Firstborn...

First born....

My husband would hold our children from infancy on his lap as he read the Bible each morning...(giving me time to either get dressed or fix breakfast)..

One morning, our oldest was in the “reach out and grabbing stage” grabbed a page of the Bible, pulled and ripped out a verse...

(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord” ),

Luke 2:23 

We carefully pried it out of his pudgy little hand, smoothed it out, and finally were able to tape that portion back into my husband’s Bible...where it remains ...

We were were amazed that the portion he pulled out was “about “ him...the first born...

In continuing to read in Luke and Matthew, the accounts of John the Baptist and the Birth of Christ...both were “first born”...to Elizabeth and Mary...one in her old age and one to a young virgin...both so blessed because of the circumstances and promises made to them by angels...both fulfilled prophecy...one whose “disgrace” of childlessness was taken away...and most likely one who was publicly disgraced because of her marital status...they were relatives and helpful to one another...

Elizabeth’s baby acknowledged Mary’s child as did Elizabeth while in the womb...

Elizabeth got to stay at home and have hers...Mary had to walk for days because of the census to a strange town to have hers...no neighbors to help, but “lowly shepherds” and a manger...

Both had their babies named for them... and both babies already had jobs, ministries or duties to preform...

We wonder as the boys grew did they play with each other...know one another...if Zechariah and Elizabeth were aged, did they see John to adulthood, know of his ministry, his end...

We know Mary was at the cross to see her firstborn’s crucifixion, given to another to care for... what grieving she must have gone through...even as she knew his ministry from the beginning...

Thank YOU that you blessed these two women...they were obedient in their lives...but, thank YOU for their sons and the ministries they were sent to preform...thank YOU for sending a Savior ...as we celebrate this Christmas season...He is the real reason for this season...

“Consecrate to me every firstborn male. 

The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.” you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. 

All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord.

Exodus 13:2,12 

But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. 

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 

When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. 

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. 

He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 

He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Luke 1:7,11-17 

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. 

The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. 

The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 

So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 

Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

Luke 1:26-37

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Luke 1:39-45