“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  And she cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?  For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.  And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.’  And Mary said:  ‘My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.  For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.  For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name.  And His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him.  He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.  He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble.  He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed.  He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.’”  Luke 1:41-55

I have a wife, two daughters, a mother, a mother-in-law, five sisters-in-law, seven nieces, and three great nieces.  Add to that friends’ wives and daughters and the fact that the majority of the people that I have supervised were women, I have heard my fair share of conversations between and about pregnant women.  First it’s the joy (or surprise) of pregnancy, then the trials of pregnancy, than all of the things that are needed for the baby, then the labor symptoms and finally upon the baby’s arrival comes the vital information i.e. sex, name, weight and length (and pity the poor guy that doesn’t get all of the pertinent information).  However, never have I ever heard a conversation even remotely similar to the one between Elizabeth and Mary recorded for us in Luke 1.  While they may have gotten around to the details of pregnancy later in their visit, their first priority was to acknowledge the works of the Lord.  That speaks not only of the Spirit of God in them but also of their respective characters.  God planned and created special women to be the mothers of His Son and Christ’s forerunner.  In them we see faith, humility and the wisdom and capacity to Glorify God.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  (Hebrews 11:1)  Elizabeth covers a lot of territory in a few words, but at the root of her words is the concept of faith or as she put it: “believed that there would be fulfillment”.  Both of these women show a great amount of faith in their brief discourse.  Elizabeth had been barren and was now expecting her first child when she was “advanced in years”.  She not only believed that she would deliver a healthy child, but she believed that her child would be a son (in the days before ultrasounds) and picked no other name than John as instructed as she trusted in God’s promise.  Further she has faith in God’s mission for her son and understands the relationship between their children.   While Elizabeth was beyond the normal time of life to bear children, God had seen fit in the past to give children to barren women e.g. Sarah, Leah, and Hannah, but never had a woman conceived by the Holy Spirit or been told that she would bear the Son of God and the Savior of the world.  Yet Mary believed God’s promise to be true and believed that her son would the promised Messiah…Christ.  These women had strong faith because they knew their God, they knew that He was able and that He was faithful to His promises.  They had faith because they looked beyond the physical world to the “better country”…“The heavenly one”.  Certainly, Mary’s faith would be tested as she gave birth in a stable, heard the words of Simeon, fled to Egypt and watched her Son begin His ministry, but as promised in James 1:3 that testing produced endurance in Mary’s faith that carried her to Calvary and beyond.

“The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility.” (Proverbs 15:33)  Despite the fact that these two women were chosen by God for special places in the plan of salvation, neither considered their role as something to become arrogant about or a source of pride in and of themselves.  As she indicates herself, Elizabeth’s role paled in comparison to Mary’s.  Her joy would come in raising the son that she had given up hope of having.  For the most part her honor would come as friends and family surrounded her following John’s birth.  Yet even though her role was disclosed by the angel Gabriel, she did not consider it a reason to be anything but humble.  This is clearly shown in her greeting of Mary.  She acknowledges that her son is already fulfilling his part in declaring the coming of Christ by leaping in the womb at the sound of Mary’s voice; she declares Mary blessed for her faith and that she has been chosen to be “the mother of her Lord”; and she declares Christ to be her Lord, yet she says nothing of herself but that she is honored that Mary would even visit her.  Mary standing with the great honor of bearing the long awaited Messiah, glorifies God and recognizes that she will be considered blessed by generations, but she still refers to herself as a bondslave as she did when Gabriel first visited her.  Both of these women recognize that they are both created by God for a purpose and to serve His good will.  While they hold distinctive roles in scripture, each remains humble.

“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”  (Colossians 3:17)  Before these words were penned, Mary was living them.  She was carrying out the difficult task that God had bestowed upon her literally in the name of Christ and giving glory to God the Father.  She is not focused on the fact that she has had to tell her betrothed and her family that she is pregnant with the Son of God.  She does not appear to be daunted by the fact that she has been asked to rear God’s only Son.  While she acknowledges that she is blessed, she views it as a gracious honor bestowed upon her and therefore gives all thanks, glory and praise to God.

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior and Lord, let’s take some time to review our own attitudes seeking the Lord’s direction in that endeavor.  Do we exhibit faith in God, His ability, His plans and His promises?  Are we humble or do we take pride in our accomplishments and possessions forgetting that God directs all that we are and provides all that we have?  Do we fulfill the tasks that we have been given in the name of Christ with Thanksgiving or do we grumble that it is too hard?  Finally, do we truly glorify God?  Spend some time with God and allow Him to guide you or revitalize you so that we can truly celebrate Christmas with adoration and praise for all that He has done and the salvation that He has so graciously provided.

May God’s salvation, sustaining grace and peace by yours this season and always,

Will