I'm going to have a baby, the Redeemer,
the Savior, the one who is going to be the substitute for poor
sinners. You ever think about the Holy
Spirit in this plan? That baby filled with the Holy
Ghost leaped. Oh, that can't happen. It can
if the Holy Spirit does it, right? That baby did a little dance.
It's good news. And you know who that baby was,
by the way? John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ. The little guy that was going
to come out of the womb running saying, Behold the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world. I think there's a conspiracy
going on to save sinners here by Almighty God. Two miracles. You ever heard about the two
women that got pregnant? Well, I'm telling you today,
it's a good story. So, as this season progresses
and you see all the Christmas trees and the lights and all
the Santa Claus stuff and all of that, don't let that get above
this. Two ladies got pregnant, God
was in it, and a Savior and a Redeemer came to save us from our sins. Amen.