Light at Last, Wednesday

0:00Hey kids, welcome to Junior's for Jesus. Go grab your Bibles. We're gonna be digging in and learning some really exciting stories. Let's get started. We're continuing our study of Jesus's entrance into the world. He was delight at last. Today we're gonna learn about the forerunner of Jesus's birth. Do you know what his name was? Well, there's a pretty interesting story about how he got his name. And we'll learn that together today after we say our memory verse. That verse is Isaiah, chapter nine, verse six. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah, chapter nine, verse six. Wednesday, John is born. Matthew 1, 18 to 25, and Luke 156 to 25.

1:04Mary stayed with Zacharias and Elizabeth about three months. Maybe she was there when the baby was born. We don't know. But there was a great rejoicing when their relatives and neighbors heard that they'd had a son in their old age. That was a miracle. Eight days later, when these same people came to name the baby, Elizabeth said that he was to be called John. But they wanted him to call him by his father's name. So when they asked Zacharias when he wanted to name the baby, what happened? Verses 59 to 64, tell us. He was insistent that the baby's name was John. The news about baby John spread fast and soon people all over the part of the country were talking about this miracle birth. They knew that he would grow up to become somebody very special. They also remembered the prophecy that the Holy Spirit had given Zacharias about the Messiah and about John's work. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the highest.

2:06For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remissions of their sins through the tender mercies of our God with which the day springs from on high as visited us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of the, to guide our feet in the way of peace. Mary had gone back to her home in Nazareth. And we don't know when she told Joseph about Gabriel's telling her that she was to be the mother of the Messiah. And we do know she was already pregnant, even though she and Joseph weren't married yet. How could he believe her story about the angel's visit? Would other people believe her? What should he do? Joseph loved God and wanted to do God's will. But what was God's will? How relieved he must have been when an angel told him in a dream exactly what to do?

3:06He told him to go ahead with his plan to marry Mary and to give the special baby the name Jesus. That special baby would be born in just a few months. The prophecy said that he would be born in Bethlehem. And Joseph and Mary were living in Nazareth, more than 60 miles north of Bethlehem. But God's plan would take them there just at the right time to fulfill the prophecy of Micah, chapter five, verse two. But you Bethlehem Ephraath, though you are little among thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me. The one to be a ruler in Israel who's going forth are from, of old, from everlasting. Now a little while before Jesus was born, the Roman Emperor ordered people to go to the birthplaces of their ancestors and to register their names. King David was an ancestor of both Joseph and Mary.

4:07And he was to be born in Bethlehem. Therefore, they had to go to Bethlehem to register. Luke chapter two, verses four and five read. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the lineage of David. To be registered with Mary, his bithering of the wife was with child. So now, let's apply it. If God could so easily send Joseph and Mary to where they should be, don't you think he can do the same for us? This podcast is brought to you by MyBible First. Visit us at mybiblefirst.org to find other great resources for children, youth, and adults. All of our resources are here to help you understand the Bible better.