Miss Smith talked a few days ago about waiting. Can you
remember the kind of things people were waiting for?
She was talking about waiting because it is Advent, the time
when Christians get ready to celebrate Jesus’ birth.
So I want to tell you a bit about some people who were
really excited and waiting for that to happen.
The first you already know about – in fact you can tell me
about her…
Here’s a picture. Who is this and what’s happening here?
This is Mary, and an angel is telling her that she is going
to have a baby, who she will call Jesus. The people of Mary’s time were waiting
for someone to help them. They believed God would send someone special to be
their leader. They called him the Messiah, which meant the one God had chosen. People
wanted god to help them because life was very unfair and hard for them. Their
land was full of Roman soldiers, who often treated them cruelly. But it wasn’t
just that. When they looked around them they saw there were people who were
very poor or sick and no one was helping them. If you were rich you were
important and people listened to you, but if you weren’t no one cared. They
needed to change, but who would help them to do that? The angel told Mary that
it would be her child who would grow up to do this. She was VERY excited.
But did you ever wonder what happened next – before Mary
went to Bethlehem to have her baby? She went to visit a friend, a cousin called
Elizabeth, and as it turned out, Elizabeth had her own exciting news. Because
she was expecting a baby too.
Elizabeth was a lot older than Mary. She had been wanting to
have a baby for many years, but it just hadn’t happened, and now she thought
she was too old. Now, Elizabeth’s husband Zechariah was a priest who worked in
the Temple, and one day he was there, praying, when all of a sudden there was
an angel – the same one that came to Mary. “Your wife, Elizabeth, is going to
have a child.” “That’s impossible,” said Zechariah. “No its not” said the
angel. “You wait and see! And your child is going to be special. He is going to
get people ready so that when the Messiah is born, the one everyone has waited
for, they will be ready for him. They need to learn first to listen for God’s
voice. They need to be ready to change their lives. They need someone to help
them think. Your child will be the one – just like a herald that goes before a
king, to make sure everything is ready. That will be your son – and his name
will be John!” Zechariah was so surprised that he couldn’t speak, not then, and
not until his baby was born”.
When Mary turned up at her house, they both had some news.
Elizabeth came running out of the house to say hello to Mary, wanting to tell
her about her baby. But as soon as she saw her she knew that Mary had exciting
news too. “I know” said Elizabeth, “I
know you are going to have a baby and that he is the one who God is sending to
us to help us. My son will be the one who helps people get ready to listen to
yours. Inside my tummy, I can feel my baby jumping up and down in excitement
already. God is going to help us to live as we should, to love each other and
look after each other.”
And Mary stayed with Elizabeth while she waited for her baby
to be ready to be born. Elizabeth’s baby grew up to be someone very special
called John the Baptist, and just as the angel had said he helped people get
ready to listen to Jesus.
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Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890)
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Here’s a picture of the moment when Elizabeth and Mary met.
What do you think of this picture? Mary and Elizabeth were both very happy that
their children would grow up to help others.
Pray: for everyone who is waiting for someone to help
them today, for those who are sick and waiting for a doctor, for those who
haven’t got enough money for food, for people who are lonely and waiting for
someone to be their friend. Help us to be ready to help them, just as Mary and
Elizabeth’s children were.
