Advent Day 18: Kinswomen

 

Luke 1:39-56   Tells us that Mary entered the house of Zacharias  and greeted Elizabeth.

Whatever Mary's doubts might have been on the journey to Elizabeth, Elizabeth set them to rest.  When Mary spoke the baby in her womb leapt and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit.  She spoke a blessing over Mary:

"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" And she blessed her further, "Blessed is she who believed, for there will a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord."

Here was a woman whose hope had sprung to life from a dry well of hurt.   Here was someone who also knew of  heavenly encounters and been forever changed by it.  No doubt  she was the very one who would be a comfort to a young girl who had hastened to her kinswoman.  No one else would have believed the truth, indeed scholars have tried for thousands of years to disprove the possibility of it!, but the first words from Elizabeth bore witness to what Mary had experienced.  Sometimes all we need is just that one person who knows whether by the Holy Spirit or experience, that the miraculous can happen.

Mary's relief poured out in what has come to be called Magnificat because of what she says in the first line of the verses:  Luke 1:46 My soul magnifies the Lord...

Song: Magnificat  Mary's Song,  Fellowship Worship

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months.  No doubt during that time she helped Elizabeth to prepare the things she would need when her baby arrived and perhaps they made a few things for Mary's own child.   Elizabeth surely laughed when Mary shared a symptom of early pregnancy that puzzled her and reassured her that it was just so... Mary must have found a great consolation in being with Elizabeth who would have been both joyous at this time in her  own life and wise in the ways of a household.   

As for Elizabeth, having a kinswoman near her in these final days of pregnancy must have been  a gift.  Mary no doubt would have been a ready helper and  happy to rub an aching back or tenderly bath swollen feet in cool water,  helping with the work of the household which might have overwhelmed Elizabeth when she felt tired.

Whatever doubts might creep in, whatever concerns Mary might have, it must have been a true help to have Elizabeth know her secret, because it was a secret still.   Joseph was not yet aware, nor her family, nor her village.  Those things were to be faced in days to come.  But here she had a place to shelter, a safe haven to rest her mind and spirit and to go over and over again the wondrous details of what had happened.