Closer to the Truth ~ The birth of the Messiah

In the days of King Herod of Judea there was a priest, a member of the Abiyah priesthood named Zecharyah. His wife Elizabeth was descended from the ‘daughters of Aaron’ and both were upright and devout, flawlessly observing all the commandments and ordinances of Allah. Both were well on in years and they had no children for Elizabeth was barren.
Once, when it was the turn for the Abiyah priesthood to enter the sanctuary of Allah, and Zecharyah was there to take part in the service, it fell to his lot, by priestly custom to offer the incense.
[when it was the turn : approximately June]
The whole congregation was at prayer outside and it was the hour of the incense offering when an angel of Allah appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
Zecharyah was startled at this sight and fear overcame him, but the angel said, ‘Your prayer has been heard Zecharyah, do not be afraid. Your wife will bear you a son, and you shall name him Yahyah. Your heart will thrill with joy and many will be glad that he was born, for he will be great in the eyes of Allah. He shall never touch wine or strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his birth and he will bring back many Israelites to the Lord, their God. Possessed by the spirit and power of Elijah, he will go before him as forerunner to reconcile father and child, to convert the rebellious to the ways of the righteous, and to prepare a people to be fit for the Lord.’
Zecharyah said to the angel, ‘I am an old man and my wife is well up in years. How can I be sure of this?
‘I am Gabriel. I stand in attendance upon your God, and I have been sent to speak to you and bring you this good news,’ the angel replied. ‘But now listen, you will lose your power of speech, and remain silent until the day when these things happen to you, because you have not believed me, though at their proper time my words will be proved true.’
Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zecharyah, surprised that he was staying so long inside. When he did come out he could not speak and stood there making signs to them and remained dumb, till they concluded that he had had a vision in the sanctuary.
When he period of duty was completed Zecharyah returned home and his wife conceived. For five months she lived in seclusion, thinking, ‘This is Allah’s doing. Now at last He has deigned to take away my reproach among men.’
During Elizabeth’s sixth month, Gabriel was sent from God to Nazareth, a town in Galilee with a message for a girl named Mary engaged to Joseph, a descendant of David.
In the semblance of a full-grown man she saw him and said, ‘May the Merciful defend me from you. If you fear Allah, leave me and go your way.’
The angel said to her, ‘Greetings, most favored one. Allah is with you.’
So she wondered what this greeting might mean and she was deeply troubled by what he said. Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for God has been gracious to you. You shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall give him the name YahShua. He will be great, and bear a title, ‘Son of the Most High.’ The God Allah will give him the throne of his ancestor David, and will be king of the house of Jacob forever; his reign shall never end.’
‘How can this be?’ Mary reflected. ‘I am still a virgin.’
The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come down upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and for that reason the holy child to be born with be called ‘Son of God.’ Additionally, your own relative Elizabeth, in her old age has conceived a son. She was reported barren, but is now in her sixth month for God’s purposes can never fail.’
‘Here am I,’ said Mary. ‘I am the Lord’s servant. As you have spoken, so be it.’ Then the angel left her.
Soon thereafter Mary set out and went straight into Zecharyah’s house in a town in the uplands of Judah. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting the baby in her womb stirred and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out aloud, ‘God’s blessing is on you above all women, and his blessing is on the fruit of your womb. Who am I, that the mother of my lord should visit me? I tell you, when your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby in my womb leapt for joy. How happy is she who has had faith that Allah’s promise would be fulfilled.’
Mary now knew she was with child by the Holy Spirit and said,

‘Sing out, my soul, the greatness of Allah,
rejoice, rejoice my spirit, in God my savior
so tenderly has He looked upon His servant, humble as she is.
For, from this day forth, all generations will count me blessed
So wonderfully has He dealt with me, Allah, the Mighty One.
His name is Holy,
His mercy sure form generation to generation
Towards those who fear Him.
The deeds his own right arm has done disclose His might.
The arrogant of heart and mind he has put to rout,
He has brought down monarchs from their thrones
But the humble have been lifted high.
The hungry He has satisfied with good things,
The rich sent away empty.
He has arranged Himself at the side of Israel his servant,
Firm in the promise to our forefathers,
He has not forgotten to show mercy to Abraham
And his children’s children forever.’

Mary remained with her for about three months and then returned home.
Being a man of principle, and at the same time wanting to save her from exposure, Joseph longed to have the marriage contract set aside quietly. He had resolved to do this, when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph son of Dave, do not be afraid to take Mary home with you as your wife. It is by the Holy Spirit,’ the angel said, ‘that she has conceived this child. She will bear a son, and you shall give him the name YahShua, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord declared through the prophet, ‘The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he shall be called Emmanuel, a name meaning ‘God is with us.’
