Rev. John M. Edgerton

Transcript

It was early in the morning and Pontius Pilate was tense. It was the Passover festival in Jerusalem and so 100,000 people from all over Israel had descended on the city, to remember the story of when the God of Israel smashed the power of an empire and set them free. The Roman Empire looked on this celebration of the smashing of an empire with great suspicion. That’s why Pontius Pilate was there, he was the Roman governor of Israel, and he was in Jerusalem with an army to personally oversee security.

The story of the Magi begins long before Bethlehem. The story of the Magi begins in the far reaches of the stars, and from 800 years before the birth of Jesus. It all began with the great king Nabonassar, ruler of the Babylonian empire.

The attempts on Jesus’ life started early. He had barely even begun his ministry when a crowd of people tried to throw him off a cliff. And it seems to come out of nowhere. One minute, everyone loves Jesus and praises how gracious he is. Then he makes passing reference to a story about a widow and the next thing you know they are hauling Jesus out of town in order to throw him off a cliff. Why does everyone get so angry?

At dinner that night, in Bethany near the Mount of Olives, Lazarus stole the show. Any other dinner, Jesus would be all that anyone could talk about. But at this table, on this night, Lazarus sat among them, the man who had been dead and whom Jesus brought back to life again. Lazarus was not someone revived from death swiftly, moments after heart and breath had stopped. Lazarus had been sick and he died, He had been wrapped in grave clothes, he had the funeral psalms sung over him, he had been sealed in a tomb, the mourners had gone home.

Fifty days had passed.

Elizabeth and Zechariah were both priests through and through.  Zechariah had devoted his life to serving as a priest, as part of the order of Abijah.  He had even served in the Temple of Jerusalem itself—no small honor.  Elizabeth too was of the priestly caste, from a family with impeccable pedigree.  She was a descendent of Aaron, Moses’ right hand man.  Aaron who was the creator, founder, and progenitor of the priesthood in Israel.