Lessons and Carols-- Lessons Four and Five

Lesson Four

The peace that Christ will bring is foreshadowed.

Text: Isaiah 11:1-3a, 4a, 6-9

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord...

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor...

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.

They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Lesson Five

The angel Gabriel salutes the virgin Mary.
Text: Luke 1:26-35, 38

In the sixth month [of Elizabeth's pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.

And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"

But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of hiskingdom there will be no end."

And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"

And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you,and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy--the Son of God."

And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."

And the angel departed from her.

And the Glory

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
(Isaiah 40:5)
from Handel's Messiah