Tag: Mary

Episode NT33 – The Empty Tomb

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on John chapter 20 verses 1 to 18

The Empty Tomb

For those who loved Jesus, who followed Him, who believed that He was the Son of God, the Saviour that’d been promised for so many years, that Friday had been the darkest day of their lives. And it had been made all the more dark because they hadn’t understood or believed what Jesus Himself had told them – that He had to suffer at the hands of sinful men, that He would be crucified, that He would die and be buried but, most importantly of all, that He would rise once again to life.

And so, those who were brave enough had watched His cruel death, the agonised hours nailed to a cross. They’d seen the darkness covering the land and heard Jesus’ cries as He gave up His life. And when He’d died they’d watched a Roman soldier walk up to Him with a spear and thrust it up into His dead body. And as the soldier pulled out his spear, they’d watched a sudden flow of what looked like blood and water from the wound.

Having wondered what on earth would happen to Jesus now that He was dead, it was a surprise to them that Joseph from Arimathea had taken Jesus’ body down from the cross. And it was even more of a shock when Nicodemus, the man who’d once visited Jesus at night had helped Joseph take Jesus’ body down and quickly prepare it for burial. Some of the women had watched as the two men wrapped Jesus’ body in a long linen cloth with spices, and put another cloth over His head, to keep His mouth shut in death. Mary Magdalene had watched as the two men placed the body in an unused tomb that was in a garden close to Skull Hill, the place where Jesus had been crucified. They used that grave because they needed to get Jesus buried before the Sabbath started that evening and no more work could be done.

As evening arrived Mary went home, her eyes swollen from crying. But as she walked home she made a decision: Nothing could be done the next day as it was a Sabbath and Jesus wouldn’t have wanted her to break the Sabbath day rules, but after the Sabbath, on the Sunday, she was free to do what needed to be done. Jesus’ burial had been a rushed job, it hadn’t been done properly, the least she could do was make sure He was buried properly! He’d died the death of a common criminal, He’d died in shame, under the curse of God because He’d been hung on a tree! But now, in death, the least she could do was make sure His body was treated properly.

That was why Mary Magdalene was up so early that Sunday morning while it was still dark! She was determined to see that Jesus had a decent burial, the way things should be done! How she was going to move the massive stone Joseph and Nicodemus had rolled in front of the cave-like tomb, she hadn’t thought through! How she was going to cope with the smell of a dead body now into its third day, she had no idea, but cope she would! This was no ordinary person, this was Jesus, and she owed Him everything. (P) But as she approached the tomb, she looked in horror, unable to believe her eyes; the stone had already been moved! Jesus’ body had gone! What was she going to do? Someone had taken the body! Leaving the spices she’d brought with her where she’d dropped them, Mary turned and ran, running to the only people she could think of to help, His disciples, Peter and John.

‘Hold on,’ Peter shouted as he got up to answer the hammering on the door. And when he opened it there was Mary – and one look at tear-stained face told him something was seriously wrong.

‘It’s Jesus,’ Mary managed to get out between her heartbroken sobs. ‘They’ve taken His body away and I don’t know where they’ve put it!’

This set Peter’s head spinning. Why take the body? Was this some kind of attempt to discredit Jesus even more? But as these thoughts flashed through his mind, both he and John found themselves running as fast as their legs could carry them, running to see what’d happened to Jesus.

John was a little faster than Peter and arrived first. But he didn’t go in; instead, bending down and looking inside, he saw the linen cloth Jesus had been wrapped in – just lying there. Then Peter arrived and went straight inside and he too saw the linen cloth and the other cloth that’d been used to cover Jesus’ head – folded up and lying separately to one side. John followed Peter in while Mary waited outside, and when he saw the two linen clothes, he started to believe, to believe what Jesus had said, that He’d rise from the dead! (P)

There was nothing more to be done now, the body had gone and Jesus wasn’t there. So leaving the empty tomb, Peter and John walked passed the distraught Mary Magdalene, leaving her by the tomb side, and headed home.

What was she going to do now? Mary had no idea. But as she wept she stooped once again to look inside. But what she saw, instead of the body of Jesus, were two angels dressed in white and sitting at the head and the foot of where Jesus’ body had been. ‘Why are you crying?’ one of them asked her.

‘Because they’ve taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they’ve put Him.’ she answered.

