Verses 39-56.
So Mary has just been told that she will be pregnant with the Son of God. She has been told that her elderly cousin Elizabeth has become pregnant. Imagine if you were told that a 70-year-old cousin became pregnant. You'd want to see it for yourself! You wouldn't want to call her, you probably wouldn't even want to Skype her. You would want to see it and feel her baby bump! So Mary didn't send a letter to Elizabeth, she got up and she went to Elizabeth. I'm not sure how far Nazareth is from the town Zechariah lived in, but when you only have feet and donkeys as transportation, I'm sure it took a while. I'm sure back in those days, women got just as excited over a baby as we do now. I'm sure they had their own version of baby showers.
I love in verse 41 that the moment Elizabeth hears Mary's voice, the baby leaps inside of her and she is filled with the Holy Spirit. Remember back in verse 15, when the angel is telling Zechariah that Elizabeth will become pregnant, it says that even before he is born, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. You know how a baby tends to kick more when the father is near than when another person is near? Maybe the baby can hear it's daddy's voice. Maybe the baby can feel mama's heart race when daddy is near. Maybe the baby can "just feel" that its their daddy, the way a mama can "just feel" if its a boy or girl when the tests have been inconclusive. I don't know what it is. I haven't been pregnant before. But its as if all three baby radar methods went off as once and little Johnny Baptist was bouncing off the womb walls in excitement that the Messiah was in the room. (I apologize for my weird vivid wording. I've been hanging out with a weird friend today)
The word "bless" generally has 3 meanings: 1) As protection, which is commonly used in our society Sneeze then "bless you", or "bless her little heart!" 2) To bestow divine favor "or any good" upon; directionally from God to humans - "God bless America", "the Lord has blessed me", "I feel so blessed" 3) To pronounce and holy and to glorify; directionally from humans to God - Bless the Lord, Bless the name of the Lord.
Quick tangent - thinking about this, its funny that humans say "I will now bless the food" or "I will bless the house". They are either implying that they are God and have the ability to bestow divine favor upon something, or they are proclaiming that food or a house is holy. God is the only one who has the ability to provide protection upon something, since divine means godly, God is the only one able to bestow divine favor, and God is the only thing holy that we as human have the capability or should be blessing. So, any men out there reading this, if you go to ask your girlfriend's dad's blessing to get married, please understand that your future father-in-law is not God, and he doesn't have the power to bless. All you can do, all he can do, is ask that God would bless the marriage. Same goes for praying over food. You are not blessing the food, you are asking God to bless the food. It sound like a stupid tangent but sometimes its the little things we say that stick out in ridiculous ways.
Back on track... So we're back to this concept of Mary being highly favored. Elizabeth says "blessed are you among women", look back at my second definition, to bestow divine favor. Everyone knows and can see in the radiance of the Holy Spirit through her that Mary is blessed, favored, graced, shown consideration, and God has "stooped down" to her level. (I wish I could live my life that everyone, everyday, could see His Spirit emanating from me)
Elizabeth then says that the child within her is blessed, and this goes to the third definition. Elizabeth knew that the Messiah was in Mary's womb and she was proclaiming him as holy.
Elizabeth already knows (or should know, at this point) that God has blessed her with a child in her old age. Because Zechariah can't talk, she doesn't know what the angel said to him, but she still knows she's pregnant. But it's like when those celebrities to the surprise visits to fan's houses: "How am I so lucky that <insert your favorite celebrity name here> would come to visit me?" Elizabeth is Mary's cousin and it's like she's feeling star-struck. "How am I so lucky, so favored, or so worthy to have The Messiah in my living room?!" But I guess that's exactly the point of Jesus. He didn't come to save the wealthy and the "important people" he came for the common man, the broken man, and every man. We are not and never will be worthy of His redemption or even of His presence, but He comes to us despite that.
Mary then breaks out into song.
It is her song of victory, hope, praise. It is her praise of God's greatness, goodness, and faithfulness. Mary's song has a direct correlation to the song Hannah sings in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Read a bit of the chapter before she sings. Hannah was another barren woman, like many in the Old Testament, whom God blessed with children even when they had no hope for children.
This song reminds me of Mary's (and Hannah's) song. The verses are more for after Jesus was born, but the chorus is so very much her song as it was in the bible.
It says she stays for three months, and then went home. So if Elizabeth was in her sixth month when Mary arrived, then John was born very shortly after Mary left.
Tune in tomorrow for the last section of Luke 1!
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