Slices
Prepare
How do you react when you hear good news? Are you as glad when it is for other people as when it is for yourself? Ask God to bless you with an open and grateful heart.
Bible passage
Mary visits Elizabeth
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. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 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 favoured, 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 fulfil his promises to her!’
Mary’s song
46 And Mary said:
‘My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
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 for ever,
just as he promised our ancestors.’
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
Explore
As lockdown gradually lifted here in the UK, people couldn’t wait to be back with their family members. I’m sure there were often scenes of intense emotion – much like we witness here between these two relations.
Mary had braved a long, hard journey into the hills (v 39). She must have had a real sense of acceptance and being in the right place when she finally arrived. Here are two women separated by age but united by being family, brought even closer through the miracles God was performing in their lives. What conversations they must have had, the coming together of the enthusiasm of youth and the wisdom of age!
This is no ordinary greeting. Both women are filled with God’s Spirit (see vs 35,41). They would be as one in the belief that the long-promised salvation for their nation is on the way. Mary’s wonderful words of praise quote scriptures that she will have been familiar with all her life. We too are better equipped to hear God’s word to us if we are already familiar with the way he speaks.
Respond
‘Ponder anew what the Almighty can do, Who with His love doth befriend thee’ (Joachim Neander, 1650–1680). Give thanks for special people in your life who are always there for you. Allow words of praise to our wonderful God to spill from your heart.
Deeper Bible study
‘And with the treasures of his grace / to enrich the humble poor.’1
A first pregnancy brings questions and anxieties – especially so for Mary, being young, pregnant and unmarried. It is natural that she should seek the support of an older relative, especially one who could empathise. (There is no support in the text for the idea that Jesus and John were close cousins; Mary and Elizabeth are simply described as relatives, v 36.)
Mary’s celebratory poem (despite the heading, ‘Mary’s song’, in most modern translations, Luke records ‘Mary said’, v 46) has justifiably taken a prominent place in Christian worship. Firmly rooted in Old Testament ideas, it underlines again the continuity between the promise and the fulfilment. It is a celebration of God’s power (v 51), mercy (v 54) and faithfulness (v 55), recalling, like many psalms, God’s saving acts in history. It encompasses both personal praise and national rejoicing; at this stage, the international dimension of what God is doing is only hinted at in the mention of the promise to Abraham (v 55).
There is a radical edge to the poem, which reflects the concern for social justice found in the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms.2 The expectation was that the Messiah would establish God’s just rule. Jesus did nothing to change that emphasis. Our world tends to emphasise either wealth creation or wealth distribution. Biblically both are important, with the needs of the poor seen as the concern of wider society. This raises challenges for most readers of these notes who will, in world terms, be relatively wealthy. Research indicates that people with religious faith are, for the most part, more generous than those without – but that gives no grounds for complacency. We have a calling not simply to do what we can to support specific initiatives but to work for justice and a fair distribution of the world’s resources.
This Christmas what more could you do to help bring justice to the world’s oppressed and poor?
1 Philip Doddridge, 1702–51, ‘Hark! the glad sound! the Saviour comes!’ 2 Eg Deut 15:4–11; Ps 72:1–4,12–14; Isa 1:16,17
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Zechariah 1,2; Psalms 146,147
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for all those children and families who attended our holidays, missions and day camps last summer, that they will hold onto the truth that they encountered, and that Jesus will be very real to them as they celebrate Christmas this year.
