Last week we discussed how Mary was visited by a messenger from the Lord, and given a message that would change her life forever: She would give birth to the son of God.
Today we follow Mary as she makes an unexpected journey to someone she loved dearly, to seek wisdom and support. This was a journey from the hand of the living God.
We turn to Luke chapter 1, beginning in verses 39-40: “39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.”
Mary began a journey all the way from Nazareth to a city called Ein Karem. This journey would’ve been 80 to 100 miles, and it would’ve taken 4-5 days.
That is a long journey for Mary to make. Scholars believe Mary was no more than 15-16 years old when she gave birth to Jesus, as betrothal age at the time was anywhere from 12 to 16 years old.
It’s possible she traveled with a caravan, or that she traveled with family, but we aren’t certain.
But the first thing I want you to notice today is that she was following the leading of the Lord. She didn’t understand what was happening in her life. She knew it was from God. So she sought out a trusted friend and family member to seek guidance and counsel.
I’m sure many of us have done the same thing, something happened that changed our lives, and we didn’t know how to respond, so we sought out a trusted friend to talk it over with.
So Mary arrives to her dear friend Elizabeth. They see each other, and a beautiful moment begins.
Verse 41: “41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Today’s message is all about Joy.
Here we find the first joy, the joy of expectation. The baby within Elizabeth, who we know is John the baptist, leaps for joy.
I can only imagine how that must’ve felt. But any mother in the room knows what it feels like when a baby kicks. Now imagine the baby jumping inside the womb.
Quite a feeling. I can imagine at least.
The joy here, is the joy of something that’s coming. There is a unborn baby inside Mary, there is an unborn baby inside Elizabeth, and the unborn baby John in Elizabeth recognizes that the unborn Jesus is near him, and leaps for joy inside Elizabeth.
I think it’s kind of like knowing Christmas is just around the corner. I remember when I was a kid my grandma had an advent calendar and when I was visiting she would let me pin the item for that day onto the calendar. I was so excited for Christmas, I had the joy of expectation, it’s coming, it’s almost here, and nothing can stop it from coming.
Next, we see Elizabeth’s response: (42-45)
42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
John and Jesus met as unborn babies. Let that sink in for a moment.
Elizabeth calls Mary, the mother of her Lord. She knows from the Spirit that Mary is carrying the son of God in her belly. She is honored by her visit.
How does Elizabeth know these things she says to Mary? There’s no way she could know. She is prophesying, speaking from the leading of the Holy Spirit.
I have a friend that does this very often, speaks to me from the leading of the Spirit, and I can sense it when he does. Many others as well, they'll say something, even just one line, and I'll immediately know, that is a word from the Lord for me. I think many Christians speak from the Holy Spirit from time to time without even realizing it.
Notice verse 45, Elizabeth tells Mary, "Blessed are you who believed the message of the angel." This is a confirmation. Mary dared to really believe that what God said was true, that she would give birth to messiah.
What do you need to believe God on today? What if we really trusted Him? One day perhaps we would look back and think, I was really blessed because I dared to believe.
Next, we study something that has been called over Christian history, “the magnificat”, the words of Mary celebrating Jesus coming birth. Magnificat means “to magnify” The word magnificat comes from first word in Latin from verse 46: “"Magnificat anima mea Dominum"
It says this, 46-55:
46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
She is giving God all the credit, all the glory for what’s happening in her life. She doesn’t keep any for herself. Something I like to pray is, "God I give you all the glory." We keep a little yard sign in our garage, so that whenever we pull into the garage we see a sign that says "To be God be the glory!" It's a good reminder after a day of ministry that God gets all the credit.
God doesn’t have any love for pride. He wants us to choose humility.
She says in verse 48, all generations will call me blessed. And its true, to this day the church views Mary as so blessed to have been given the opportunity to give birth to Jesus.
This is the second joy, the joy of humility. Mary was so very humble, and the result was she is called blessed by all generations.
