all who heard, and the fame whereof spread throughout the region.

The unusual circumstances attending the birth of John, notably the
months of dumbness passed by the father and his sudden recovery of
speech on the bestowal of the fore-appointed name, caused many to marvel
and some to fear, as they asked: "What manner of child shall this be?"
When, a man grown, John raised his voice in the wilderness, again in
fulfillment of prophecy, the people questioned as to whether he was not
the Messiah.[198] Of his life between infancy and the beginning of his
public ministry, a period of approximately thirty years, we have of
record but a single sentence: "And the child grew, and waxed strong in
spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto
Israel."[199]

THE ANNUNCIATION TO THE VIRGIN.

Six months after the visitation of Gabriel to Zacharias, and three
months prior to the birth of John, the same heavenly messenger was sent
to a young woman named Mary, who lived at Nazareth, a town in Galilee.
She was of the lineage of David; and though unmarried was betrothed or
espoused to a man named Joseph, who also was of royal descent through
the Davidic line. The angel's salutation, while full of honor and
blessing, caused Mary to wonder and to feel troubled. "Hail, thou that
art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among
women";[200] thus did Gabriel greet the virgin.

In common with other daughters of Israel, specifically those of the
tribe of Judah and of known descent from David, Mary had doubtless
contemplated, with holy joy and ecstasy, the coming of the Messiah
through the royal line; she knew that some Jewish maiden was yet to
become the mother of the Christ. Was it possible that the angel's words
to her had reference to this supreme expectation and hope of the nation?
She had little time to turn these things in her mind, for the angel
continued: "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And,
behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and
shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the
Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of
his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there shall be no end."[201]

Even yet she comprehended but in part the import of this momentous
visitation. Not in the spirit of doubt such as had prompted Zacharias to
ask for a sign, but t