Rising from sleep, Joseph did as the angel had directed him. He took Mary home to be his wife, and resolved to have no intercourse with her until her son was born.
When Elizabeth gave birth to a son, her neighbors and relatives heard what great favor Allah had shown her and they were as delighted as she was. Then on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the chilled and were about to name him Zecharyah after his father, when his mother spoke up and said, ‘No, he is to be called Yahyah.’ ‘But,’ they said, ‘there is no one who has ever had that name before.’
By signs they asked his father what he would have him be called. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote down to the astonishment of all, ‘His name is Yahyah.’ Immediately his lips and tongue were freed and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were struck with awe, and everywhere in the uplands of Judea the whole story became common talk. All who heard it were deeply impressed and many said, ‘What will this child become, for indeed the hand of Allah is upon him.’
Zecharyah was filled with the Holy Spirit and uttered this prophesy:
‘Praise to the God of Israel
for He has turned to His people, saved them and set them free
and He has raised up a deliverer of victorious power
from the house of David.
So he promised, age after age He proclaimed
By the lips of His holy prophets
That He would deliver us from our enemies
Out of the hands of all who hate us
That he would deal mercifully with our fathers
Calling to mind his solemn covenant.
That was the oath He swore to our father Abraham
To rescue us from enemy hands
And to grant us, free from fear, intercourse with Him
In a holy worship, with uprightness of heart
In His presence, our whole life long.
And you my child, you shall be called Prophet of the Highest
For you will be the Lord’s forerunner to prepare his way
And lead his people to salvation through knowledge of him,
By the forgiveness of their sins.
For in the tender compassion of our God
The morning sun heaven will rise upon us
To shine on those who live in darkness, under the cloud of death
And to guide our feet into the way of peace.’
So appeared a man named Yahyah, sent from God. He came as a witness to testify to the light, that all might become believers through him. He was not himself the light; he came to bear witness to the light. The light which enlightens every man was even then coming into the world.
As this child grew up he would become strong in spirit and live out in the wilds until the day when he would appear publicly before Israel.
During these days a decree was issued by the Emperor Augustus for a registration to be made throughout the Roman world. This was the first registration of its kind taking place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. For this purpose everyone made his way to his own home town.
Because he was of the house of David by descent, Joseph took Mary who was still engaged to him, and went up to Judaea from Nazareth in Galilee to register in Bethlehem, the city of David.
When they were near, the time came for her baby to be born and when she felt the throes of childbirth she lay down by the trunk of a palm-tree, crying, ‘Oh, would that I had died and passed into oblivion!’
But a voice from below cried out to her, ‘Do not despair. Your Lord has provided a brook that runs at your feet, and if you shake the trunk of this palm-tree it will drop fresh ripe dates in your lap. Therefore eat and drink and rejoice, and should you meet any mortal say only, ‘I have vowed a fast to the Merciful and will not converse with any man today.’
Carrying the child, she came to her people, who said to her, ‘Mary, this is indeed a strange thing. Sister of Aaron, your father was never a whore-monger, nor was your mother a harlot.’
She made a sign to them, pointing to the child. But they replied, ‘How can we speak with a babe in the cradle?’
Whereupon he spoke, ‘I am the servant of God. He has given me the Book and ordained me a prophet. His blessing is upon me wherever I go, and He has exhorted me to be steadfast in prayer and to give alms as long as I shall live. He has exhorted me to honor my mother and has purged me of vanity and wickedness. Blessed was I on the day I was born, and blessed I shall be on the day of my death and on the day I shall be raised to life.’
She laid him in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now in this same district there were shepherds abiding in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night, when suddenly there stood before them an angel of the Lord, and the splendor of Allah shone round about them, and they were most afraid.
But the angel spoke and said, ‘Do not be afraid, I bring you good tidings of a great joy coming to all the people. Unto you this day in the city of David a savior which is the Messiah, the lord. And this is your sign; you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.’ At once there was with the angel a great company of the heavenly hosts, singing the praises of God:
‘Glory to God in highest heaven
and on earth peace towards men on whom His favor rests.’
After the angels had left them and gone into heaven the shepherds said tone another, ‘Come, we must go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord hasmadeknown to us.’
So they went at full speed and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby was still lying in the manger. When they saw him, they recounted what they had been told about this child, and all who heard were astonished at what the shepherds said. But Mary treasured up all these things in her heart and pondered over them. Meanwhile the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for what they had heard and seen, since it had all happened s they had been told.
