The Messiah Appears

MORE than 500 years after Daniel prophesied, God’s angel Gabriel appeared to a young virgin girl named Mary, a descendant of King David. “Good day, highly favored one, Jehovah is with you,” Gabriel told her. (Luke 1:28) Mary, however, was afraid. What could Gabriel’s greeting mean?

“Have no fear, Mary, for you have found favor with God; and, look! you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you are to call his name Jesus,” Gabriel explained. “Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father, and . . . there will be no end of his kingdom.” (Luke 1:30-33) What wonderful news! Mary would give birth to the Messiah, the long-awaited “seed”!

The following year, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. That night, an angel announced to local shepherds: “Look! I am declaring to you good news of a great joy . . . because there was born to you today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in David’s city.” (Luke 2:10, 11) Later, Jesus’ family moved to Nazareth, where he grew up.

In the year 29 C.E.​—the very year that the Messiah was due to appear—​Jesus began serving as God’s prophet, when he was “about thirty years old.” (Luke 3:23) Many people came to realize that he had been sent by God. They said: “A great prophet has been raised up among us.” (Luke 7:16, 17) But what did Jesus teach?

Jesus taught people to love and worship God: He declared: “Jehovah our God is one Jehovah, and you must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind and with your whole strength.” (Mark 12:29, 30) He also said: “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.”​—Luke 4:8.

Jesus urged people to love one another: “You must love your neighbor as yourself,” he said. (Mark 12:31) He also said: “All things . . . that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them; this, in fact, is what the Law and the Prophets mean.”​—Matthew 7:12.

Jesus zealously told others about God’s Kingdom: “I must declare the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this I was sent forth,” he stated. (Luke 4:43) Why is God’s Kingdom so important?

The Scriptures teach that God’s Kingdom is a heavenly government that will rule over the earth. Jesus, the Messiah, is its God-appointed King. The prophet Daniel foresaw that in heaven God would give the Messiah “rulership and dignity and kingdom.” (Daniel 7:14) That Kingdom will establish Paradise earth wide and reward God’s servants with everlasting life. Is that not the best of news?