Luke 1:5-7, 24-25, 39-45 (NLT)
5 When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. 6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. 7 They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.
24 Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months. 25 “How kind the Lord is!” she exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”
39 A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town 40 where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42 Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. 43 Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? 44 When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. 45 You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”
Dear God,
Maybe this comment is more about Mary than it is about Elizabeth, and I am going to hold off on Mary until the end of this series, but it is so nice that you gave her Elizabeth and Zechariah. You gave her a safe place. And Gabriel told her about Elizabeth being pregnant so she would know that Elizabeth would understand what is going on. He intimated that Elizabeth would believe her. She will believe Mary because she is living in the midst of her own miracle.
For those first seven or eight months of conceiving and pregnancy before Mary arrived, I wonder what Elizabeth’s communications with Zechariah were like. Did Zechariah write down what Gabriel told him for her to see? I am sure he did. Did they talk about it, with Zechariah writing his part down? I am sure they did. Did they pray to you? Did they dream of what this child would look like? Were they filled with hope and joy? Did they mistakenly dream of power and might for their child? They likely never imagined him living in the wilderness, wearing animal skins, eating bugs, and eventually being beheaded. No, they did not need to know that about him.
As you usually do with me, you kept them on a need-to-know basis. They needed to know their child’s relationship and connection to the Messiah. They needed to know to not cut his hair. Knowing what they knew helped prepare them to raise this boy, but it also gave Elizabeth the intuition and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit that she needed to recognize what you were doing through Mary.
A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed.”
Luke 1:39-42
What a great affirmation for Mary! I am sure she was scared. She knew the angel mentioned Elizabeth, so she “hurried” to Zechariah’s house. But how will she tell Elizabeth what is happening with her? How will she explain? Well, she did not have to. What a gift. You used Elizabeth’s motherhood of JTB to grow her in a new way and make her available to Mary in a way she never would have been before.
Father, you certainly stretch me through my children. You love others through me because of what you have taught me as a father. You have taught me lessons I would have never otherwise learned. You continue to show me new aspects of who you are through them. And just as Zechariah and Elizabeth had no idea what JTB’s and Jesus’s futures looked like, I have no idea what the futures of my children, or even my wife and my futures, will look like. But you have shown me what I need to know for today. You have given me good work to do today. Help me to have eyes that see and ears that hear. Make me slow to speak and discerning.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
