Yesterday Mary had just accepted the role of mother of the Savior of the World. For a moment, put yourself in her place. Would Joseph condemn her as being an adulteress? Did he love her enough to accept the scorn of the community that they had not waited until the marriage before being intimate? How would she bring up the child in a community where his birth would not be considered honorable?
How the words of the angel must have been reassuring even though her path was not an easy one. “The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Luke 1:30 (AMP). Oh that we today might have found favor with God. The angel also told her that her relative, Elizabeth was pregnant, even at her advanced age.
After the angel left, Mary hurried to Judea, to Elizabeth and Zacharias’ home. Notice that she didn’t hang around and ponder if she had just imagined the conversation with the angel. She acted upon her convictions and sought to confirm what the angel had told her about Elizabeth. When she arrived at their home, she greeted Elizabeth and as she did, the infant in Elizabeth’s womb decided to perform one of those infant kick dances that babies tend to treat their mother’s with.
The Holy Spirit must have given Elizabeth a personal message of encouragement for Mary because the Bible records “And she exclaimed loudly, “Blessed [worthy to be praised] 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 in my womb leaped for joy. “And blessed [spiritually fortunate and favored by God] is she who believed and confidently trusted that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her [by the angel sent] from the Lord.” Luke 1:42-45 (AMP)
Elizabeth had longed for a baby since her early teens. She probably played with their version of dolls from very young herself. However, God had not allowed her the privilege of having a child when she was young enough to really enjoy a child. It takes lots of energy to keep up with youngsters. Now, well past the normal child-bearing age God worked a major miracle and she was expecting a child. Not just any child, but one who would have a specific purpose. She and Zacharias would be responsible for teaching the child about how much God loves everyone. She needed to be ready to support the child as he matured and would not be drawn into the worldly temptations of his day and culture.
Today, it is a great responsibility to bring a child into this world. It is still a miracle at any age to have a little person with genes from both parents survive the 9 months in the mother’s womb and then the traumatic journey to leave the warmth of the womb and come into this cold world. And then the child gets spanked to make it cry. Oh, parents, we don’t have the responsibility of raising the Son of God or even the forerunner of Christ. Yet, we have a huge responsibility with the same purpose and goals that Mary and Elizabeth had – to reach our children about the character and nature of their Creator and Savior-Redeemer. It is not an easy road, but there are blessings beyond measure when we see their characters mature and fall in love with Christ, above all else.
Heavenly Father, today I come before you, asking for a special blessing on all parents as they do their best to bring up their children to love and honor You. Shine through our feeble attempts to demonstrate active love for all so that our children might imitate what they see in us to draw closer to You. Hide from their minds the times when we fail to rightly represent you so that our actions will never become a stumbling block in their relationship with You.
Published on MyBibleRoom.com 5/29/25, 10:45 pm