Luke 1:39-45 (46-55) Commentary

We don’t hear Mary and the angel’s conversation this year but we do witness its aftereffects. Seized with anticipation of a fellow miracle-receiver, Mary hastens to the countryside to find her elder cousin Elizabeth.

The thing is, we’re told that Mary was given the scoop about Elizabeth’s pregnancy from the angel Gabriel, but not vice versa. So when Mary shows up at Elizabeth’s door pregnant, their reunion could have gone so differently. Was Mary running to the countryside to hide this baby being borne out of wedlock? Would Elizabeth greet her with judgment befitting Mary’s seeming sin?

Instead, the Holy Spirit is present, filling both Elizabeth and the baby in her womb with joy. As Justo González writes in his commentary from the Belief Series, “Because she is so filled, she is able to recognize the work of God in what by traditional human standards would merit only criticism and judgment.” I appreciate González reminding us that the Holy Spirit’s transforming power goes beyond helping us become people who turn away from doing sin: the Holy Spirit also helps us understand what is actually sin.

Elizabeth has nothing but the Holy Spirit’s inner workings to base her judgment of Mary’s situation on, and it feels like joy.

I wonder how Mary felt as she made her way to the hill country. After her mountaintop experience of hearing Gabriel invite her into God’s redemption work, was she starting to have a little doubt? As she walked on the road, did she start to feel overwhelmed by the implications—both spiritual and socially—of her choice? When she greeted Elizabeth, did her voice shake with fear about how she was going to explain the reason for her visit?

Imagine the relief Mary felt when she heard Elizabeth boldly shout, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you bear!” Elizabeth’s words must have felt like another measure of God’s grace.

As did the joy that Elizabeth felt inside. When Elizabeth realized she was pregnant, she knew and proclaimed that it was by the hand of God; that she was “favoured” by this miracle (Luke 1.25). As you read her words now with Mary, you get the sense that her awe for what God is doing has only grown. Is it not only her disgrace that God will take away through a baby born in unnatural circumstances, but it is that of the whole world, deserved or not.

It all makes Elizabeth throw out blessings everywhere and on everyone. But then again, that’s kind of what happens when the Spirit fills you, isn’t it? The Spirit is all too willing to lead us to receive others, to show hospitality for the overwhelmed or uncertain, to recognize and support a good thing God is doing even if it looks like it’s all kind of wrong—even to the point of looking like sin. The Spirit leads to joy and gratitude to be part of what God has done!

When Elizabeth says, “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” she could just as easily be describing either one of these pregnant women standing in the doorway. But her words prompt a song from Mary about what it she believes God is doing through the baby in her own womb.

Mary’s own joy comes from knowing God: knowing God has seen her, knowing God sees the world, and knowing God is taking action to fulfill the words her people have been hearing from God since the time of Abraham. Mary knows that God will both help those in need and redress the wrongs done among his people. She glorifies and rejoices in this saving God. She recognizes her story as an example of the humble being lifted up and made part of the magnificence of God. Her humility leads her to be able to truthfully say that she is blessed.

And she knows that she is not alone. Not only does she have her pregnant cousin Elizabeth standing right in front of her, Mary sings of God’s mercy extending to all generations. Of both God’s mighty and good deeds, and she repeats the detail that God is merciful.

I can’t help but wonder why mercy becomes so central to Mary. Is it because she knows she may not receive it from her community when they find out she is pregnant? She stays with Elizabeth for three months, perhaps savouring in the comfort of Elizabeth’s joyful and Spirit-filled hospitality and encouragement. But the time will come when she has to return home and “face the music.” She will be surrounded by people who cannot recognize a miracle when they see one. She will be confronted by people who do not wonder what could have happened to Mary and will jump to conclusions about Mary’s sinfulness.

And I wonder, as she faced such hardship, if she remembered her time with Elizabeth, what Elizabeth told her, the joy they shared, and the song that burst forth from her own heart. I hope so, for truly, Mary is so blessed to have been the one to birth the Saviour of the world.

Textual Point

Exegetes like Justo González draw a parallel between Mary’s song and Hannah’s in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 2.1-10). Both women are pivotal in the future of God’s people; and though they suffer in different ways, both of their songs are a sort of song of vindication in their trust because of what God will, is, and has done.

Illustration Idea

The way that Mary and Elizabeth support and encourage one another in this passage reminds me of a song by Quaker singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer called “Three Women.” (But with the third “woman” being the Holy Spirit.) It includes this verse:

Your eyes have the look of some different place

You’ve got one foot in heaven and one still in this land

So we breathe it in deep and we let it out slow

We’re holding you up while you’re letting us go