Eight days later when it was time to circumcise him, Joseph named the child YahShua, the name given by the angel before he was conceived. Then after their purification was completed in accordance with the Law of Moses, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as prescribed in the Law of the Lord: ‘Every first-born male shall be deemed to belong to the Lord’ and to make the offering as also stated in the Law of ‘ . . a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.’
At this time in Jerusalem an upright and devout man called Simeon watched and waited for the restoration of Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and it had been disclosed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s messiah. There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was a very old woman who had lived with her husband seven years, and then alone as a widow for another eighty years. She never left the temple, but worshipped day and night fasting and praying.
Guided by the spirit, Simeon came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child YahShua to do what was customary under the Law for him, Simeon took him in his arms, praised God and said;
‘This day, Master, Thou givest Thy servant his discharge in peace. Now Thy promise is fulfilled for I have seen with my own eyes the deliverance which Thou hast made in full view of all the nations; a light that will be a revelation to the heathen, and glory to Thy people Israel.’
Coming up at that very moment, Anna returned thanks to God.
The child’s father and mother were full of wonder at what was being said abut him. Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined to be a sign which men reject, and you too shall be pierced to the heart. Many in Israel will stand or fall because of him and thus the secret thoughts of many will be laid bare.’
As time passed Anna talked about the child to all who were looking for the liberation of Jerusalem.
YahShua was born during the reign of Herod, king of Judaea. After his birth astronomers arrived from the east in Jerusalem asking, ‘Where is the child who is born to be king of the Jews? We observed the rising of his star and have come to pay him homage.’
King Herod was greatly perturbed when he heard this, and so was the whole of Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the chief priests and lawyers and the Jewish people and asked them this question, ‘Where is the messiah, to be born?’
‘At Bethlehem in Judaea,’ they replied, and referred him to the prophecy which states, ‘
Bethlehem in the land of Judaea, you are far from least in the eyes of the rulers of Judah, for out of you shall come a leader t be shepherd my people Israel.’
Herod next called the astronomers to meet him in private, and determined from them the time when the star had appeared. He then sent them on the Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and make a careful inquiry for the child. When you have found him, report to me, so that I may go and pay him homage.’
So they set out at the king’s bidding following the same star they had seen until it stopped above the place where the child lay. They were overjoyed at the sight of the star and entering the house, they saw the child with his mother. They bowed in homage to him, and opening up their treasures offer him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
They returned home by another way, being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod.
After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you otherwise, for Herod is going to search for the child to do away with him.’ So Joseph rose from sleep and taking mother and child by night he stole away with them to Egypt.
When Herod saw how the astronomers had tricked him he fell into passion. He gave orders for all children two years old orless, and thus corresponding with the time he had determined from the astronomers, to be massacred in Bethlehem and its neighborhood.
So the words spoken through Jeremiah the prophet; ‘A voice was heard in Rama, wailing and loud laments; it was Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing all consolation, because they were no more’, were fulfilled.
When Herod died an angel of Allah appeared in Egypt to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise up, take the child and his mother, and go with them to the land of Israel, for the men who threatened the child’s life are dead.’ This was to fulfill what the Lord had declared through the prophet; ‘I called my son out of Egypt.’
Joseph rose, taking mother and child with him and journeyed toward the land of Israel.
He was afraid to go there, however, hearing that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king. Being warned by a dream, Joseph withdrew to the region of Galilee where he settled in a town called Nazareth. This was to fulfill the words spoken through the prophets; ‘He shall be called a Nazarene’. The child grew big and strong and full of wisdom, and God’s favor was upon him.
It was the practice of his parents to go to Jerusalem every year for the Passover festival, and when he was twelve, they made the pilgrimage as usual. When the festival season was over, they started for home, but the boy YahShua stayed behind in Jerusalem, without his parent’s knowledge. They journeyed for an entire day, only then looking for him among their friends and relations. Since they could not find him they returned to look for him in Jerusalem. After three days they found him sitting in the temple surrounded by teachers, listening to them and engaged in dialog. All who heard him were amazed at his intelligence and the answers he gave. His parents were astonished to see him there, and his mother said, ‘My son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been searching very anxiously for you.’
‘What made you search?’ he asked. ‘Did you not know I was bound to be in my father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he meant by this.
He went back with them to Nazareth, and continued to be under their authority. As YahShua grew up he advanced in wisdom and in favor with God and men and his mother treasured all these things in her heart.