Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The time between Thanksgiving thru New Years usually brings
families together. It’s a time to visit with family perhaps not seen for
months, coming together around the dinner table and the Christmas tree to
celebrate, remember, tell stories and give thanks to God for the time together.
For those of us whose families are scattered, these times are treasured because
we get to see in person those whom we love from afar.
This morning’s Gospel lesson sets the scene for us with a
very unlikely family reunion when the young mother Mary goes to visit her
cousin, Elizabeth.
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that
house when Mary arrived. It’s been my experience that it’s not that unusual for
women who are pregnant to share their stories, their mutual joys and their
mutual struggles. I suspect this is particularly true for first-time mothers to
seek out this kind of mutual companionship and support. A younger mother,
wanting and needing the wisdom and assurance that can only be provided by
mothers who have given birth previously, seeks out an older mother to serve as
a mentor, companion and friend in the journey towards giving birth.
But this was a most unusual gathering of two
mothers-to-be. Two first-time mothers,
but one quite elderly and the other – at least according to tradition – young
enough to be her granddaughter.
First, consider Elizabeth. Earlier, Luke noted she was
advanced in years (1:18b). That’s Luke’s polite and genteel way of saying she
was an older woman, no longer biologically capable of having a child. You
remember the story. She and her husband Zechariah wanted a child desperately,
but the Lord did not allow this blessing to come to them. The inability to have
a child was, in the early Jewish world, a demonstration that you were in
disfavor with God. No child – especially no son – led to the conclusion that either
the husband or wife had done something to cause God to be so displeased that
they would have no heir and the family name would die with them. But
miraculously, by the grace of God and according to the angel’s message,
Elizabeth was carrying the child who would be the forerunner of the Messiah.
Her husband, not believing the angel’s message, was struck mute. I’m
speculating here, but for that reason alone – to have someone to talk with -
Elizabeth must have enjoyed the company of her fellow mother-to-be, Mary when
she came to visit.
Mary was much younger than her relative. Truthfully, her age
is irrelevant. What matters is that she, by the grace of God and by the power
of the Holy Spirit, is carrying in her womb the son of God. She had been told
of this news by the angel, Gabriel. Hearing this remarkable news, she simply
declares herself a servant of the Lord; may it be according to the word of the
angel. Likewise, her fiancĂ©e, Joseph, was told by an angel of Mary’s pregnancy
but, unlike Zechariah, who simply could not believe the news of Elizabeth,
Joseph obeys the angel’s command and takes Mary into his home as his wife.
Have you ever wondered why Mary went to visit Elizabeth? Perhaps
there were whispers in Nazareth about Mary and Joseph, her being pregnant
already before their wedding consummation. Perhaps she was tired of the
community’s negative attention; maybe Joseph was too and readily agreed.
Perhaps she heard of Elizabeth’s joyous news that she, too, would be a mother
and Mary wanted to share the excitement with her relative. Whatever the reason,
Mary goes to visit Elizabeth. Wonder of wonders, the joy is so great that Elizabeth,
upon hearing Mary’s greeting, experienced John’s leaping in her womb and
blesses both Mary and the unborn Baby Jesus.
In this visit, you see the miraculous power of God.
He does the impossible: Elizabeth is too old to bear a
child; Mary is a virgin. By the power of the Spirit of God, both women conceive
– Elizabeth by natural means, Mary by Divine action. Elizabeth’s son will be
the forerunner of Mary’s Son. Elizabeth’s son, who will be named John, will be
the culmination of the Old Testament prophets to proclaim “The Messiah is
coming,” and the first of the New Testament evangelists to proclaim, “Behold
the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.” Mary’s Son will be God
enfleshed, the sinless Lamb who will be sacrificed for the sins of the world.
But, perhaps the greatest albeit most hidden miracle is
this: by the grace of God, enabled by the spirit of God, they are given the
gift of faith, both believing what would be otherwise unbelievable news about
their pregnancy. Even greater is Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
proclaims that Mary is to be the mother of God.
Neither Mary nor Elizabeth know, at this point, what is in
store for their sons – at least, not completely. Yes, the angel had spoken
prophetically to Zechariah about how John would be a great servant of the Lord,
Spirit-filled, and in the footsteps of Elijah, he will turn the hearts of many
to the Lord and prepare the way for the Lord. And, yes, the angel had also
spoken to Mary, telling her that she will miraculously conceive the Son of the
Most High, in the line of David. No ordinary child, this baby will be the holy
Son of God.
A moment ago, I said that without an heir, a family line
will die. Without a male heir, a family name will cease. These are as true
today as it was then. In the Biblical age, this was considered a curse of God.
But because of a curse of God, spoken in the Garden long ago, this heir was
infinitely more important. When God’s first son and first daughter, Adam and
Eve, ate of the forbidden fruit, God spoke a curse upon them, and all of their
sons and daughters, for their sins: they would die after a lifetime of toil,
sweat, and tears. But, God also spoke a blessing: that His seed, His own child,
would come to crush satan’s head underfoot. A second Son, a second Adam was
needed – one who would perfectly fulfill God’s Law for us, and take our place
under that Law, to redeem us from this curse of sin. The redemption price would
be high – terribly high – and cost this Son his very life-blood, trading His
holiness for the sins of the world. But in this death He would save. This Son,
this fulfillment of God’s promise, was in Mary’s womb. His name would be Jesus,
because He will save His people from our sins. Through Eve, sin came into the
world and through Eve’s womb, hers and Adam’s sins are still passed on from
generation to generation still today. But through the child of Mary’s womb,
Eve’s sins, and Adam’s sins, and your sins and my sins, will be forgiven.
Visits last but a short time. A wise guy once said both
family and fish start to stink after three days. Another wise guy said, you
know Mary and Elizabeth were both blessed by the Spirit of God because two
pregnant women were able to stand each other for three months. In all
seriousness, I wonder if there weren’t moments that the two of them just sat,
in silence, staring at each other, watching their babies squirm in their
bellies, and giggling at the joyous thing that God was doing in and through
them.
The joyous news of this visit continues today, even here
among us. Did you catch the two words Elizabeth used to describe the baby in
Mary’s womb? They are easy to miss. Let me read this again: “Blessed are you
among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to
me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” There it is: my
Lord. Elizabeth identifies Jesus as her Lord, her Savior, Her Messiah
who would rescue her into eternity.
You share that confession. You said it a minute ago in the
Creed, albeit in the plural: “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our
Lord.” You, along with Elizabeth, empowered by the Spirit of God, know,
believe, trust and rely that this Jesus who, even in Mary’s womb, was already
then, and still is now, our Savior. From His conception to His life, death and
resurrection, Jesus was and is entirely for you, children of God. And, so you
have no doubt that Christ is your substitutionary sacrifice, you have been
Baptized into Christ, clothed with Christ, and given the name of Christ -
Christian.
Blessed is he and she – blessed are you - who believes that
there was fulfillment of what was spoken to Mary from the Lord.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
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