"Bedtime Bible Stories"

From the Book of Luke,
Chapter I, Verses 1-25

For many centuries the people of Israel were
ruled by the Romans. The Romans were led by
Caesar who lived in the city of Rome.
The Roman rulers allowed the Jewish people
to worship their own God and have their own kings
and priests, but they were still in charge.
Roman governors ruled above the Jewish kings and
priests. The Jewish people wanted to be free of the
Romans. They prayed to God to send them someone
who would lead them from Roman rule the way Moses
led them to freedom from the Pharaoh in Egypt. The
prophets had promised that someone would come one
day and save them all. The Jews called him the Messiah.
They had been waiting for the Messiah to come for a
long, long time.

One day, in the land of Judea, there was an old
priest named Zacharias. He and his wife Elisabeth were
faithful to the Lord God Jehovah. It was the old priest's
job to light the candles in the temple before each worship
service. While he did this, the people of his village would
wait outside.
On this particular day, as Zacharias was lighting a
candle he looked up at the altar. Standing to the right of
the altar was an angel!
Zacharias was very frightened, but the Angel said,
"Don't be afraid, Zacharias, because I have come to tell
you some wonderful news.
"God has heard your prayers and the prayers of
your wife Elizabeth. You are going to have the son you
always wanted. Many people will celebrate his birth with
you. He will grow up to be a great man. Many people will
be led back to the ways of God because of your son. It
will be his job to prepare your people for the coming of
the Messiah."
Zacharias looked up at the angel and replied, "This
is impossible. I am an old man and my wife is an old
woman." Zacharias believed he and his wife were much
too old to have a baby.
Then the angel looked down at Zacharias. "I am the
Angel Gabriel," he said. "I stand in the very presence of
God. He was the one who sent me here to tell you this
wonderful news."

Then Gabriel looked harder at Zacharias. "Because
you didn't believe the news God sent you, then you will be
unable to talk until you see that everything that I have told
you comes true!"
And with that, the angel disappeared.
Outside, the people waiting to come in and worship
were wondering what was taking Zacharias so long.
Finally, he came out. He waved his arms around and
gestured with his hands trying to make people understand
what had happened to him.
At last they understood. They knew that Zacharias
had seen a vision in the temple. Zacharias went home and
a few months later, he and his wife Elizabeth were
expecting a baby, just as the angel Gabriel had told them!