For many thousands of years people had
been waiting for the Savior whom God promised to Adam and Eve. Many prophets,
like Elijah, received messages from God about Him. Now at last the time was at
hand when the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, was to be born.
At this time there lived not far from
the great city of Jerusalem an old man and his wife. They were called Joachim
and Anna. They were both very good and very kind and loved each other tenderly.
But Joachim and Anna were very unhappy about one thing. They were both growing
old and still had no children. They did not grumble or complain as many people would
have done. Instead, they prayed very hard that God would give them a child.
Anna made a promise that if she had a baby she would bring it up to serve God.
A little baby girl was born to Joachim
and Anna. God had answered Anna's prayer, and they were very happy. They called
the baby Mary. She seemed to them to be the loveliest baby they had ever seen.
As Mary grew, she made her parents happier and happier because she was so
lovely and good.
Joachim and Anna did not forget their
promise to God. They knew too that they were old and would not live long. They
did not want Mary to remain alone in the world so one day they took Mary to the
beautiful temple in Jerusalem. At this time Mary was only three years old.
You remember the beautiful temple in
David's city: its mighty stone walls; its beautiful gold ornaments; its
precious stones; and the heavy carved wooden doors. The first temple, built by Solomon,
had been destroyed, but another one was built in its place. Around this temple
there was a great yard. In this yard there were buildings where the people who
took care of the temple lived. Some of the women and young girls spent all of their
time taking care of the beautiful things in the temple. The little girls
learned to sew, embroider, and to read the holy books.
Within the temple there was a place
where no one could enter. This place was called the Holy of Holies Only the
eldest of all the priests, who was called the high priest, could go in there
just once each year.
There was a great celebration the day
Joachim and Anna took Mary to the temple. All their friends and relatives with
their children had come with them. Each person carried a lighted candle in his
hand. They reached the great stone steps leading to the temple and stopped
there. At the top of the stone steps stood the high priest. Little
three-year-old Mary walked up these steps all by herself and put her hand into
the hand of the high priest.
Then something happened that made
Mary's parents and all their friends wonder even more. The high priest took her
hand and led her into the Holy of Holies, the place where no one could enter
and where he himself entered only once a year. When Mary's parents and family
went home that day, they still wondered why the high priest had done this and
what it could mean.
