Luke 1:39–45

Article 6: Mary visits Elizabeth

Reassurance of a friend

Barabbas

Published in

IamBarabbas

7 min readSep 23, 2017

When you receive some big but challenging news, like an interview for a job that’s way out of your league or you have some difficult choices to make, sometimes the reassurance of a friend is all you need. We read in today’s passage, journeying on close to the previous, about a woman named Mary who’d just been given the task of a lifetime, she was to bear the child Jesus, whom we would come to know as, God’s physical human presence here on earth.

Luke 1:39–45

39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,
40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!
43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.

Looking back, after Mary heard from the angel she would have a child, a son, she set off, but not before readying herself to see Elizabeth. It’s best to take in what just happened mentally, processing it even if for only for an hour. Mary’s still human after all. Thinking of the questions and troubles that lay ahead Mary was able to determine whom best to visit. She chose Elizabeth

When Mary chose to see Elizabeth in Judea, it was far from a short journey, depending on her route this could be 125 kilometre ride (without a car!). So you could see there was also a degree or urgency to not waste time, Mary had a long journey ahead. With recent events echoing in her thoughts, she needs an impartial friend to turn to, one she knows will tell her straight.

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When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Luke brings attention to the greeting because of it’s significance. At the sound of the greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped for joy and Elizabeth was full of the Holy Spirit. What does this mean?

‘leaps for joy’ illustrates the baby inside the womb is sensing the presence of God. Some people see this claim as evidence of God’s presence known to those present in the womb of their birth mother. Because we are made in the image of God, we are built to sense God’s presence, and, in this case, someone greater.

Here we see an example of Elizabeth’s child in the womb sensing God’s presence and reacting to it. This is clear this life in the womb is receiving God’s greeting to a child before we’ve even seen the child ourselves. Although you can’t see him you know and sense he’s there.

In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfil his promises to her!”

The presence we call the Holy spirit is informing Elizabeth that Mary’s child was the Messiah because Elizabeth called her young relative “The mother of my Lord” as she greeted her. Mary, after wondering I’m sure on the road if the events of previous days were real would have been full of reassurance as Elizabeth preaches encouragement even before Mary asks for it! Mary’s pregnancy may have seemed impossible, but her wise relative believed in the Lord’s faithfulness and rejoiced in Mary’s blessed condition. the Christian journey for many today requires doing things which feel ‘impossible’ or ‘inconceivable’.

Perhaps you’re not having a virgin birth, it could forgiving a father for how he treated you as a child or that broken leg which means you will never walk again. The Christian message challenges many values and this one such in particular looks to reassure you of what is going on. When I first became a Christian I needed to understand what I was stepping into and why, I couldn’t go in without faith and evidence of the worldview I now adhere to and I received great reassurance through friends both neutral and Christian and from the ways God works in my life.

Interesting fact

Some scholars have understood the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit to be a late invention of the early church, especially since it appears explicitly in the NT only in Like and Matthew. Most contemporary scholars dismiss as baseless, however, theories that the story was developed from or in response to pagan legends of supernatural conceptions, since suggested parallels bear little resemblance to the Gospel narratives.

but there was no theological need to invent the virgin birth; other avenues for asserting the divinity of Christ (such as adoptionism, the view that Jesus the man became divine by adoption (were open and less fraught with danger of inviting charge that Jesus was illegitimate, which was in fact the pagan and Jewish response to the stories. In the end, the only real reason for rejecting the historicity of the virgin birth is a philosophical denial of the incarnation in particular.

It’s worth noting that Elizabeth feels the Honour of God’s presence amongst them even after Zechariah doubted, God hadn’t put the couple out of use. Not only did they get the gift of John the Baptist, but they knew the chosen woman who would bring Jesus into the earth in bodily form, this time they did not doubt but believed first time.

Elizabeth recognises that Mary believed where perhaps Elizabeth should have done initially. She stopped praying for a child and her husband doubted before an angel. Now she is before someone who listened to God and with each other, could reassure each other, especially Elizabeth who would be embracing what would feel like the forgiveness of God.

Even though she herself was pregnant with a long-awaited son, Elizabeth could have envied Mary, whose son would be even greater than her own in terms of role. Instead, she was filled with joy that the mother of our Lord would visit her. Have you ever envied people whom God has apparently singled out for special role/job? Or more alternatively, have you ever envied someone else’s kid over your own? or you couldn’t treat your child the way ‘that’ parent could? A cure for jealousy is to rejoice with those individuals, realising that God uses his people in ways best suited to his purpose and your child is special too.

Conclusion

Value of life

If you have ever been pregnant, or a father I’m sure you can appreciate the great depth of love you feel and responsibility at the thought of raising a child with a ‘little you’ inside of it. You may feel it’s very much made in part of your image. The gift of life is always special, so special that the God of heaven didn’t skip this stage, he knew how important it was for Jesus to show us that life, even in the womb is of profound importance and can have an impact.

Reassurance

This meeting of the the two mothers is important for two reasons. First, John’s leaping in the mother’s womb shows that he recognises that he is in the presence of someone greater than himself; Jesus is not a prophet like John. Second, the first blessing identifies Mary’s blood relationship with Jesus (Verse 42), while the second focuses on Mary’s faith and obedience (Verse 45). Luke later clarifies that faith and obedience are more important than physical relationship (8:19–21; 11:27–28) which paves the way for later emphasising that God’s people include those who are not related to the Messiah of Israel by blood (i.e. Gentiles)

Forgiveness

Elizabeth may of felt guilty for not trusting in God, even to stop praying for something they dearly desired from the only one who could give it to them. But God clearly shows that he believes in second chances and portrays this once more by not only bringing a family member into the task, but someone she would be close to. Elizabeth would be the one to affirm Mary that she is carrying God’s physical human presence on earth inside of her. You may feel you’ve missed your chance, God can’t use you or you’re too far away or it’s just too much to ‘try it out’. God shows that even if you’ve stopped calling for him, it doesn’t mean he isn’t around. God’s absence is not the same as his silence. Call out to him today and see what journey awaits you but be prepared to challenge yourself and maybe learn something new.