Those who humble themselves, will be exalted. The word of God is true. The proud will be brought low, the humble exalted. What a joy to see that God honors the most humble, and brings down the proud.
We see Mary emphasize the fear of the Lord in verse 50, and the scattering of the proud in verse 51.
Verses 52-55 in some ways remind me of the beatitudes of Jesus. The upside down kingdom, that Jesus flips the pyramid system of this world, and instead, he brings down rulers and powerful ones, and he lifts up the humble. He fills the hungry with food, and sends the rich away empty.
It reminds me of those beautiful words of Jesus: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." -Matthew 5:3-6
This is the third joy, the joy of mercy. The system of this world is so backwards, and we suffer under the wealthy and powerful forces in control over this world, but God steps in, and says I’m going to flip all of that on it’s head, through Jesus. Why? Because God is so merciful, he won’t allow the enemy to have domination over us.
And in the last two verses 54 and 55, Mary makes it clear that all this is the ultimate fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham, that he would bless all nations through him. The unborn baby Jesus would fulfill all of this, and Mary knew it, from the Lord. And she spoke it that day, two thousand years ago.
Verse 56 says, “Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.”
When the angel visited Mary, Mary was told that Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy with John the baptist. So it makes sense that Mary would stay with Elizabeth and Zechariah for three months. Scholars believe Mary stayed until John was born, then returned to her home town of Nazareth.
Do you see how it all fits together? Elizabeth and Zechariah got pregnant, 6 months later, Mary becomes pregnant by the Holy Spirit with Jesus. Mary travels to visit Elizabeth, and there is great joy and celebration at what God is doing through these two extraordinary women. Mary stays with Elizabeth until John is born, then returns to Nazareth.
Next, we see John’s birth…
Verses 57-58: “57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.”
This is the fourth joy we discuss today, the joy of fulfillment. There was barrenness as Elizabeth cried out to the Lord for a son. Then there was hope when the angel visited Zechariah. Then there was expectation as her baby leapt in her womb, now came the fulfillment.
What a joy it is when God fulfills a word he gave to us, when God answers a prayer, when God does the impossible, and we walk into the new blessing.
Next, 59-61: “59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
There is a dispute about the label they will place on his identity. They want to name him after his dad Zechariah, but this child belongs to God. His name is John.
What does the name John mean? It means Yahweh is gracious.
Next: “62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”
Zechariah can’t speak. Remember in our prior message, Zechariah didn’t believe the Lord’s message and the angel told him, you won’t be able to speak until he’s born. So he’s having to write stuff on a tablet.
But Zechariah declares his son’s identity via tablet. “His Name is John!”
There is power in believing the truth. There is power in stating it plainly. Remember that in your own life, speaking the truth plainly is powerful. Use tact, use wisdom, but, when God says speak, speak boldly. Also remember, there's power in writing it too. That's why journaling can be so healing for past traumas.
Next, 64-66: “64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.”
This is the fifth joy, the joy of wonder. All these strange events filled the people of the hill country everywhere with wonder. What could this mean?
Zechariah began speaking and praising God, after having been silent for 9 months. The rumor mill was working over time. What would this baby become?
Again, it was clear to everyone that God was behind what was happening here. And they were so excited, so awe struck at what God might be doing.
The snow falling has produced a lot of wonder for Chelsey and I this Christmas. It’s filled us with joy. We often complain about snow, but it’s beauty is unmistakable. It reminds me of how God covered over the ugliness of our sins, with the gift of Jesus’ blood.
Do you have wonder in your life? Do you look at what God is doing with joy? Cultivate moments of wonder in your life. We all need to slow down, look a little deeper look at all God does, and let it awe us.
It says in verse 67, “His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied…”
God would be speaking through Zechariah, just like he spoke through Mary earlier.
