Luke 1:39 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!”
Zechariah might have been struck dumb and Joseph had to be reassured by an angel in a dream, but Elizabeth and Mary had faith that God would honor his promises. Elizabeth never had an angelic vision; she just believed, and Mary, unlike Zechariah, didn’t argue with the Angel Gabriel, she believed and accepted the Will of God for her life. By this point, Elizabeth was nearly seven months pregnant, and the pregnancy was going well. Mary may have been about two or three months pregnant and eventually stayed with Elizabeth for another three months. When Mary first went to Elizabeth, her pregnancy was not yet showing. Perhaps Mary stayed so long with Elizabeth because she knew that Elizabeth was a woman of faith and that Elizabeth would believe her story of the Angel Gabriel and his prophecy.
Mary may also have been staying with Elizabeth because she was struggling to find a credible way to tell Joseph. According to the Talmud (Deuteronomy 22:23), if a woman was raped in town and did not cry out, it was assumed that she was actually a willing participant, and therefore an adulteress. If Joseph failed to believe Mary and did not protect her, Mary could be killed by stoning. An angelic visitation? A divine impregnation? Who would be foolish enough to believe that? No! The men of Nazareth would far more readily believe that Mary was a slut! “Who knew? And we always thought that Anne was a good lady who could control her daughter. Mary pregnant? The very last person we would have suspected! Well, these young women these days think they can get away with misbehaving. We’ll show everybody in the community that Nazareth is not that kind of place!” (Spoiler alert: tomorrow we are going to talk about Joseph and how God helped him save Mary from this horrible fate.)
The Angel Gabriel had promised Zechariah that his son John would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. When the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth, He also filled her baby as well. The bond between a pregnant mother and the infant inside her womb is incredibly strong. And infants respond to prenatal influences and to their mothers’ emotional states. Many devout parents pray over their children in the womb, laying hands on the baby before he or she is ever born. What a wonderful thing, to know from the womb that you are loved and wanted! (But if you are reading this and are pregnant and are depressed, do not punish yourself. God is greater than your depression, and He can protect your unborn baby. My mother was chronically ill and had had four miscarriages in three years before she got pregnant with me. Mom was still grieving the death of her beloved grandfather at the time I was born. God healed Mom and protected me. God can do the same thing for you and your baby.)
PRAYER: Father, today we pray for all pregnant mothers, as well as for those who hope to become pregnant. We pray for protection for mother, for baby, and for everyone in their families. We also pray for expectant mothers and fathers who feel overwhelmed and who are worried that they won’t be able to care for their babies properly. Grant all of these people your Holy Spirit peace, so that they will know that you are truly King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that you love them and care for them and will always be with them. In the matchless Name of Jesus. Amen.
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