As she said this, something caught her eye and, turning around, she saw someone standing close by. With her eyes so full of tears she had no idea who it was. ‘Why are you crying?’ the person asked. ‘Who’re you looking for?’

Thinking this must the gardener, Mary replied, ‘Sir, if you’ve taken Him away, tell me where you’ve put Him, and I’ll go and get Him.’

But then something made her stop, as she turned back towards the tomb to take a closer look. It was something that was impossible, but it was true. It was the sound of her name – spoken as she’d heard it said many times before, spoken as only one person could, spoken by Jesus! ‘Mary.’

Spinning round to see who’d spoken it, she realised it was the stranger – the stranger was Jesus! ‘Teacher!’ she said and rushed to embrace Him. He was alive and He was speaking to her, in the same way, He’d always spoken to her before, that smile in His eyes …

‘Don’t cling to me,’ He told Mary, ‘because before too long I’ll be going to be with the Father. But for now, I want you to go and find the disciples and tell that that I’ll be going up to be with My Father and your Father, to be with My God and your God.’

And so, tearing herself away from Jesus, Mary Magdalene ran and found the disciples telling them, ‘I’ve seen the Lord – He’s alive!’ And passed on His message.

Episode NT26 – The Triumphal Entry

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on John chapter 12 verses 1 to 19

The Triumphal Entry

Once again Jesus came to Bethany. It was about six days before the important Jewish ceremony of Passover. During Passover, Jews from all around the world returned to Jerusalem to sacrifice a Passover lamb and remember how God had rescued the Israelites from Egypt!

The Passover had been the last and greatest sign God had performed in Egypt as He’d prepared for His people to be set free from slavery. On the night of that first Passover, every Israelite family had to sacrifice a lamb and smear its blood on the doorposts and lintel of their house and stay inside, dressed and ready to leave Egypt. Then, at about midnight, the angel of death went through the whole land of Egypt to kill the first-born son in every household. But, whenever he came to a house with the blood of a lamb smeared on the doorposts and lintel, he would know that there had already been a death in that house, the death of a lamb in place of the first-born son, and so the angel of death would ‘pass over’ that house and go onto the next. This way, all Israel was saved from the loss of their sons by obeying God’s command to sacrifice a lamb in their place. (PAUSE)

When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethany, they stayed with Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead, and a meal was served in Jesus’ honour. Jesus knew what was ahead of Him, and even though this was a celebration, the atmosphere was heavy as Jesus thought about what was to come.

While Jesus was eating His meal lying with his head towards the table and His feet pointing away as was the custom at that time, Mary, Lazarus’ sister, came to His feet with a large jar of very expensive perfume. Then, breaking the seal on the jar, Mary poured the perfume over Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair – filling the house with fragrance.

Somehow Mary understood how Jesus felt and so she did this beautiful thing for Him. But not everyone who watched understood or cared about what was happening. It was Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples, who spoke up. ‘What does that woman think she’s doing?’ he exclaimed. ‘That perfume was worth a small fortune. We – we could have sold it and given the money to the poor instead of wasting it on Jesus’ feet!’ Not that Judas cared for the poor, he was just horrified to see all that money ‘go to waste’ as he thought. You see, Judas was in charge of looking after the disciples’ funds, and as well as ‘looking after’ the money, he also made sure he ‘looked after’ himself, stealing money when he thought no one was looking!

But Jesus turned to those who were unhappy with what had just happened and replied, ‘Leave her alone. Mary has done this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but I won’t be with you much longer.’ (PAUSE)

Now Jerusalem was only a couple of miles away, and when all the people who’d come for the Passover celebrations heard that Jesus was in Bethany, they flocked to see him and to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. (P)

The next day, Jesus made preparations to go to Jerusalem. Calling two of His disciples to one side He said to them, ‘You see that village over there? I want you to go into that village and as you enter it you’ll see a young colt – a young donkey that’s never been ridden before – tied up by the side of the road. Untie it and bring it here to me. Should anyone ask you what you’re doing, tell them, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back soon.’

