Study Desk

When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father.

He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone's surprise he wrote, "His name is John."

Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, "What will this child turn out to be?" For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.

in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.

"And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord.

All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census.

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.

She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.

At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him

which you have prepared for all people.

She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.

Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival.

because they assumed he was among the other travelers. But when he didn't show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.

When they couldn't find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there.

His parents didn't know what to think. "Son," his mother said to him, "why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere."

Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, "He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord 's coming! Clear the road for him!

When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, "You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath?

Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don't just say to each other, ‘We're safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.' That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.