I’m not going to turn this into a sermon on abortion, but I can’t pass over the reality of what happened when Mary visited Elizabeth. He, like the prophet Jeremiah, would be sanctified while he was in his mother’s womb. In the womb of Elizabeth, at that very moment, was a six-month-old unborn child who would be the herald of the King-John the Baptist. Mary knew already that part of this unfolding drama was happening in Elizabeth’s life. Mary couldn’t wait to speak to Elizabeth and tell her what she heard from the angel-the child she was going to conceive would be the Messiah. If ever two women had something important to talk about, it was these two women. Now, I read this text in Luke, and I’m back there in the hills of Judea, where Mary is hurrying as fast as she can to see her cousin Elizabeth. It’s a beautiful terrain in the hill country of Judea. So much of the history in 1 and 2 Samuel took place in that hill country, and it felt like I was seeing ghosts everywhere I went. I recently preached through 1 and 2 Samuel. In Palestine, when one wanted to go to the capital city, he had to go up through the hill country. It’s like when people go up to Denver from the lower portions of the American Midwest. When the Bible speaks of “going up” to Jerusalem, it’s speaking of going to a city of higher elevation. What about seeing the sights of Jerusalem, or Capernaum, or speaking while on the Sea of Galilee? They were all very meaningful to me, but the moment that I enjoyed the most was riding in the bus going up to Jerusalem. Was it preaching on the site of the Apostle John’s tomb in Ephesus? Certainly, that was one of the highlights. People have asked me what the highlight of the trip was. We recently visited the Holy Land, Ephesus, Rome, and other important points of church history. We pick up the narrative immediately after the angel had visited Mary, and we read, “Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah.” It’s Like Going up to Denver

In that announcement, Gabriel told Mary that Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy with the child who had been conceived through the power of God in her womb. We looked at the last part of her response where she said, “So let it be unto me, even according to thy word.” That was not so much an imperative that the angel was obligated to obey but an expression of Mary’s submission to Gabriel’s announcement. Last time, we looked at Mary’s response to Gabriel, who had told her about the miraculous birth she was about to have due to the Son of God being conceived in her womb. Give us the same Spirit in our hearts that was made manifest here by your servant, Elizabeth. Our Father, we ask that you stoop to our weakness, to the fragility of our understanding and the frailty of our consciences, so that we may have ears to hear your Word and hearts that are open to receive it and rejoice in it.

I pray that we will receive these words of the Lord in our minds and hearts. Mary’s visit to Elizabeth is a part of that account, and it is there for our instruction and edification. Luke gives us more information about the infancy of Jesus than any of the other Gospels.

We’ve just heard part of Luke’s account of the life and ministry of Jesus. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. I will be reading from chapter 1, verse 39 through verse 45. We’re going to continue our study of the Gospel According to Saint Luke.

Mary visits elizabeth