The two disciples did what Jesus said, and sure enough, as they entered the village they found a young donkey that had never been ridden before tied up outside a house. As they started to untie it, some of the people standing nearby demanded, ‘What do you think you’re doing untying that colt – it’s not yours.’ After the briefest glance at each other, the two disciples told them exactly what Jesus had said to say, ‘The Lord needs it and He’ll send it back soon.’ At that the bystanders let them take the donkey to Jesus. (P) Bringing the colt to Him, His disciples threw their cloaks over it, and Jesus sat on it, riding towards Jerusalem. (P)

Although people didn’t realise it at the time, Jesus was fulfilling a prophecy that said: ‘Do not be afraid, people of Israel. Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.’ But it wouldn’t be until after Jesus had gone back to heaven that they’d start to understand. (PAUSE)

The crowds thought Jesus was the Messiah and expected Him to be a warrior king and to take over the country and get rid of the Romans. But Jesus wanted to show them that their ideas of what the Messiah would be like were wrong. So instead of coming to Jerusalem on a warhorse, He chose a simple colt – refusing to be the kind of Messiah the crowd wanted!

By now the crowds were very large, and as Jesus made His way to Jerusalem, they threw their cloaks on the road ahead of Him, and they went into the fields to cut palm branches to wave. And as the procession reached the place on the road where it descends from the Mount of Olives, His followers started to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for the wonderful miracles they’d seen.

‘Bless the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ they shouted. ‘Bless the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David! Praise God in highest heaven!’ (P)

As usual some of the Pharisees had come along to find fault with Jesus. And when they heard the crowd shouting these things they couldn’t believe their ears! So shouting across to Jesus they said, ‘Teacher! Tell your followers off for saying such things!’

But Jesus shouted back, ‘If they were to keep quiet, the stones along the side of the road would burst into shouts of joy!’

And so, as the Pharisees watched the procession and saw the huge crowd that had come to see Jesus, they said to each other, ‘That’s it, we’ve lost! The whole world’s gone after Him now!’

Episode NT6 – Water at a Wedding!

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on John chapter 1 verse 29 to chapter 2 verse 11

Water at a Wedding!

‘Look’, said John as Jesus walked towards him. ‘There’s the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. I didn’t know He was the One, but my work of baptising people was to point to Him! You see, God told me that when I saw the Holy Spirit come down and rest upon someone, that person would be the One I was waiting for. I didn’t know it was Jesus until I saw it happen – the Spirit of God came down and rested on Him! He’s the One you’re looking for. He’s the One who’ll baptise with the Holy Spirit – I saw this happen to Jesus, so I can say with absolute certainty that He is the Son of God,’

Next day as John stood with two of his followers, Jesus walked by. ‘Look,’ said John. ‘The Lamb of God!’ At this, the two followers turned and started to follow Jesus. When Jesus looked round and saw them he asked, ‘What do you want?’

‘Teacher,’ they replied, ‘where’re you staying?’

‘Come and see,’ He replied. And they stayed with Him for the rest of the day. (PAUSE)

One of those two followers was a man named names Andrew who had a brother called Simon Peter. As soon as he could Andrew rushed off to find his brother. ‘Guess what?’ he said. ‘We’ve found the Messiah! Come on, come and meet Him.’ So Andrew took Simon to meet Jesus who looked closely at him. ‘You’re names Simon, son of John,’ He said. ‘But you will be called Peter.’

Next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and as he prepared to go He found Philip. ‘Come on,’ He said. ‘Come and be my disciple.’ And then, just like Andrew had before, Philip rushed off to find his friend Nathanael. ‘We’ve found the person Moses and all the prophets wrote about long long ago.’ He said, ‘His name’s Jesus, Son of Joseph, from Nazareth!’

‘Nazareth!’ Nathanael answered. ‘Nazareth? Surely nothing good can come from that place?’

‘Come and see for yourself,’ Philip answered, and took Nathanael to Jesus. And as they approached Jesus He looked at Nathanael and said, ‘Now here’s an honest man – a true son of Israel.’

This took Nathanael by surprise. ‘But you don’t know me.’ He replied.

‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip came to you.’ Jesus replied.

This was mind-blowing for Nathanael. How could Jesus have known about him if He wasn’t who Philip had just said He was, and so he spluttered out. ‘T-T- Teacher, you really are the Son of God – the king of Israel!’

