Both Elizabeth and
Mary find they are in busy,
messy, and difficult times. In other words, they face the real life and
times we must all face.
Think
of them along the lines of their Old Testament counterparts, Sarah,
Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah and the wife of Manoah, Sampson’s mother, all of whom
had a miraculous setting for the birth of their children.
Elizabeth is far beyond
child-bearing age, yet she finds herself pregnant with her first child. Imagine
her overwhelming feelings of joy and anxiety. At last a child for whom to love and care. Care
for?! Suddenly in her old age Elizabeth was going to be expected to take on all
the exhilarating but exhausting duties of motherhood. Could she do it? How
would she manage? Was she up to it? Her anxiety must have been running high.
This would be true in spades for
Mary! Like Elizabeth, she, too, was unexpectedly pregnant. Her betrothed, but
not quite yet husband Joseph was understandably confused and upset. Mary was
young and poor. She may have
even been average in the expectations she had for her life. She had been
anticipating setting up a household with Joseph, establishing herself in her
new role as wife, and then, hopefully, becoming a mother. Instead, Mary
recently had to cope with the astounding visit of an angelic messenger, who had said to her, “Hail, Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you.” She had the
shocking realization that she was indeed pregnant. Most importantly, however, was the stunning news
about the identity of this baby she carried. Her response was that she was simple. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your
word.”
Yet both Elizabeth and Mary respond
to the revelations and situations of
these busy, messy, and difficult times by opening
themselves to this unexpected divine presence. Luke will remind us throughout this story of the presence of the Holy
Spirit leading to the insights we find here.
Elizabeth is the wife of a priest. Yet, she humbles
herself by responding to this country girl by recognizing the
divine presence, and proclaims, “Blessed
are you among women … blessed is the fruit of your womb … Blessed is she whom
believed.” She refers to
Mary as the mother of my Lord, a
startling affirmation of faith that becomes the basis for the statement in the
Council of Ephesus in 431 that Mary was the “Mother of God.” In Luke 11:27-28,
the faith of Mary again receives mention, but this time, Jesus says, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word
of God and obey it.”
The
child in the womb of Elizabeth responds humbly but joyfully to the child Jesus,
still in the womb of Mary.
Throughout the story, Luke wants us to think of whether we would
respond with the faith Mary has had. We might even think of Mary as
representing the potential in every human being to respond to God with such
faith. Mary is not passive in this story. She has had to respond.
Mary
responds humbly by drawing
attention to what God is doing. She responds to Elizabeth's
greeting by delivering one of the most beautiful prayers of praise we have in
all of Scripture. She writes a psalm that we call the "Magnificat,"
or Mary’s hymn.
Back before India won its
independence, it was under British rule. Bishop William Temple of the Anglican
Church warned his missionaries to India not to read the Magnificat in public.
He feared that it would be so inflammatory that it might start a revolution!
The song is all the more remarkable when one remembers that
it came from the lips of a simple, teenage girl named Mary. These insights are
remarkable in anyone, let alone a teenage girl. She declared the impact that
her son would have upon the world. She refers to herself as a lowly servant
whom future generations will call blessed. She refers to the great reversal in
which the poor will be lifted up and the rich brought down. She refers to the
promise of God to Israel and to Abraham. Yes, God still has a place for Israel.
It
looks like the road ahead will still be busy, messy, and difficult.
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