se their eyes in
death; and that by no link whatsoever could they be connected with the
Messiah, to be the progenitor of whom was the cherished longing of each
Hebrew parent.

"They had no child!" They would, therefore, count themselves under the
frown of God; and the mother especially felt that a reproach lay on
her. What a clue to the anguish of the soul is furnished by her own
reflection, when she recognised the glad divine interposition on her
behalf, and cried, "Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein
He looked upon me, to take away _my reproach among men_" (Luke i. 25).

But had it not been for this sorrow they might never have been
qualified to receive the first tidings of the near approach of the
Messiah. _Sorrow_ opens our eyes, and bids us see visions within the
vail, which cannot be described by those who have not wept. _Sorrow_
leads us up the steep mountain of vision, and opens the panorama which
lies beyond the view of those who dare not attempt the craggy steep.
_Sorrow_ prepares us to see angels standing beside the altar of incense
at the hour of prayer, and to hear words that mortal lips may not utter
until they are fulfilled. _Sorrow_ leads us to open our house to those
who carry a great anguish in their hearts, who come to us needing
shelter and comfort; to discover finally that we have entertained an
angel unawares, and that in some trembling maiden, threatened by
divorce from her espoused, we have welcomed the mother of the Lord
(ver. 43). Shrink not from sorrow. It endures but for the brief
eastern night; joy cometh in the morning, to remain. It may be caused
by long waiting and apparently fruitless prayer. Beneath its pressure
heart and flesh may faint. All natural hope may have become dead, and
the soul be plunged in hopeless despair. "Yet the Lord will command
his loving-kindness in the morning;" and it will be seen that the dull
autumn sowings of tears and loneliness and pain were the necessary
preliminary for that heavenly messenger who, standing "on the right
side of the altar of incense," shall assure us that our prayer is heard.

III. THE ANGEL'S ANNOUNCEMENT.--One memorable autumn, when the land
was full of the grape-harvest, Zacharias left his home, in the cradle
of the hills, some three thousand feet above the Mediterranean, for his
priestly service. Reaching the temple he would lodge in the cloisters,
and spend his days in the innermost court, which none mig