Jesus smiled. ‘You believe that just because I told you I saw under the fig tree? Well, you’re going to see far greater things than that!’ He said. ‘One day you’ll see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down upon the Son of Man.’ (PAUSE)

Not long after this Jesus and His close followers, called His disciples, were invited to a wedding celebration in the small village of Cana. Mary, Jesus’ mother, was also there as a guest. Now, in those days wedding feasts could last anything up to a week – so they had to be planned well in advance – so the host didn’t run out of food and wine for his guests. To run out of things would be a great embarrassment to the bridegroom who’d find it hard to live down –a very bad start to your married life! Now, maybe they hadn’t counted on Jesus and His disciples turning up, or maybe they’d just made a terrible mistake! But whatever the cause, the wine supply began to run low and was in danger of running out completely!

And as it ran out, Mary called Jesus to one side for a chat. ‘Son, they’ve run out of wine!’

‘How does that concern you and me?’ He asked. ‘ My time hasn’t come yet.’ (P)

Mary new her son, and she knew that He could help. But Jesus wanted Mary to understand that the power God had given Him wasn’t simply to get His own family out of trouble. It was given to show people who He was and how much God loves them. But instead of getting cross and upset at His reply, Mary understood that she should leave it with Jesus and trust Him to do whatever was best and right. And so turning to the servants she said. ‘Whatever He tells you do, just go ahead and do it.’ And at that, she left.

Now, it was customary in those days for the people at the wedding feast to wash their hands before they ate. To do this properly, special stone jars, each capable of holding anything from 75 litres of water upwards, were made available to the guests. As there were lots of guests at the celebration, there were six of these stone jars standing close by. ‘Fill those jars with water.’ Jesus told the servants. And just as Mary had told them, the servants did as He asked, filling each to the brim.

When the jars had been filled Jesus called one of the servants over and said. ‘Now fill a cup from one of those jars and take it to the master of ceremonies.’

The servant wasn’t at all sure about this – he was going to give the most important person at the celebration – a cup of water! But because Mary had said to do it, and because there wasn’t anything else to serve, the servant dipped the cup into the filled stone jar and took it to the master of ceremonies.

‘Thank you,’ said the man as he took the cup. ‘I was wondering where all the wine had gone!’ (P) The servant didn’t say a word but stood there staring at the man as he put the cup to his lips and began to drink. And as he tasted the liquid, a look of surprise came over his face and then looking first at the servant and then at the contents of the cup, and then at the bridegroom, he called him over for a chat. ‘A word in year friend.’ He called.

When the bridegroom’d come over the master of ceremonies took him to one side. ‘Usually,’ he began. ‘A host will serve the best wine first – when it matters when everyone’s able to appreciate the taste. And then, when most people have had a few drinks and aren’t so able to notice the difference, the host brings out the cheaper wine. But not you! For reasons best known only to yourself you keep the finest wine until now!’

The servant could hardly believe his ears. The water that had been put into the stone jars had become wine! And not just any old wine, but the finest of all wines! And as Jesus’ disciples learned of this, they believed even more strongly that He was the Son of God.

Episode NT4 – Wise Men & Mortal Danger

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on Matthew chapter 2

Wise Men & Mortal Danger

Many miles from Israel, in a land where people didn’t really know God properly, men gazed into the skies – trying to find meaning and guidance from the stars. In their ignorance of God they looked to the stars to find out His plans, and, even though God wouldn’t want us to do the same thing today, He was to have mercy of these ‘wise men’ of the eastern lands.

And as they turned their eyes to the heavens something new appeared in the night sky, a star they had never seen before. These men were men of learning and wisdom and spent many long hours trying to discover what this new star could mean. And as they tried to find out, so God Himself started to reveal to them what almost no one else knew. This star was a sign from God to guide these men, from a far away land, to find – a King! A newborn King. THE – newborn King of the Jews. Just how God revealed all this to them we don’t know, it was a miracle. God was leading men from far away, people who weren’t Jews and who some thought had no right to even know about the King of the Jews – to seek out and find Him!

Overjoyed with their discovery and certain that everyone in Israel must know about Him already, the wise men loaded their camels and set out to find the newborn King of the Jews. It was easy, all they had to do was follow the star. But as the men came to Israel, the star that had so clearly lead them this far – disappeared! What were they to do? Well, to them it was obvious, go and see the rulers in Jerusalem and ask them where He was and how they could find Him.

Meanwhile, without any knowledge of the newborn King, the present king of Israel, Herod, sat on his throne. Old and ill this evil man ruled with a rod of iron – no matter who came against him, even if it were his own sons, they were shown no mercy! His fear of losing his kingdom would make him fight to his last breath to hold on to what he’d taken – no matter how many lives it cost.

