Parents
1. Jerusalem in Herod the Great’s Time2. Zachary Goes Home
3. Nazareth Six Months Later
4. Elisabeth’s House in the Judean Hills
5. Elisabeth’s Time Comes
6. Mary Pregnant
7. Many and One
8. Shepherds in the Countryside
9. A Jewish Boy
10. Simeon and Anna
11. Astrologers in Jerusalem
12. Gifts
13. Joseph Dreaming, Rachel Weeping
14. Out of Egypt
15. Aged Twelve
1 Jerusalem in Herod the Great’s Time
A priest enters the Temple sanctuary. He and his wife live in the Judean hills: old and childless descendents of Aaron, a pious couple, strict observers of God’s ceremonies and laws. He has been called with others of his order to officiate for a term and has been chosen by lot to burn incense while the people pray outside. He sees an angel standing next to the altar of incense on the altar’s right side.
THE ANGEL. Zachary! Don’t be scared: your prayer’s heard. Elisabeth will give you a son, whom you’ll call John. You’ll be jubilant and his birth will be a festival, because he’ll be great in the Lord’s eyes. He will not drink wine: in his mother’s womb he’ll be filled with the Holy Spirit—in Elijah’s spirit he’ll walk before his Lord—turning fathers’ hearts to the children and naysayers to the wisdom of the loyal, making a people ready for the Lord: many of Israel’s children he’ll turn to the Lord God.
ZACHARY. How will I know this? I’m old—so is my wife.
THE ANGEL. I am Gabriel, who stand in God’s presence and am sent to you to speak this good news. Look: you’ll not talk till the day these things are achieved—because you don’t believe my words, which will be accomplished in their time.
The congregation waits for Zachary, wondering what’s delaying him. He comes out unable to speak but gestures that he has seen a vision.
Soon after, his wife becomes pregnant.
ELISABETH. The Lord has done this for me: he has looked on me and repelled the scorn of men.
God sends the angel to a girl.
GABRIEL. Hail, Well-Loved, the Lord is with you.
The girl’s scared.
GABRIEL. Mary, don’t be scared: God loves you. Look: you’ll become pregnant with a son who’ll be called Jesus. He’ll be great and be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God will give him his father David’s throne, and Jacob’s house he’ll rule always. His kingdom won’t end.
MARY. How can it be? No man is God’s son.
GABRIEL. The Holy Spirit will come over you, and the power of the Highest will consume you: therefore that holy thing which will be born will be called God’s son. Look: in her old age your cousin Elisabeth is pregnant also with a son. She who was thought barren is in her sixth month. To God nothing can’t be.
MARY. Look on the Lord’s servant: let the word you say be done to me.
The angel leaves her.
4 Elisabeth’s House in the Judean Hills
Mary calls to her cousin. Elisabeth hears Mary’s voice—her unborn child jumps in her womb.
ELISABETH. Exalted of woman and exalted the child in your womb. But why to me—why should my Lord’s mother come to me? I heard your voice—my baby in me jumped for joy. Exalted the woman who held firm. There’ll be the doing of everything the Lord promised her.
MARY. My mind glorifies the Lord, and my heart revels in God my Savior, who sees the humiliation of his servant Israel. Look: every generation shall see me exalted, for the Almighty has done great things to me and shows mercy to them who feared him from age to age. Holy is his name: he unveils his arm’s strength and scatters the proud to their hearts’ despair. He throws down the mighty and lifts up the lowly. He fills the hungry with glad things and sends away the empty rich. He remembers his mercy and befriends his servant, as he promised Abraham and all our fathers.
She gives birth to a son. Hearing of God’s gift to her, her relatives and friends gather to be happy with her. For seven days they call the baby Zachary after his father. Then it’s time to circumcise the boy.
ELISABETH. No—his name’s John.
They go to Zachary for some sign what he’ll call his son. Asking for a tablet, he writes, to everyone’s surprise, “His name is John.” Immediately, Zachary’s mouth opens—his tongue loosens.
ZACHARY. Praise the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and rescued his people. He has sounded the horn of our salvation in the house of his servant David. As he spoke through the mouths of his holy prophets since the world began, so he will save us from our enemies and free us from the hand of all that hate us. He will perform the mercy promised to our father Abraham, that he will grant that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, shall serve him without fear, upright and holy before him, every day of our life. You, baby boy, will be called the prophet of the Highest. You will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people the knowledge of their salvation through God’s tender mercy in forgiving their sins. The morning sun of heaven has risen before us to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death: it will guide our feet to the way of freedom.
God’s hand is on John. As the story of his birth becomes known, people stop, look into themselves, and ask, “What will the boy be?” He will grow up strong and impetuous, and go to live in the wilderness till the day comes when he shows himself to Israel.
Joseph, her fiancé, a kindly man unwilling to shame her, resolves to break off their engagement privately. Mulling over his resolve, falling asleep, dreaming, he sees God’s angel come to him.
THE ANGEL. David’s son Joseph, don’t be scared to make Mary your wife, for what is alive in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son whom you’ll name Jesus, because he will free his people from their sins.
