If Advent is anything it’s a time for families and friends to get together. The period of Advent is commercially called “the holiday season”, and all over our country people are shopping and preparing to either travel or host family and friends for Christmas. It is as the song says, “the most wonderful time of the year”. Who doesn’t want to be with family and friends?
In our Advent readings in Luke’s Gospel, after Mary receives
the news of her conception from the Angel Gabriel, she sets out on a journey to
visit her cousin, Elizabeth. Why did she
go? First, the Scripture?
Luke 1:39-45
“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a
town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her
womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a
loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to
me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby
in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there
would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.’”
In context, I want us to remember that the Angel Gabriel was
the person who either told or reminded Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant
– which was a miracle from God. Gabriel
said to Mary,
“And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a
son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For
nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:36-37)
Looking on the surface it seems altogether normal. Except it wasn’t. Why did Mary go to visit Elizabeth? What was her purpose? What was on her mind?
The Scriptures do not give us “the” answer, but gives us hints
of what was going on in Mary. AND, it
seems as if this was God’s providential leading that caused Mary to go. Luke, the Gospel writer, begins by telling us
that Mary arose from the Angel Gabriel’s leaving and “went with haste
into the hill country”. Here’s where
we need a little geography lesson. Mary
was in Nazareth when the angel Gabriel came to her, but Elizabeth was in a town
in Judah. Specifically, tradition from
the early church was that Elizabeth was living in Ein Karem at the time, and the
distance between the two villages was roughly 60 miles. Ein Karem is on the outskirts of Jerusalem
and is about 2,474 feet above sea level, while Nazareth is at 1,138 feet. This
means Mary had to travel 60 miles, uphill 1,336 feet in elevation!
She made this trip over geographically rugged land. Nazareth is in the northern part of Israel in
the Galilee region, and Ein Karem – near Jerusalem – is in the south and the
land in between was known as Samaria.
Samaritans, in general, did not like Jews. Equally, Jews didn’t like Samaritans. Mary had to travel through Samaria. While it seems that the trip to visit
Elizabeth was spontaneous, in all likelihood, it was not.
Mary – moved by her encounter with Gabriel – decided she
needed to visit Elizabeth. Why? Perhaps because she found out that Elizabeth
was pregnant from Gabriel. That, in
itself, would have been astounding news to her ears. But, I imagine that part of the reason is
that she needed to share the news of her pregnancy – in its miraculous way –
with her cousin whom she must have trusted with that kind of “unbelievable”
news.
When Mary arrived at Elizabeth’s home, the miraculous occurred
again. In this home, Zechariah was
silent – he had been unable to speak for six months or more – and Mary called
out a “hello” to Elizabeth. When
Elizabeth heard that, Luke describes what happened - “And when Elizabeth
heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. (1:41a). We must look again, for it wasn’t Elizabeth
was just happy to see Mary, but Elizabeth “felt” her baby (John the Baptist) “leap”
inside of her. The word translated “leap”
is an interesting Greek word. It means “to
skip” – like an Irish jig – a little “hop”.
Most mothers would exclaim, “oooh”, but Luke adds an important detail: “And
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit”, (Luke 1:41).
“God was present in that meeting, and Elizabeth knew it,
and began to speak out God’s blessings:
‘and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed
is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother
of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting
came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a
fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.’” (Luke 1:42-45).
Elizabeth understood that her birth was a miracle of God,
and with Zechariah’s silence, she had little to understand the reason why. Yet, here, now, with Mary’s arrival, God the Holy
Spirit arrives also and she understands that before her is not just her cousin,
but “the mother of my Lord”. Many
months before Zechariah – who was probably looking on in amazement – had heard
the Angel Gabriel say to him that he would bear a Son, who would not just be a
miracle baby, but a child who would do great things for the coming
Messiah. The Angel Gabriel said to
Zechariah:
“for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong
drink, for he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,
and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts
of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:15-17). The baby John would prophesy of Jesus
while a baby in his Mother’s womb, and then like his Father, would be silent
for another 30 years until he would proclaim again that the Messiah, Jesus, was
here.
No wonder, “and she (Elizabeth) exclaimed with a loud
cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! (Luke
1:42). Interestingly, Elizabeth loudly
exclaims that not only is Mary blessed, but so also is the fruit of her womb –
Jesus. The words have lived on in the
Church. The first sentence that Elizabeth utters is found in the second clause
of the Roman Catholic "Hail Mary" or "Ave Maria" prayer:
"Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou
amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus...."
Elizabeth’s blessings (Greek eulogeō, which you can see is “eulogy”)
come from the Holy Spirit. Under divine
inspiration, she first speaks to Mary herself, as being blessed above all other
women. Then she speaks to the child
within her, Jesus, who was probably only a few weeks old at this point. The
power of the Holy Spirit speaks these blessings.
Advent is full of miraculous surprises. We prepare our hearts by entering into the season
with a hope grounded in God’s presence in our own lives and hear the words again
– “blessed (are we) who believe of what was spoken to her from the Lord.
Peace
Comments