But as the wise men arrived and started to ask their questions, at first they were shocked that no one in Jerusalem knew anything about the newborn King! Jerusalem was the capital city of Israel, why didn’t anyone know anything about this wonderful news? Why were they so ignorant? And so the wise men asked more and more people how they could find the newborn King. (P) Instantly Jerusalem was in uproar and it took no time at all for king Herod to hear of the strangers’ questions! And when he did, the evil old king was deeply troubled – who was this baby that would challenge him as king? (PAUSE) Could they be talking about the long-awaited Messiah? Quickly, he called his religious advisers and demanded that they tell him where the Messiah would be born.

‘Bethlehem,’ came the reply. ‘The prophet wrote many years ago; ‘O Bethlehem of Judah,

you aren’t just a lowly village, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ (PAUSE) So it was Bethlehem! Bethlehem, just a short journey south from Jerusalem would be where the baby King could be found.

With this information in hand, Herod hatched his plot. He called the wise men to a secret meeting and with all his evil cunning – he fixed a holy and sincere look on his face. ‘This is such wonderful news,’ he lied, ‘My people have been waiting so many years for the Messiah to be born, and I too wish to go and worship him. Tell me, how long ago did this star first appear in the sky?’ (P)

The wise men could never have known the pain that their answer was to bring. ‘The star first appeared 2 years ago,’ they replied.

Then Herod continued, ‘The birthplace of the Messiah is Bethlehem. Go there and make a careful search for the child. And when you’ve found Him, come back here and tell me where He is – so that I too can go and worship.’ His face and voice may have sounded sincere, but there was murder in Herod’s heart!

With this news, the wise men set off for Bethlehem – alone! All Jerusalem had been stirred by their enquires, and yet no one travelled to the next town to see the newborn Messiah. These wise men were truly wise, for they had travelled such a distance to seek the King of kings, and even though the star had disappeared, God had put it in their hearts to carry on looking – until they found Him. And as the wise men travelled, to their joy, the star that had led them before reappeared in the sky. Overjoyed at the return of the star, they followed it until it led them to the very house where the child was.

What must they have thought as they came to see the King of the Jews? The star had led them to the kind of house only poor people live in – this was no palace! But God makes no mistakes; He had sent the star to lead these men, men from a far off country – to find His Son. And even though He was found in a poor house, they knew God could be trusted. And so they entered the house where Mary and Jesus were and fell down and worshipped Him – worshipped the Messiah, the Saviour – the King of the Jews!

How God revealed so much to these men we’ll never know, for having worshipped the child, they opened their treasure chests and presented Him with three wonderful gifts. Gold – the gift for a King! Frankincense – burnt with a sweet smell to worship God. And Myrrh – used for burying the dead! For Jesus, God the Son – was the King who would one day die for us all. (P)

But by their very presence in Bethlehem, the wise men had put the child and His family in mortal danger! Herod had no intension of worshipping Jesus – he wanted Jesus dead! Herod had only one way of dealing with potential rivals – murder! And the wise men were due to return to Herod the very next day and tell him exactly where he could find the child! But that night as the wise men slept, God revealed to them in a dream that they mustn’t go back to Herod, but travel home by another road.

As soon as the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph. ‘Hurry, get up and escape to Egypt with the child and His mother, for Herod is going to try and kill the child! Stay there until I tell you to return.’ So that very night they packed up what they could and hurried away to Egypt, staying there until Herod died!

When Herod realised he’d been outsmarted by the wise men he flew into a rage and ordered soldiers to go to Bethlehem at once and murder every baby boy aged 2 years and below – any child born since the time the star had first appeared! (P) What terrible pain his wicked cruelty caused. (PAUSE)

It wasn’t too long until the evil king Herod died, and when he had, the angel came once again to Joseph and said, ‘Go back to Israel with the child and His mother, the one who wanted to kill Him is now dead.’ So Joseph returned to Israel, but when he realised that Herod’s son Archelaus was now king he was badly frightened. And after another dream warning him to go to Galilee, the family settled in the small village of Nazareth.

Episode NT3 – The Shepherds & the Angels

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on Luke chapter 2 verses 1 – 20

The Shepherds & the Angels

The last couple of days had been the most uncomfortable of Mary’s life. Not only was she heavily pregnant with the baby due any moment, but she’d also been forced to go on a long journey to Bethlehem with Joseph. The Emperor of Rome no less, had commanded that everyone return to their family home to be counted. Joseph was a descendent of the great king David, who originally came from Bethlehem, so, as the Roman Emperor had commanded – Mary and Joseph obeyed and travelled to Bethlehem!

