Last week we reviewed two of our seven Christmas events that are nothing short of supernatural; today we will pick up our story with Mary as she breaks Jewish tradition and leaves town right after Gabriel’s visit. She is so excited by the news Gabriel has given her about her cousin Elizabeth being 6 months pregnant; that she makes arrangements to go to visit her.
Verse 39: “and Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda.” Why is this important? Our modern mindset sees this as normal, right? But this was highly unusual actions by a young woman, who is betrothed to be married. She was supposed to stay where he knew she was safe at her home, while he prepared his home for his wife to be.
Now Mary leaves her home town, and takes off for the home of her cousin Elizabeth! Nazareth was about 70 miles from Hebron, the supposed town where Zacharias and Elizabeth lived. Remember she is a young woman and would need to travel with a larger group of people for protection. This trip could have taken 3-7 days of travel, so it was definitely not an easy trip.
Quite a distance to travel for such a young girl traveling alone. Possibly some of her family were going that way; the Bible is silent on this aspect. But logically I chose to believe what I have written. God was leading her and she was brave, or just too young and excited, to be concerned.
She goes on with her plans and soon arrives there safely; and as soon as she enters the home of Elizabeth, she greets her. When Elizabeth hears the voice of Mary, her 6 month old unborn baby John, recognizes her voice and jumps for joy. Instantly Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and said something that can only be considered a word of knowledge, (1 Corinthians 12:8) as she said to Mary, “blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”
Then as soon as she said this, she asked Mary, “and whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Here Elizabeth is talking about Mary’s baby in her womb, which she could only know because of the Holy Ghost revealing it to her and John. Mary is only a few days or weeks pregnant. Elizabeth continues to speak words prophetically as the Holy Ghost reveals them to her as she greets Mary.
Then this causes Mary to be moved by the Holy Ghost as she opens her mouth and speaks from the prayer of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Being under the influence of the Holy Ghost as he speaks through her, using scripture that are prophetic to Jesus and the plan of God. (Psalms 71:19, 103:17, 107:9, 111:9, Exodus 20:6, and Isaiah 40:10)
Mary was not a priest, she was just a humble woman, in a man’s world, that allowed God to do this amazing thing that was alive in her womb. I can only imagine the feelings of elation as their emotions surged through them both. Supernatural pregnancies for them both, one through natural means, and the other by God alone.
I believe Mary then informed Elizabeth that she would stay with her until John was born. Scripture is silent on the details but this sounds very logical to me. Elizabeth was elderly, at least 60 years old, so she could use her younger cousins help for sure. Mary leaves after John has been born, verse 56.
Now comes the interesting part of our story of Mary as she informs Joseph that she is 3 months pregnant. Her act of breaking tradition by visiting Elizabeth, has given her time to realize that she is definitely pregnant as she returns to Nazareth, to inform this man that she is betrothed to as wife. I’m sure she has rehearsed their meeting in her mind many times during these last 3 months.
During biblical times a betrothal period was usually 9-12 months as the groom prepares his home for his wife. This had another purpose other than the physical act of making his home ready. It was a test of her fidelity, and to allow time to pass to see if she was pregnant by another man. You must remember that during this period of time they never had contact with each other according to Jewish culture. They were married in the most basic sense of marriage, and if she was found pregnant, then she was guilty of adultery!
In Matthew 1:18 it says-“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” Both Matthew and Luke are not giving us any details in their respective stories. So we are left to speculate as to how she told him about her encounter with the angel.
This is where we pick up the meeting of them as Mary tries to explain her condition. Did Joseph believe her story? He was very skeptical at least! Verse 19 shows that he loved her and didn’t want this to become nasty; it also shows that he was a kind person too. But, he was human, and I think he was hurt and confused. Pregnant by God’s Holy Ghost?
All this needed to be processed, and it made him want to take a nap, so he laid on his bed, and God allowed him a dream. In verse 20-21 we see the angel of the Lord once again bringing a message to someone as he says, “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
Scripture is silent on what else the angel said if anything, but this dream was enough for him to get encouraged by it, and he got up and started to preform what God wanted him to do. This is where Joseph also defied tradition and did something unexpected. He instantly went to Mary’s home and took her home with him. This would prevent her from suffering any shame and would only leave a few snickers from those who counted the days backwards as Mary was seen to be pregnant by her husband. No one would know that he was not the father except them.
This sets the stage for act 3 of supernatural events recorded in the Bible for us to believe and enjoy. Next week we will look at the birth of Jesus and see Gods divine protection and guidance for this little family over 2000 years ago. I hope you are enjoying another look at Christmas slightly different from the normal story we have been told before. Remember, you will make it, just don’t give up. See you next week, as we study Gods Word together.
In His Service As Kilted Priest
The Kilted Priest 