A meeting filled with wonder
by Rachael Stelzer
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant’ (Luke 1:46–48).
Mary has been visited by an angel, who has shared that she will be the mother of God’s son. After inquiring how this could be, Mary has humbly accepted the role given to her, with all of the scandal and social shame this carries. But who can she talk to? Who will understand the crazy rollercoaster she is on?
And the angel provided the answer: Mary’s own older relative, Elizabeth, who is in her sixth month of pregnancy and herself in isolation. So Mary visits the hill country of Judea to find some support for this journey.
As Elizabeth opens the door to Mary, the baby in her womb leaps. The angel had promised Zechariah that John the Baptist would be filled with the Holy Spirit, and this prophecy is already borne out before his birth. And Elizabeth, too, is filled with the Spirit, and she begins to loudly proclaim what she cannot yet see – that Mary is pregnant with the Messiah. In contrast to most in their society, who would see this birth as a scandal and a punishment, Elizabeth proclaims Mary blessed.
Can you imagine the two clasping hands, the older woman jumping for joy and shouting her excitement to the teenager in front of her? Can you see Mary, relief flooding from her as the secret she has carried is joyfully prophesied to her by a member of her own family? Do you picture the glimmer of wonder in the eyes of these two women, separated by years – but connected by the miracles occurring in their bodies – and their gratitude for being part of this divine plan?
And Mary’s words are in the form of poetry, a song of joy and praise, in a series of reversals that ring familiar as we remember Jesus’ teaching throughout the Gospels. God has lifted up the lowly but humbled the rich and important. He has filled the hungry with good things but sent the rich away empty. But for Mary, these events are in the past tense. God has already accomplished these things. And she praises God for bringing them about, individually and for the Israelite people.
Like Mary, we look back to God’s power at work, to the reversals that God’s kingdom has ushered in. And like Mary, we look forward to the completion of this work. We look forward to the end of oppression, the lifting up of the lowly, and the restoration of our relationship with God, which came about through Jesus’ death and resurrection. This Advent season, may our souls and voices lift with Elizabeth’s and Mary’s as we magnify our great God.
King Jesus, it is so like you to choose a humble teenager to nurture you as you grew here on earth. We now magnify you as the loving King and Lord of all, and we look forward to your coming again to bring all things to completion. Amen.
- Click here to read previous devotions.
- We are also posting them on LCA Facebook, making it easy for you to share them with family and friends.
- Sign up to receive Daily Devotion in your inbox every morning. If you’re already doing that, please encourage others to sign up. Click here for the link.