It hadn’t helped that when they’d arrived at Bethlehem all the inns were full! Mercifully, one kind innkeeper let them stay in his stable out the back. It was a far from ideal place to have your first baby, but Mary wasn’t in any condition to argue!

Because no sooner had they arrived than the baby was born. Mary wrapped Him in strips of cloth, and laid Him down to sleep in the safest place she could think of – the animal’s feeding trough.

To be honest it was all pretty unremarkable. (P) But that all changed when later that night they had visitors with incredible stories of Angels! (PAUSE)

Out on the cold hills around Bethlehem the shepherds kept watch over their sheep. It wasn’t a very popular job being a shepherd. In fact most people looked down on shepherds these days, as they were about as low on the social scale as you could get! But they weren’t thinking about that as Zebedee told the other shepherds another one of his tall tales.

But just as Zebedee finished his story and lent forwards to throw another stick on the fire, suddenly an incredible and frightening light (if ever there was such a thing) shone all around them. The stick fell from Zebedee’s hand, and a look of sheer terror swept across his face.

The other shepherds saw his terror and turned to see what he was looking at. As they looked, they too froze in horror, for right before them stood a terrifying Angel. Frightening thoughts flashed through their minds and fear gripped at their hearts. But then the Angel spoke. ‘Don’t be afraid! For I bring wonderful and joyful news for you and for everyone. – The Saviour – yes, the Messiah, the Lord has been born this very night in Bethlehem, the city of David!’

The Saviour? The Messiah? The people of Israel had been waiting for the Messiah for hundreds of year, and now this Angel was telling them, mere shepherds, that the Messiah had come! But how were they going to find Him in Bethlehem? Before they could ask, the Angel spoke again. ‘And this is how you will know who He is.’ They lent forward, not wanting to miss a word. ‘You will find the baby wrapped in strips of cloth… and lying in an animal’s feeding trough.’

WHAT! In an animal’s feeding trough? Was he serious? Kings slept in royal palaces with royal beds and the finest quality sheets – they didn’t live with animals, get wrapped up in strips of clothe like poor people wrap their babies up with – and have an animals feeding trough as their bed! But how could they argue with this angel? Who could hear him and not believe every word he said?

And before they’d had time to think any more about it, an incredible sight opened before their eyes as 10 000 times 10 000 Angels – the armies of Heaven – filled the skies. Unable to hold back their joy any longer, the Angels sang in their delight, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to all those the Lord God favours.

It was incredible, wonderful, frightening and … and even more incredible. (P) But all too soon the Angels returned to heaven. (PAUSE) No one wanted to break the wonder of the moment, but after a while Zebedee said, ‘Come on then. Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this child, this wonderful thing the Lord’s told us about.’

And then, it was almost like a race – as they charged down to Bethlehem to see if what the Angel had said was true. And sure enough, there was the baby exactly as the Angel had said.

After seeing the baby, the shepherds told everyone they met about the incredible things that had happened that night, and what the angel had said about the child. Everyone who heard their story was amazed at what the shepherds had said. And as for the shepherds, they returned to their flocks, praising God for what the angel had told them and because they’d seen the baby for themselves. (P) And Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart, thinking about them often.

Episode NT2 – Jesus’ Birth Fortold

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on Luke chapter 1 verses 26 – 80

Jesus Birth Foretold

What was she to think? This news was incredible! Amazing! Frightening! But how could it happen? She wasn’t even married and had never ‘been’ with any man? How could she have a baby? Gathering herself together, Mary spluttered out her question to the enormous and frightening angel who had just spoken to her. ‘But how can I have a baby? I’m not even married – I’m a virgin!’ (PAUSE)

In just a few moments – Mary’s life had been turned on its head. Just minuets before she’d been thinking about her engagement to Joseph and all they had to look forward too together. Joseph was a fine man, a carpenter who seemed to be doing very well, and although she was still young, Mary felt sure that all would be well. But now this – this angel – who suddenly appeared from nowhere, had changed everything! 

As Mary had been going about her normal jobs for the day, suddenly the angel Gabriel appeared. When Mary saw him, she didn’t know what to do or think! Terrified by his appearance, she watched opened mouth as he began to speak! ‘Greetings most favoured of women, the Lord is with you!’

