Elizabeth's Blessing: When Two Mothers Met and Heaven Rejoiced | Advent Day 20

Mary traveled with haste. The young woman who had just received the most consequential news in human history did not linger in Nazareth. She rose and journeyed into the hill country of Judah. Eighty miles of difficult terrain. She covered them quickly. Gabriel had mentioned Elizabeth. "Your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age." Nothing is impossible with God. Mary needed to see her. Not for proof. She needed companionship, someone who would understand what no one else could understand. Her mother would not comprehend. Her friends would not believe. Joseph did not yet know. But Elizabeth would know. When Mary entered Zechariah's house, she called out a greeting. Ordinary words. Nothing remarkable in themselves. Yet something remarkable happened. Elizabeth's baby leaped in her womb. Not ordinary movement. John responded to Mary's voice as if hearing a signal. The forerunner recognized the one he would precede. The prophet identified the Messiah before either of them had drawn breath outside the womb. The Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth. She cried out, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! Why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" The Greek "kyrios" translated the divine name. When Elizabeth called Mary's unborn child "my Lord," she was using language reserved for God Himself. Peter Paul Rubens painted this moment between 1612 and 1613 for Antwerp's cathedral. Two women embrace, bodies curving toward each other in mutual recognition. Elizabeth's age shows in her face. Gray hair frames features lined by years of waiting. Mary appears young, her expression a mixture of relief and wonder. Their pregnancies defy nature in complementary ways. "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." "Blessed" appears three times. Mary is blessed among women. The fruit of her womb is blessed. And Mary is blessed for believing. Elizabeth knew this because her own husband's lack of faith had produced silence. Zechariah doubted and lost his voice. Mary believed and would soon lift hers in song. The Magnificat burst from her. Sung in churches for two thousand years. "My soul magnifies the Lord." The song echoes Hannah's prayer after conceiving Samuel. Both women experienced miraculous conception. Both praised God for reversing human expectations. "He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty." Revolutionary social vision. God does not favor the powerful. He notices the overlooked. He fills the empty and empties the full. The child Mary carried would grow up to teach exactly these truths. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. They had time to talk. Time to pray. Time to wonder together about what God was doing through them. In Elizabeth's house, Mary found refuge from the scandal waiting at home. John's leap in the womb previewed his entire ministry. Years later, standing in the Jordan River, he would point to Jesus and declare, "Behold, the Lamb of God." His recognition began before birth. Even in the womb, John was doing what he was made to do. You need companions who recognize what God is doing. Mary needed Elizabeth. The journey was too strange to walk alone. Someone had to understand. Someone had to confirm. Someone had to bless. Find your Elizabeth. Share what God is stirring. Let someone older in faith speak blessing over your calling. Isolation breeds doubt. Community breeds confidence. Mary left Elizabeth with the Magnificat on her lips. Encouragement released worship. This Advent, go with haste toward relationship. Stop keeping God's work private. Find the one whose baby leaps when you arrive. Let someone bless your belief. The mother of your Lord needs you. Someone in your life waits to speak the words you need to hear. Tomorrow Joseph wrestles with impossible news. An angel appears in a dream.