Advent . Two Women .
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Mary Visits Elizabeth
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!”
Mary’s Song
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name. -
This really is a most wonderful time of the year! The Christmas trees, the wreaths, the lights and the tinsel. Let us turn from the tinsel and think about two women.
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Mary Visits Elizabeth
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!”
Mary’s Song
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me
— holy is his name.
The Gospel of Luke, more than any other, is about women and accurate history. Many of Luke's stories from Jesus' ministry are about women: the woman who was a sinner, the woman who wouldn't give up, the widow's mite, the woman who found the lost coin, the widow of Nain, the aged Anna and of course Elizabeth and Mary!
Elizabeth was older and yet conceived. Imagine her joy announcing that she was pregnant. Nothing is impossible with God. Her son was to be called John, later known as John the Baptist.
In a parallel world in Nazareth, her niece, Mary, engaged to Joseph, suddenly finds herself pregnant. Like her aunt-Liz, Mary is an unremarkable but deeply religious young girl, yet she is told that this child would be Emmanuel: God with us.
And then these two women get together; Elizabeth is six months pregnant with John and Mary pregnant with Jesus. And the child in Elizabeth's womb kicks at the sound of Mary's voice. John was signposting to Jesus even from the womb!
42 In a loud voice she [Elizabeth] exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!
The main character in Luke's nativity is Mary, an ordinary girl with an ordinary life living in an ordinary town. Couldn't Jesus have been conceived in the womb of a rich mum, or a royal mum like (Kate) or a celebrity? Why did the Angel come to this ordinary teenager with her first baby?
The key to answering this is in her first words of response and the first words of the song from her heart, in Latin: the "Magnificat."
Firstly, all God needed to hear from this girl Mary was 1:38 "I am the Lord's servant, may it happen as you have said."
In other words, Mary saying "Yes" to God allowed God Almighty to do an extraordinary thing in that ordinary girl. She would carry in her womb Jesus the one who would be the Saviour of the world.
Likewise, as we say "Yes" to God, we will get a sense of our own ordinariness; what use am I, and by acknowledging our weakness before God, it allows Him to do extraordinary things in you. You can bring Christ into the world you live in and move in. All the Lord needs you to say is 'Lord, I am your servant, may it happen as you wish.'
That willing heart allows the Holy Spirit to rise up within you, and you will grow in him and he in you.
Secondly, Mary had to endure gossip, stigma and dangers of being an unmarried mother.
Still, instead of focussing on her present trouble, she chose to sing God's praises and trust God's promise that God would be glorified through her.
I used to see this as a hospital Chaplain when visiting Christians on the wards; despite their troubles, if they expressed praise and trust in God, He was glorified.
If we learn from Mary's example, in the face of our troubles, to praise God and trust in his promises, we will glorify God in our lives.
Finally, the song that flowed from Mary's heart, the "Magnificat," begins, "my soul magnifies the Lord", and it reveals much about Mary's devotion to Yahweh.
Obviously, magnifying here doesn't mean she could make God bigger; she couldn't – God is Almighty. But Mary's soul could magnify; yes, she could 'big up' the Lord within her and conversely diminish those things that vie for importance in her life. Within Mary, self-pity could have been magnified. Likewise, her troubles and fears would have been great under her soul's magnifying glass – add to that her pride and her forthcoming Marriage to Joseph, and you see she could have been heading for a meltdown. Many things tussle for prominence in our inner selves, some understandable, some good, some sinful, but they can all be magnified into our own personal idols!
When we re-focus the eyes of our hearts to God, we discover the right perspective, a Christ-lens to face all other challenges and a magnifying of the Lord.
1 Peter 1:8 As 'you believe in him [you] are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy'
Two women, Elizabeth and Mary, blessed among women, and blessed is the fruit of Mary's womb, Jesus. And blessed are all those who repent and believe in him and follow him. That's you and me and a whole crowd of witnesses throughout history. He is the only way to eternal life. O Come all ye faithful, Come let us adore him, Christ the Lord.
Delia Smith said,
'When I know the greatness of God in the deepest centre of my being, then will my spirit rejoice, then I will understand his absolute holiness, ….his faithfulness to his promises …then he will work marvels in my life.'
A Feast for Advent, Pg 106