What on earth did that mean? Why was he speaking to her? A no one from the backwater village of Nazareth in Galilee! Why was she favoured? Mary simply couldn’t understand! And then Gabriel spoke again. ‘”Don’t be frightened, Mary,” he said, “God’s decided to bless you! You’re going to become pregnant and have a son, and you’re to call him Jesus. He will be very great and called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over Israel forever – for his Kingdom will never end!”

And so Mary had asked her question, ‘But how can I have a baby? I’m not even married – I’m a virgin!’ And that’s also when Mary discovered just how special this baby was to be. As Gabriel explained, she realised that this child would not be like a normal baby who’s a completely new person, a mixture of their mum and dad. Nor was He to be some kind of terrible mixture of Mary and God (what a horrible thought that is)! (P) No, (P) this baby was to be no less than God Himself. But coming to be with us as a human being, just like you and me. The power of God the Father was going to overshadow her, God the Holy Spirit was going to rest upon her and the child that would be formed inside her was to be God the Son – the Son who had existed from eternity and who would continue to exist for ever and ever!

And not only that, this child would be the long awaited Messiah, the Saviour! No wonder the angel Gabriel had said she was the most favoured of women. Every Israelite woman who had every lived had hoped to be the mother of the Messiah, and now, completely unexpectedly, she was told that she was to be the one – the mother of the Messiah!

And, as if he couldn’t hold himself back, Gabriel continued with more wonderful news, this time about Elizabeth, Mary’s relative! ‘What’s more,’ He continued, ‘Elizabeth is now pregnant – in her old age! People used to say she was barren, that she couldn’t have children, but now she’s already six months pregnant! For with God, nothing is impossible.” (PAUSE)

This was the second time Gabriel had come to tell people about special babies, the first time was when he spoke to Zechariah about the birth of his son John. Zechariah hadn’t believed Gabriel, and, as punishment for not believing what the angel was telling him, he was made unable to hear or speak a word until all that the angel had promised came about. (P) So how would Mary respond? Would she believe him or not? (PAUSE)

Still shaken by all she’d seen, and almost overwhelmed by what the angel had said, Mary opened her mouth to speak. (P) ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ she started, ‘and I ‘m willing to accept whatever He wants. May everything you’ve said – come true.’  – At that, the angel left.

Elizabeth lived some distance away in the hill country to the south, so Mary made her plans, and as soon as she could she arranged to go and see Elizabeth. A few days later Mary found herself at the door of Elizabeth’s house, and entering the house she called Elizabeth’s name. As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s call, the baby inside Elizabeth’s womb leapt for joy and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And in a loud voice she called out to Mary, ‘You are blessed by God above all other women, and your child is blessed. What an honour, that the mother of my Lord should visit me! When you came in and called my name, the baby inside of me jumped for joy! You are blessed, and especially so because you believed that the Lord would do everything He said.” (P) Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about 3 months and then left just before Elizabeth’s baby was born. (PAUSE)

When everybody heard that the Lord had given Elizabeth a baby son in her old age, they rejoiced at how good the Lord was. (P) Now, the Jewish custom with baby boys is that when they’re 8 days old they have a special ceremony where the boy’s circumcised and given his name. Although people were rejoicing with Elizabeth over the birth of her son, many still felt sorry for her because of Zechariah’s problem – not being able to speak and hear. However, the ceremony went ahead as usual, except, that when the time came for the baby to be given his new name Elizabeth stopped them! The men present wanted to call the boy Zechariah after his father, but Elizabeth wouldn’t let them, saying, ‘No! Don’t call him that! His name’s John!’ This didn’t please the men who felt it wasn’t proper for a woman to be deciding the name of her son. So they went over to Zechariah and made signs to him to ask him what the name of his son should be. Zechariah made signs back indicating that he wanted a writing table, and then, to everyone’s surprise he wrote, ‘His name is John.’ Instantly Zechariah could hear and speak again and began worshiping and praising God.

News of all that had happened in Zechariah’s household spread like wildfire around the whole region, and everyone who heard about it spent time thinking. ‘I wonder what this lad will become? He’s bound to become something important because the hand of the Lord’s on him in a special way.’

And so John grew up, becoming strong in spirit. And he lived out in the wilderness until the time came for him to start his public ministry.