Page:Jesus of Nazareth the story of His life simply told (1917).djvu/50

 "Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard."

Then he went on to tell him that Elizabeth should have a son who should bring gladness to many. Even as a little child he would be great before God, and when he was grown up he would convert many of his people and prepare them for the coming of the Messiah.

Bewildered by such a joyful surprise, Zachary asked how he should know all this was true.

"I am Gabriel, who stand before God," was the answer, "and am sent to speak to thee, and to bring thee these good tidings. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be able to speak until the day wherein these things shall come to pass, because thou hast not believed my words which shall be fulfilled in their time." So Zachary had the sign he asked, though it was a punishment too because of his unbelief.

Good news, as well as bad, travels fast, and when a week later he returned to his home at Ain-Karim, in the hill country of Judea, he found that Elizabeth had heard all that people knew about the vision in the Temple. She came out to meet him, anxious, yet, somehow, full of joyful expectation. He laid his finger on his lips, sent for his writing tablets, and, with a trembling hand, wrote down all that had passed. Then they rejoiced together, and thanked God for His goodness to them, and waited in quiet happiness for the fulfilment of His promise.

Weeks passed by, and months. Priest after priest went by turn into the Holy Place to offer incense, and Zachary's vision came to be forgotten. But not by all. Not by those who noted every sign of the Messiah being at hand. There was an old man in Jerusalem who had a promise from God that he should not die till he had seen the Christ of the Lord. There was an aged woman who