Mid-Advent 2
Lk
1:39-45
12/11/24
There is joy when a
pregnancy is announced. We are glad to
hear that a new life has been created, and that a child is being added to the
life of the parents. In our day this announcement
often occurs on social media as the parents post the image of the child inside
the womb.
There is even greater
joy if we know something about the background that led up to the
pregnancy. When there have been
struggles with infertility we are especially happy that a child has been
conceived. When a couple has had all
boys or all girls, and finally there is going to be a daughter or a son we are
glad that the parents are going to experience the unique differences of having
a child of the opposite sex.
In our text this
evening, Mary has just learned the amazing news that her relative Elizabeth is
pregnant. Elizabeth had been barren, and
was now too old to have a child. But
Mary has learned that Elizabeth is five months pregnant and so she goes to see Elizabeth
to share in the joy of this child.
Our text begins by
saying, “In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill
country, to a town in Judah.” Mary lived
in Galilee in the north. Now she hurried
in a journey to Judah in the south.
Mary’s trip was
prompted by the appearance of the angel Gabriel. Gabriel told Mary that she would give birth
to the Messiah – the One who would be on the throne of David forever. When she asked how this would be since she
was a virgin the angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be
born will be called holy--the Son of God.”
Gabriel announced that
Mary would conceive in a way that had never occurred before. Then, to support the truth of his assertion,
he said: “And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived
a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing
will be impossible with God.”
Mary believed the word
of God delivered by the angel. She believed that it was true for herself. And
she believed that it was true for Elizabeth. Her belief was demonstrated by
action as she journeyed around ninety miles to Judah in order to see Elizabeth.
We learn in our text
that Mary entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary,
the baby John leaped in her womb.
Gabriel had told Zechariah that John would be filled with the Holy
Spirit, even while in his mother’s womb.
Now the Spirit prompted John to react as he came into the presence of
Mary who carried Jesus inside her.
The Spirit of God left
no doubt about what was happening. Our
text tells us that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. This means that
she was prompted by the Spirit to speak words that provided divine revelation.
Elizabeth exclaimed with a loud cry, “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? For
behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb
leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a
fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Elizabeth declared that Mary was blessed among
woman. She was, because she had been
chosen by God to carry and give birth to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Elizabeth added that in a yet different way,
the child in Mary’s womb was blessed. She said, “And why is this granted to me
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Prompted by the Spirit,
Elizabeth confessed that the baby in Mary’s womb was her Lord – her God.
And then Elizabeth explained how she knew
this. She said, “For behold, when the
sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” The Holy Spirit caused John to react in the
presence of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit revealed to Elizabeth what this movement
by the baby in her womb meant.
And then Elizabeth commended Mary for her
faithfulness – for her trust in God. She
said, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a
fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” Gabriel had spoken an incredible and life
changing word to Mary. But she had
received this word in faith. She
believed that God would do what he had said.
We heard last Wednesday that Gabriel told
Zechariah of how John would go before God in the spirit and power of Elijah to
make ready for the Lord a people prepared.
We learn in our text that even before he was born, the Spirit was using
John to bear witness to Jesus Christ.
John leaped in Elizabeth’s womb because he was in the presence of the
Son of God.
Uniquely endowed with the Holy Spirit, John
carried out his prophetic role when he was still in the womb. We learned last week that John was the
“prophesied prophet” – he was the one about whom the prophet Malachi had
spoken. He was also the one prophesied
by Isaiah in the words, “The voice of one crying in the
wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”
John carried out his ministry as he called
people to repentance and administered his baptism. He pointed people toward Jesus Christ as he
said, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is
coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
John’s beginning was a miracle worked by
God. He was the prophet sent by God to
prepare the way for Christ and to bear witness to him. Yet Luke also tells us, “But Herod the
tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and
for all the evil things that Herod had done, added this to them all,
that he locked up John in prison.”
Herod Antipas imprisoned John the Baptist. And then later he had John beheaded.
John the Baptist is the one who prepared the
way for Jesus Christ. In tonight’s text,
we see John bearing witness to Jesus while both of them are still in the
womb. John will experience an unjust
death. And in his death he foreshadows what will happen to Jesus.
During Advent we are preparing to celebrate the
birth of Jesus Christ. We prepare to
stand in awe of the incarnation. We see
in our text tonight that the baby Jesus in Mary’s womb is the Son of God. Conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit, he
is true God and true man.
But Advent also directs our attention toward the
purpose for which the Son of God entered into the world. Jesus Christ came to be numbered with the
transgressors. He came to be the
suffering Servant prophesied by Isaiah.
He came to be the sacrifice for our sins. He died on the cross to redeem us from sin –
to free us from it.
Jesus was crucified and buried. And then on the third day – on Easter – God
raised Jesus from the dead. He was
raised as the One who is still true God and true man. But he was raised with a body that was
transformed so that it can never die again.
Because of Jesus Christ we have forgiveness
before God. We know that death cannot
separate us from Christ, and that he will raise us up on the Last Day. These are gifts that we receive by faith – as
we believe and trust in Christ. They are gifts that we receive by faith – as we
believe and trust in God’s Word.
And so we listen to Elizabeth’s words in our
text as she says about Mary: “And blessed is she who believed that there
would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” We follow the example of Mary by believing
the word that has been spoken to us by the Lord. For in this way we have forgiveness,
salvation, and eternal life.
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