We study now a second declaration, similar to the magnificat of Mary, this one has traditionally been called the “benedictus” because in Latin Zechariah’s first words translate as "Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel.” Benedictus means “blessed.” We today call it Zechariah’s song.
It says this, verse 68-75
68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71 salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
72 to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”
Again, like Mary, we see a prophetic statement, talking about the future.
He doesn’t even know who Jesus is, he’s not born yet, yet he declares, “He has come to his people and redeemed them, raising up a horn of salvation.”
This is the sixth joy, the joy of redemption, that God comes and takes people who were guilty, sinful, and justly deserving of punishment, and he cleaned us up and makes us his holy spotless royal family. He took us from filth and rags outside the castle, and brought us in, cleaned us up, gave us fresh garments, and named us as heirs of his kingdom. What great joy!
Notice in verse 74 and 75, this act of redemption actually enables us to serve Him. This was the whole problem back then, the people knew the law and tried to follow it, but they always fell short. They needed God to come and change them from within, thus enabling them to serve God from the heart.
And to serve Him without fear. Yet not in sinfulness, but to serve Him in holiness and righteousness. God’s power would enable God’s people to live transformed lives, in holiness and righteousness, because of the heart change Jesus would bring.
And Zechariah perceived all this from the Holy Spirit, before Jesus was even born. Next...
Verses 76-79:
76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
Verse 76 refers to John, indicating that he will prepare the way for the Lord Jesus. John would teach people about the power of repentance from sins. He would then point them toward Jesus who could actually forgive their sins.
But then we get to the prophecy about the sun, S-U-N, “the rising sun will come to us from heaven, to shine on those living in darkness.”
The sun in our solar system is an amazing metaphor for Jesus. We so easily forget how much we need Jesus each day. For most of my life I didn’t even consider Jesus at all. It’s kind of like that with the sun in the sky. We need it every day, it provides the light by which we can see anything, without it we would all freeze in a matter of seconds, but how often do we think about the sun?
We need Jesus every day. He is even more necessary than the sun in our solar system, Jesus literally holds reality itself together, without Jesus we would have nothing.
Jesus would shine on those living in darkness, those living in the shadow of death, so he did for me, and all of us, he shined on us, and we woke up, in the darkness, yet we perceived off in the distance this faint light, and we began moving toward it, slowly we crawled, desperate and afraid, and we wondered if the light was even real, but we kept trudging toward it, and it got brighter and brighter. Soon that light surrounded us, and we invited it in, and it began to fill us, and once it lit up inside of us, we were able to escaped from the darkness, and as it says here...
“He guided our feet into the pathway of peace.”
And that is the 7th joy today, the joy of the pathway of peace. What could be more wonderful that this joy? The joy of having escaped the dark world of sin and selfishness, and now we joyously walk this new way. The way of Jesus, by the Spirit’s power.
And all these events we discuss were absolutely essential, they paved the way for this path we now walk in. Without these events, we would be lost.
The last verse says, “And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.”
John grew strong in the Spirit, and lived in the wilderness, waiting for the moment to begin to prepare the way for the messiah.
All this sets the stage for Jesus birth. Spirit led events all conspiring, by God’s leading, to open the door to the pathway of peace. The stage is set, the pieces are in place, and this all leads us into next week, when we discuss the birth of the one and only messiah. Praise the Lord!
Let’s review our main points, and as we do, remember, to find these joys in your life, because Jesus came to give us joy.
Review of Main Points:
1. The Joy of Expectation - something in the future that’s coming soon
2. The Joy of Humility - watching God exalt the humble
3. The Joy of Mercy - watching God show us unexpected grace and favor
4. The Joy of Fulfillment - when the promise is fulfilled and it comes into the real world
5. The Joy of Wonder - when we’re enraptured by the mystery of what God is doing and consider what it could mean
6. The Joy of Redemption - when God takes us from sinners to family
7. The Joy of the Pathway of Peace - joyously walking the road Jesus made for us to follow by His Spirit in righteousness
