Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!
Luke 1:45
It is hard to imagine the range of emotions Mary would have experienced during her pregnancy. On one hand, she surely felt great joy as Jesus grew inside her. On the other hand, she likely felt fearful because under Jewish law at that time a woman who became pregnant outside of marriage could be stoned to death.
God did not leave her to face this dire situation alone. The angel Gabriel told her, “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” Luke 1:36-37
Six months earlier, the angel Gabriel had also visited Zechariah. He and his wife, Elizabeth (Mary’s cousin) had not been able to have children and were now past childbearing years. Gabriel said to him that his prayer had been heard and his wife was going to bear a son, whom they would name John.
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 (John the Baptist) leaped within her, and 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. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy.
Luke 1:39-44
This advent devotional was produced by:
