The birth of Jesus foretold
Tagged: Christian
The passage
The angel Gabriel is sent to Nazareth, to a virgin named Mary, and greets her as favored one. He tells her she will conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Jesus; he will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and of his kingdom there will be no end. To her question how this can be, the angel answers that the Holy Spirit will come upon her, and closes with the ground of every promise: “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Where it stands
Luke 1 pairs the annunciation of Jesus with the foretelling of John the Baptist's birth to Zechariah. The two announcements open Luke's Gospel, and Mary's answer, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord,” is the door through which the whole story enters.
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News
Persecution of Christians Worsened in Most Countries Surveyed, New Report Finds
Aid to the Church in Need launched its report Persecuted and Forgotten? on October 27, 2026. It finds that persecution of Christians worsened in more than half the countries surveyed over two years, and improved in none.