JESUS CHRIST

A Light To The Gentiles - Greg Olsen

Our attention now turns to Jerusalem and it’s temple. There an aged man, described by Luke as “just and devout,” one who in faith had awaited the coming of the Messiah and who had received the promise of the Lord that he would not die until he had seen the Savior, was moved upon by the Holy Ghost to go to the temple. His is the first testimony within the sacred walls of the temple of which we have records that announced the birth of Jesus Christ. Appropriately, he bore the name Simeon, which means “hearing” (see Genesis 29:33). Indeed, God had heard his righteous plea, and now his prayer was to be answered. (more…)

Who, then, was this Zacharias to whom Gabriel appeared? He was a descendant of Abia (Hebrew, Abijah). His name meant “remembered of Jehovah.” He was married to a woman named Elizabeth, whose fathers, like those of Zacharias, had also been priests (see Luke 1:5). Her name was that of Aaron’s wife, of whom she was a descendant (see Exodus 6:23). It means “God is my oath,” or “consecrated to God.” Thus this noble couple, “consecrated to God” long before their births, were, in the Nativity story, to be “remembered of Jehovah,” as the promise was granted to them that they at long last should become the parents of a child–a child destined to be the earthly forerunner of the Messiah. Of the parents of John the Baptist we read, “They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6). Zacharias and Elizabeth honored the law of their fathers not only in letter but in spirit. Their righteousness entitled them to God’s favor. Zacharias, who held that priesthood which entitled to receive the ministering of angels, was worthy of, and received, that sacred privilege.

Sperry Symposium Classics, Joseph Fielding McConkie, 2006, Brigham Young University & Deseret Book, 110.