Luke 1: 39-45
” At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!'”
After Mary hears the message explaining that she has been chosen to give birth to the Messiah, she leaves immediately to go and visit her relative, Elizabeth. Why?
Apparently, the Messenger is quite willing to share information if you don’t challenge his credibility like Zechariah did. Mary was told what was going to happen, approximately when, why it was happening, and where. The only question left was how it would be done. In response to Mary’s question about “how” the angel volunteers that her relative Elizabeth is already in the sixth month of what was considered to be an impossible pregnancy.
Did Mary go to see if Elizabeth was really pregnant? Based on what little we know about Mary so far the answer would seem to be, “No.” More likely she was going to share in her relative’s joy at the pending birth and to be around someone else who had been touched by God. At the end of her journey, Mary was rewarded with a proclamation from the Holy Spirit through Elizabeth.
Q; What can we learn from Mary’s faith in God?
Mary is a tremendous example of faith from what was likely a young teenager. I think that in protestant circles we sometimes tend to downplay Mary’s role because we are concerned about exalting her too much (Just my opinion). Yet, Mary’s faith and her song in Luke 1, show a deep love for God and a strong desire to glorify Him. She believed God. She worshiped, loved and glorified God. We can learn a lot from her.
So much of how we deal with our questions, doubts, and joys is based on our attitude of faith in God. Are we humble? Do we come with questions/doubts as children seeking answers rather than skeptics bringing a challenge? I hope that I have even a measure of the humility, faith, and bravery that Mary had.
Thanks Guys!
I appreciate the comments. I think another aspect of Mary’s faith is God’s response to it. She is rewarded with additional information from the angel and she is rewarded by the affirmation from the Holy Spirit through Elizabeth. I see God affirming the heartfelt faith you both are ascribing to Mary. I see him doing that elsewhere in Scripture as well and I see that in the Christian fellowship, too.
Her humbleness is also amazing. She never bragged about being chosen by by God. She just pondered the things of Good in her heart. In an age where every little thing is shared on social media, this is probably hard for people to comprehend.
I feel Mary’s fortitude to trust God is so often down played. I agree with what had been already mentioned whole-heartedly