Luke 1.39-45.
Jesus comes from a family of prophets. Mary and Joseph heard from angels, same as Daniel. Mary’s relatives Elizabeth and Zechariah heard directly from the Holy Spirit, same as all the other prophets of the Old Testament. As did Elizabeth and Zechariah’s son, the prophet John the baptist.
And of course this is no coincidence. God wanted his Son raised by and among people who sought his will and listened to him. Imagine how much friction the boy Jesus would have to grow up with if this weren’t the case. There was already plenty, even with the Spirit’s activity in his family! Remember
Thing is, whenever I point out this fact, Christians are regularly surprised. And either respond, “Oh… obviously God surrounded his Son with prophets!” or “Oh they’re not prophets; they just happened to have a one-time angelic appearance.” Or have three
The problem is
As a result of cessationists’ false, faithless belief, popular Christian culture isn’t familiar with
Fr’instance today’s passage: When Mary visits Elizabeth. Why’d she visit her? I kid you not: I’ve heard it preached, multiple times, Mary went to Elizabeth because she wanted to hide her pregnancy from the gossipy Nazareth women. ’Cause that’s what women used to do in our country when they got pregnant outside of wedlock: They were sent away to “visit relatives.” Then they came back with a new “baby sister” or “cousin.” (Or, if they aborted the baby, or let someone else adopt it, nothing.) This, they figure, is what Mary was doing: Hiding.
Was that how first-century Israeli culture worked? Nope! If people found out an unmarried couple were having sex (and pregnancy would definitely be one way they found it out), they had to marry, and they were forbidden to divorce.
So why’d Mary visit Elizabeth? Because Gabriel gave her Elizabeth as
Luke 1.36 KWL - “And look: Your relative Elizabeth
- has conceived a son in her old age.
- This is actually her sixth month—
- and she was called sterile.”
Mary didn’t know this. Nobody knew this. Elizabeth secluded herself as soon as she found she was pregnant.
I know; people claim Mary never doubted Gabriel, and totally believed him. But that’s not consistent with the scriptures. Why would Mary then rush to visit Elizabeth?
Because of course Mary doubted. It’s a reasonable doubt! God hadn’t done anything like this before, and you know how often people insist God doesn’t do new things—even though he totally does. Mary needed certainty, and Elizabeth could give it to her. So off she went.
The prophet Elizabeth.
Let’s finally check out that passage, shall we?
Luke 1.39-45 KWL 39 Rising up that day,- Mary hurriedly goes to the highlands,
- to a Judean city.
40 Mary enters Zechariah’s house- and greets Elizabeth.
41 This happens when Elizabeth hears Mary’s greeting:- The fetus in her womb jumps.
- Elizabeth is Holy Spirit-filled,
42 and exclaims with a loud shout,- saying, “You’ve been blessed above all women;
- the fruit of your womb is blessed!
43 How is it the mother of my Master might come to me?44 Look: When the sound of your greeting comes to me,- the fetus in my womb jumps for joy.
45 How awesome for she who believes- the things the Lord told her will be fulfilled!”
If Mary had any doubts, this took care of that. Just as Gabriel had said, Elizabeth was pregnant. Plus Elizabeth herself prophesied about what was happening to Mary, and in verse 45, encouraged her to believe.
Mary’s response was the Magnificat, which I’ll get to.
But of course the way this passage is frequently taught, Elizabeth’s prophecy was a one-time fluke. Preachers claim she wasn’t ordinarily a prophet. Based on what? Their unbelief, of course.
Usually what they claim is John’s anointing in the Spirit somehow leaked into his mother. Because John, even as a fetus, was full of the Spirit,
They figure when John leapt, the Holy Spirit jolted her into an ecstatic (or hysterical) mindset, and worked her like a ventriloquist works his puppet. Seriously; that’s how way too many people think Old Testament prophets worked. These women and men didn’t speak by the
There’s not just ignorance in this interpretation; there’s a certain amount of
The text says
This touches upon another naïve assumption of people who know nothing about prophecy: They assume when they hear prophecy, they’ll “just know” it’s prophecy. They’ll “know in their knower,” as Christians sometimes put it. They’ll know like
Where these arrogant Christians get these ideas, I dunno. I’m guessing naïveté, wishful thinking, or fear. They sure don’t come from bible.
Mary took Elizabeth’s prophecy seriously for two good reasons: It confirmed what Gabriel told her, and Elizabeth had an existing reputation for hearing from God. Elizabeth had been filled with the Holy Spirit long before this meeting. God hadn’t picked just anyone to be the mother of his prophet: He picked another prophet. Someone who could raise him and encourage him in his ability. Someone who wouldn’t be freaked out or alienated by the Spirit’s power working through her boy, because she was plenty familiar with it in her own life.
She and her husband, as we’ll see when we get to