Joseph remembers Isaiah’s words, “The Lord himself shall give you a sign: a virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son, who shall be called Immanuel, God-with-us.” He marries Mary but does not have intercourse with her.
A census is ordered by the Emperor, Augustus. Being of David’s house, Joseph takes Mary with him to register in David’s village, Bethlehem in Judea. While they’re there Mary’s time comes and she gives birth to a boy. She winds strips of cloth around the baby and puts it in a trough, because there is no room for them in the inn.
8 Shepherds in the Countryside
They are watching their sheep. Suddenly an angel’s on them—God’s glory penetrates the night.
THE ANGEL. Don’t be scared: I bring you great happiness and good news for all men. Today in David’s city your Savior is born: your anointed Lord. This is your sign: you’ll find the child wrapped in cloth, lying in a trough.
A storm of angels appears in the sky, praising God and singing.
ANGELS. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth freedom to men of God’s will.
The angels vanish into the stars.
SHEPHERDS. Let’s run to Bethlehem and see what the Lord told us has happened.
They run to the village and find Mary and Joseph. A baby lies in a trough. Seeing it, the shepherds tell Mary and Joseph how the angels sang of the child. Others later scoff at the story, but Mary will remember the words and weigh them in her heart. The shepherds go back to their sheep and shout cheers and praises to God for what they saw and heard.
On the eighth day the boy is circumcised and named Jesus.
When the month’s purification required by the Mosaic Law is over, his parents take him to Jerusalem. They sacrifice a pair of turtledoves and dedicate their son to God, in accordance with the teaching, “Whatever opens the womb belongs to God.” In Jerusalem a devout and holy man named Simeon has been waiting for Israel’s liberation. The Holy Spirit is in him and has promised him he won’t die before seeing the Lord’s Anointed. The Spirit leads him to the Temple, where Mary and Joseph have brought the infant. Praising God, he takes the baby in his arms.
SIMEON. Lord, now let your servant go in peace, as you said to me. My eyes see the deliverance you have prepared for every people: a light enlightening the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.
The old man blesses Mary and Joseph.
SIMEON to Mary. The child is destined for the death and resurrection of many in Israel, and as a witness which will be condemned so that hearts will be opened: yes, besides, a sword will pierce your own heart.
A prophetess steps forward, thanks God, and speaks of Jesus to those yearning for Israel’s freedom. She’s Anna, Phanuel’s daughter in Asher’s tribe, an old woman, married for seven years and a widow for eighty-four, who spends her life in the Temple praising God night and day with fasting and prayer.
They’re asking, “Where is the child who was born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” Herod becomes nervous, as do many others in the city. The king rounds up the high priests and scripture scholars and demands they tell him where the Anointed One was to be born. They say, “At Bethlehem in Judea: scripture says, ‘Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet from you a king shall come, the shepherd of my people Israel.’” Meeting privately with the astrologers, Herod questions them about when the star appeared. Then he sends them to Bethlehem.
HEROD. Be sure to find the boy, and when you find him send me word, so that I, too, may come and worship him.
The star they saw in the east goes before them until it stands over where a young child is. In a house they see him and his mother. They kneel and worship him, and open their strongboxes and give him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being warned in a dream, they return to their country without telling Herod.
13 Joseph Dreaming, Rachel Weeping
The angel warns Joseph, “Get up, take the boy and his mother, and escape to Egypt. Stay there till I bring you word: Herod’s looking for the child to destroy him.” Joseph gets up, takes Jesus and Mary, and escapes during the night to Egypt, where they remain until Herod’s death; in this way he makes true Hosea’s prophecy, “When Israel was a child I loved him, and called by son out of Egypt.” When Herod is told that the astrologers have left Judea he’s enraged. Deciding from his talk with them that the child must be less than two years old, he sends his men into Bethlehem and the surrounding country and orders them to kill every boy two years old or younger; thus he makes true Jeremiah’s prophecy, “A voice was heard in Ramah—lamenting, bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, for her children were no more.”
After Herod dies the angel comes to Joseph and tells him in a dream, “Get up. Take the child and his mother out of Egypt and go back to Israel. They’re dead who wanted to kill the boy.” He gets ready to take Jesus and Mary back to Israel, but hearing that Herod’s son Archelaus rules Judea he’s afraid to return. So, being told in a dream, he skirts Judea, goes into Galilee, and settles in Nazareth: there his son grows strong and intelligent, a pleasure to God.
The family goes to Jerusalem, as they do every year at Passover. After celebrating the festival, his parents start for home, unaware that their son isn’t with them. They assume he’s with the party, and travel for a day before asking for him among their relatives and friends. Not finding him, they turn back to search for him and reach Jerusalem again the following night. In the morning they find him in the Temple—sitting with scholars, listening to them, and asking them questions. All present are amazed by his knowledge and wit. Mary and Joseph are bewildered.
MARY. Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I searched for you in tears.
JESUS. Why did you search? Didn’t you know I’d be in my Father’s house?
They don’t understand what he’s saying. He returns to Nazareth with them and is obedient to them. Mary remembers what he told her. Jesus grows in wisdom and strength, and in the good opinion of God and men.