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John the Baptist Prepared the Way for Jesus

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(Luke 1:17)

And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

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John the Baptist , who prepared the way for Jesus, was born 6 months before Jesus.
Like Jesus, John the Baptist was also born through a miracle.

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The father of John the Baptist was Zechariah.

Zechariah was a priest. Zechariah's wife was Elizabeth.

These two lived very righteously in the sight of God.

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But they had no child.

They prayed to God because they wanted a child, but as they became very old, they still had not had a child. So they thought that God would not give them a child.

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Then, the day for Zechariah to do the work of the priests came. They drew lots to pick the person who would serve God. Zechariah picked the work of burning the incense inside the tabernacle of God.

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While Zechariah burned the incense, other people prayed outside.
Zechariah burned the incense to God with a very humble heart.

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"Oh!" Zechariah was surprised.

Because God's angel, Gabriel, was standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
After seeing the angel, Zechariah was so afraid.

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The angel Gabriel said to Zechariah,

"Do not be afraid. God has heard your prayers. Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son. When the son is delivered, name him John. He will be a joy and delight to you and to many people."

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The angel continued,

"He will be great in the sight of the Lord. Through him, many people of Israel will be brought back to the Lord their God. He will prepare the way for the coming Lord."

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Zechariah was not able to believe the words of the angel.

"I cannot believe that this will happen to me. I am old and my wife is also old. How can we have a child?"

Zechariah thought it was impossible because he and his wife were too old.

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The angel Gabriel said to Zechariah,

"This will surely come true. But since you did not believe it, you will become silent until the day this happens."

The angel said that Zechariah would not be able to speak until John was born.

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The people who were waiting outside were very worried because Zechariah had not come back out for a long time. But when Zechariah finally came out, he could only make signs but he was not able to speak. For the whole time serving as priest, Zechariah was not able to speak.

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After serving as priest, Zechariah went back to his home.

Soon after, an amazing thing happened! His wife Elizabeth became pregnant with a child! God had responded to their prayers and the promise of the angel was fulfilled.

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Just like the prophesy of the angel, Zechariah was able to speak after John the Baptist was delivered. John the Baptist was a great joy to this couple.

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John the Baptist fulfilled very well the work entrusted to him by God. For Jesus to proclaim the gospel well, John the Baptist eagerly preached the gospel in the desert and prepared the coming way for Jesus. John the Baptist also baptized Jesus. John the Baptist lived only for Jesus.

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Like John the Baptist, all of us came to this world with a special purpose for Jesus. For Jesus to return again to this world, we should prepare the way. Jesus said He will come again when the gospel is told to the whole world. For Jesus to come again, I hope you can become faithful people who can proclaim the words of God as eagerly as John the Baptist did.