not all the gospels mention the episode, but in luke, the story begins when one night jesus mother mary is visited by an angel. do not be afraid for you have found favor with god. you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him jesus. but mary cannot believe the angel s message since she is still a virgin. the child to be born will be holy. he will be called son of god. when mary is told by the angel that she is carrying the messiah, she s shocked and surprised, and she feels very humble. she says she s unworthy of this kind of great honor, but she s willing to accept it.
for his inner circle, so this is a very thrilling moment for for believing catholics all over the world. if these are the bones of peter, then they are one of the catholic church s most significant discoveries. it s very exciting, because it puts us into direct contact with the historical peter. peter was the most important disciple of jesus. peter is, in the traditions of the church, the first pope. he s the first pope in a line that lasts all the way to pope francis today. i think peter was jesus best friend. i think he was his brother. according to the gospel of matthew, peter is the rock on which christ will build his church, but clear evidence that peter came to rome to lay the
he is arguably jesus closest friend. peter was that person who was closer than a brother. jesus was fully man, and that man needed friends, and peter was that friend. at the same time church tradition places peter in rome, the historian tacitus tells us the city is a very dangerous place in which to be a christian. in ad 64 a disastrous fire breaks out in rome, devastating areas of the city, and tacitus says that nero fixed upon the christians as those responsible. nero gathered together all the christians that he could find, rounded them up and persecuted them. tacitus says that the
elizabeth. elizabeth. mary? elizabeth tells mary how despite being too old to conceive, she really is now 6 months pregnant. as soon as i heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. when mary goes to elizabeth, and they re both pregnant, john the baptist leaps for joy in elizabeth s womb. we can imagine that there s a rapport between these women. there is an attempt throughout the gospels to portray john as the forerunner who prepares the way for the coming of the lord, the lord being jesus himself. two thousand years on, the possibility that john and jesus are related has triggered fresh investigation into the study of john the baptist s relics. with their ongoing quest to trace how his relics were scattered, british researchers
growing christian church whose message spreads across the world. john s disciples are still around long after the death of jesus. but perhaps the biggest difference is ultimately, in the early jesus movement there is an appeal to gentiles. as soon as the gentiles are converting to this new movement we get a much more successful global kind of mission. but john s voice can still be heard in a very direct way through one of jesus most famous teachings, the lord s prayer itself. father hallowed be your name. the words spoken by jesus were directly inspired by john. give us each day our daily bread. forgive us our sins. we ourselves forgive everyone who s indebted to us. lead us not into temptation.