Once upon a time there was a man named Zacharias. He was very old and lived with his wife Elisabeth. They had no children and thought it was too late for that. But God had a special plan for them!
One day an angel came to Zacharias and said, “You will soon have a son, and you shall call him John.” Zacharias couldn’t believe it. He thought: “I’m so old!” Because Zacharias had not believed that God would give him a son, he could not speak for a while.
But then, when little John was born, something wonderful happened. Zacharias was suddenly able to speak again! He was so happy that he sang a very special song for God. He wanted to thank God and tell everyone how good God is.
In his song, Zacharias said that God always keeps His promises. He said that John would tell people that Jesus is coming to save everyone. God would give peace and help people to go on the right path because he loves them so much.
The people listened to Zacharias and rejoiced with him. They realized how important his son John would become, and they praised God together with Zacharias.
Message of history
God always keeps His promises, and He has good plans for us. We can trust Him and be grateful to Him.
Bible passage
The song of Zechariah is found in Luke 1:67-79. Here is the full text from the Schlachter 2000 translation:
“And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! For he looked upon his people and prepared redemption for them; And he has set up for us a horn of salvation in the house of his servant David, as he promised by the mouth of his holy prophets of old, deliverance from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us, to show mercy on our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath, whom he swore to our father Abraham that he would grant us that, having been redeemed from the hand of our enemies, we should serve him fearlessly in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our lives. And you, little children, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people the knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, through which the rising from on high visited us, to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to set our feet in the way of peace.”
