Luke 1:39-45
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
Blessed are You!
Blessing runs all through the Bible, from the beginning to the end of the world. Blessing is something that ultimately only God can give us.
When Mary comes to see Elizabeth, both are pregnant, Elizabeth with John the Baptist, and Mary with the Jesus. At a human level, what do we see? Two women embracing and rejoicing – which is a heartwarming scene in itself. But what we see with the eyes of faith is that God himself is present and blessing them. Mary is the first to receive blessing, as she is the first to receive Jesus. We see the blessing spread, as Mary goes on mission: when she greets Elizabeth she too is blessed and so is her own miraculous baby.
When God blesses us, he foretells good things coming in our future, he reassures us that the struggles and limitations of the present are not forever, and that the burdens of the past will be lightened. Blessing is the inner state of well being regardless of our circumstances. Think of these two. Mary is a young woman without a spouse, vulnerable in a hostile world that probably judged her. Elizabeth is past the age of child-bearing, facing a risky pregnancy, and her son, John the Baptist, will be an outcast who will be killed for criticizing Herod. Yet they rejoice!
What are the circumstances of your life? It’s easier to be content when things go well (though even this is not guaranteed). It’s hard to know that you are blessed when you’re dealing with pain, or loss, or death. We need to know and trust that blessing is what God wants for each one of us. How can we let God come into our lives? How can we know his blessing?
Mary shows us that all blessings are received by a complete act of faith, trusting in God no matter what. “Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’” (Luke 1:38) Her “Yes” opens a way into the human heart, when God comes to offer Himself to us. She is the blessed one, because she has trusted.
This is our true preparation for Christmas, saying our own “Yes” to God in all circumstances. This is the way to open our hearts to the true blessings of Christmas, the blessings that show us the way to our ultimate blessing, which is seeing God in person. “What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)