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!”

Reflection: Yesterday we talked about stepping out in faith, as we hear God's voice and say as Mary said, "May it be to me as you have said, may your word be fulfilled in me!" And we see today that she got ready and hurried to her relative Elizabeth and greeted her. It is not certain whether she is an aunt or cousin, but for sure she is a relative of hers, most likely a cousin. We don't know if Mary has a mom, so there a couple of reasons why she might have went to see her relative.

1. She wanted to see if the prophecy the angel regarding her relative Elizabeth was true. The angel said she was six months pregnant, which squares up with the fact that the baby leapt in Elizabeth's womb when he heard Mary's greeting. Later in life, when the baby had grown up, he would proclaim, "repent for the kingdom of God has drawn near." From the beginning John the Baptist knew Jesus was special, and this also confirmed for Mary what she had heard from the angel.

2. Some suspect that since Mary's mother was not mentioned that she was afraid and alone, with really nowhere to turn. In those days to be pregnant before marriage would have stigmatized her as an immoral women with many negative ramifications. So some think part of it was an escape from all that pressure she would feel, and also the sense of being alone with all that has transpired. Also, we must remember this was no easy journey. 80 miles saddled up to a donkey was no easy road trip. This gives us even more appreciation for the faith of this young teenage girl.

Maybe the reason involves a little bit of both of these. Whatever the case, Mary's faith is rewarded and confirmed when she arrives at her relative's house, and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit as she sees Mary. As we mentioned the Holy Spirit is a big theme in Luke, and we certainly see this in the first two chapters of Luke. Elizabeth is overjoyed and this puts together yet another piece in her journey, as she waited until an old age to give birth to a son.

What can we learn from this? First, as we listen to God's voice and act on it, this will often lead to an adventure of the faith-filled life. Without faith it is impossible to please God, and stepping out in faith can lead to abundant blessings in our lives. Notice Mary did not have all the answers but began the 80 mile journey to see if what the angel had told her was true.

Sometimes stepping out in faith is not quite as big as a decision as Mary had to make as a pregnant, young teenage girl. Sometimes it is a little prompting to do something God has called you to do. Maybe to reach out to someone, or a call to deeper level of service of Him. I have found that the more faithful we are in these small steps of faith, the more we are given. And, of course, we need to keep the Holy Scripture as our guide. God would never call us to do something which is not in alignment with His Word. Though he may call us to do something that is not exactly in alignment with what we has planned to do with our lives on our terms.

So a question for you today might be what might God say to you if he knew you were listening? As you continue to ground yourself in His Word and listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, you will be challenged to step out in faith just like Mary did. And may we also like Mary said yesterday be able to say, "May it be to me as you have said!"

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