Mary's Visit To Elizabeth

In the old days, theaters only had one screen. So on the marquee out front there would be the name of the one movie they were showing and they would be able to add the name of one or two of the main actors in the movies, the stars.

So far we have looked at the two main actors in the story of the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Of course, Jesus is the most important character, but he isn’t doing much yet, just lying there, so it’s Mary and Joseph who did most of the work and their parts would be played by the most skilled actors.

Today we come to another very important character in the story. But she’s never on the marquee. She’s never in the manger scenes, because she wasn’t there for the actual birth. She would show up in the smaller print on the movie poster in the lobby, not on the marquee. But she played a very, very important part in the story. Her name is Elizabeth.

We’re backing up in the story a bit today. Go back to the moment when the angel had just finished announcing to Mary that she, a virgin, would be the mother of God’s Son, when she was all alone. Her brain was spinning, trying to figure out how this was all going to work out. What were the chances that anyone would believe her? How could she be the mother of the Son of God? What should she do next? She knew just the person she needed to talk to, it was Elizabeth. The angel had said that Elizabeth pregnant in her old age, so if Mary could see that was true, it would confirm what the angel had said was going to happen to her.

They were relatives of some sort. Elizabeth was much older, so maybe an aunt. They lived far apart, but I wonder if Mary‘s family had stayed in the far suburbs of Jerusalem with Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Zechariah when they came down to Jerusalem each year for the Passover. The text tells us that Elizabeth had gone many years of married life without children. Maybe she had poured some of her maternal heart into Mary for many years. Elizabeth was the one she needed to talk this out with. So off to see Elizabeth she went. Our text for this morning is Luke 1:39-56.

39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

46 And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever." 56 And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

So Elizabeth was married to a priest, Zechariah. Luke’s gospel tells us: “6 Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.” That’s in Luke 1:6-7. So these were really good people. But they had this terrible sadness, that they had been unable to ever have children. The day had come when it became biologically impossible for Elizabeth to conceive. But an angel had appeared to Zechariah while he was serving in the temple and told them they would have a son who would have a very important role in God’s plan of redemption.