Christmas Speculations: Elizabeth
But for me, at this point in my life, Elizabeth is my favorite character.
Back up for just a second: If you haven't read the posts on Mary or Zechariah, please do that first. Because Elizabeth is a huge part of both of their stories. We know that Zechariah was told he would have a son in his old age. In the other end of Israel, a young Mary was told she would have a baby through the Holy Spirit.
Gabriel had given her just a mention of God's power and grace and love when he mentioned to teenage, had-to-be-petrified, faithful-yet-probably-a-little-naive Mary: "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, NIV).
IT'S STUFF LIKE THIS THAT I LOVE ABOUT GOD. He is so full of compassion. So full of love. So attentive to our needs. Mary needed an Elizabeth: a woman she knew and loved who could understand her fears and speak truth in her life. Was it necessary that the forerunner of the Christ be a relative of Jesus? Of course not. But God chose them to be related, which gave Mary and Elizabeth a bond of not only solidarity and strength but of faith.
Consider this: Mary's mother is never mentioned in Scripture. Ditto for her father, sisters, brothers, or anyone else but Elizabeth. We may assume they didn't believe the story; after all, Jesus' own brothers didn't believe He was the Christ (John 7:5).
But Mary had Elizabeth.
And Elizabeth had Mary.
They needed each other and God knew it. Sometimes our faith weakens and we doubt but when just one person believes with us that we are in God's will and that He is faithful and that we are not crazy, we take that next step of faith.
As soon as Gabriel left, "Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth," (Luke 1:39-40). Now, one of my favorite Bible rants is complaining that the male authors of the Bible didn't include all I want to know in the Scriptures. [How did Samson tie all the foxes' tails together? How did Elijah outrun the chariot? What was Jesus writing in the dirt when the adulterous woman was brought before Him?] And granted, if I had been given the assignment of penning the Holy Words, it would take several dozen volumes and the footnotes with all my details would consume most of the page.
But did you catch that Luke said Mary "got ready?" That's what we women do! A man back then--and today--would have thrown a pair of boxers in a sack and headed out the door with a water bottle. MARY GOT READY. To be gone a while. She probably said goodbye to everyone. She knew the directions before she left. Grabbed enough cash for the road. Oh, sweet detailed Luke, thank you for letting us identify with Mary here.
And then he tells us that she "hurried" to Zechariah's house. From what I can tell, Mary lived at least 70 miles away, and she was traveling alone. (Pause: What a brave girl! I mean, maybe that was common in those days, but would you have jumped on a donkey at age 15 to head 70 miles away alone? Amazing.) I see her little face, excited yet focused, encouraging her donkey with words like, "We're almost there! She is going to be so excited!"
And as Mary walked in the door she instantly yelled for Elizabeth. These two women would forevermore be linked together: scandalous pregnancies. Miraculous conceptions. Both scared and thrilled and smack in the middle of God's will.
You may not know this, but God's will is often a scary place to be, by human standards. It's uncertain. It's more than you can imagine. It's also more than you can actually do unless you are living in His strength. But God does not cross His arms in heaven, big frown on His face, and sneer something like, "She better get this right."
Nope. He sends you an Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's voice, she was "filled with the Holy Spirit," and she called to the young girl in a "loud voice," (Luke 1:41-42) which, of course, was very high-pitched, the way only women can talk to each other when they are overcome with excitement.
But read those words carefully: the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth with the words to say. God knew what Mary needed to hear and He knew she didn't need to hear it from Gabriel, the huge and powerful and scary. She needed to hear it from Elizabeth, the humble and mature and faithful. Oh, what a compassionate Lord to give us words when we need them, from whom we need them.
And Elizabeth said to her: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!" (Luke 1:42-45).
Encouragement. Love. Hope. Assurance. Faith. Truth. Elizabeth spoke all these things to Mary at the time when the young girl desperately needed them. God used Elizabeth not only to be the mother of John the Baptist but to be the mentor of Mary.
And the secret source of Elizabeth's wisdom and faith and immediate response to the Spirit is tucked in Luke 1:24-25, after a speechless Zechariah got back home:
"After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 'The Lord has done this for me,' she said. 'In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.'
Elizabeth had spent five months alone after she got pregnant. Why? We don't know. {Remember, men wrote the Bible :) } Seriously, maybe no one knew. I bet she prayed. I bet she rubbed her itchy belly. I bet she laughed when her wrinkles turned into stretch marks. I bet she prepared her mind, heart, and soul to be the best mother of a prophet EVER. I bet she committed everything within her to the God who heard her desperate prayer for a son and took away her disgrace.
For a while we, as women who follow Christ, start out as a Mary. We know the Lord and we love Him and we want to follow Him but we need someone to walk with us, speak truth, love us, and encourage us. We need good advice and words of experience and hope that the tough times don't last forever.
But we don't get to stay a Mary. At some point it's time to start getting to know the Lord privately. On your own. Just you and Jesus and a Bible and a big cup of coffee. Digging deeply, getting on your knees in the middle of the night, searching every book and Bible Study for wisdom and guidance only God's Word can give.
And then, before you know it, you'll turn around and discover you're an Elizabeth: Older, wiser, experienced, and ready to help. Nowhere near perfect but so, so much closer to God than when you took your first Mary steps. Ready to know when the Spirit moves in you and faithful to speak the words He gives you.
I am who I am today only because of the Elizabeths in my life. I didn't seek them; they found me, took me under their wings, and brought out the person and the believer I didn't know I was. And today as I look in the mirror at my just-starting-to-wrinkle eyes, I see that I'm not a Mary any more. I'm an Elizabeth. And I am so blessed to help you.
When you're Mary, you need an Elizabeth.
When you're Elizabeth, you need a Mary.
That's how this whole womanhood thing is supposed to work.
Last thing: Mary found out she was pregnant when Elizabeth was about six months into her pregnancy. And Scripture tells us that Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and returned home (Luke 1:56). You can do that math: 6+3=9 months, or probably just until little John was born. OH OH OH did you get that? GOD KNEW that Mary would need to know how to deliver a baby. GOD KNEW that Mary wouldn't have her mother or other female relatives with her when she delivered. GOD KNEW this would give Mary the knowledge, confidence, and experience to get her through the birth of her own Son.
Lord, you are so amazing.
@leslienotebook
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
PLEASE forward this (or share it) with your Elizabeth or your Mary. :)
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