Zechariah

Mary’s cousin Elizabeth was married to a good and holy man named Zechariah. Zechariah was part of the priestly class, which means that he had responsibility to pray and serve in the temple. One day while praying alone in the temple the Angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him that even though Elizabeth and him were very old, they were going to have a baby boy. Zechariah didn’t believe him and asked the Angel to give him a sign that this was true. Because Zechariah didn’t believe what the Angel told him, he became unable to talk until what the Angel said came true and his son was born. Elizabeth did have a baby boy 9 months later and when they were offering the baby to God, Elizabeth said that his name was to be John. Since Zechariah couldn’t speak yet he wrote down “John is his name”, as soon as he did that Zechariah was able to speak again and he praised God. Zechariah and Elizabeth’s baby boy was John the Baptist who told everyone to prepare their hearts for his cousin Jesus.