{"id":1792,"date":"2026-06-24T13:31:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T13:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/douglasgilliland.com\/theology\/?p=1792"},"modified":"2026-06-24T17:46:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T17:46:54","slug":"gospel-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/douglasgilliland.com\/theology\/2026\/06\/24\/gospel-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"Gospel Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Today’s reading is the story of the Nativity of St John the Forerunner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LUKE 1:1-25, 57-68, 76, 80
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilos, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth; for he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they wondered at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he made signs to them and remained dumb. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying, “Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.” Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zacharias after his father, but his mother said, “Not so; he shall be called John.” And they said to her, “None of your kindred is called by this name.” And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all marveled. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.” And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Hour of Incense<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Exodus 30:1 And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense <\/strong>upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.
Exodus 30:7-8 And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning<\/strong>: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense <\/strong>upon it.
And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even<\/strong>, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense<\/strong> before the LORD throughout your generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as<\/em> incense<\/strong>; and<\/em> the lifting up of my hands as<\/em> the evening sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malachi 1:11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be<\/em> great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense<\/strong> shall be<\/em> offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be<\/em> great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke 1:9 According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense <\/strong>when he went into the temple of the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rev 8:3-4 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense<\/strong>, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense<\/strong>, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s reading is the story of the Nativity of St John the Forerunner. LUKE 1:1-25, 57-68, 76, 80Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/douglasgilliland.com\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/douglasgilliland.com\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/douglasgilliland.com\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/douglasgilliland.com\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/douglasgilliland.com\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1792"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/douglasgilliland.com\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1801,"href":"https:\/\/douglasgilliland.com\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792\/revisions\/1801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/douglasgilliland.com\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/douglasgilliland.com\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/douglasgilliland.com\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}