12 Days of Christmas - The Real Story (Day 3) - Mary Visits Elizabeth
Luke 1:39-56
Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country, to an unidentified city in the land of Judah.
Interestingly, her relatives Zachariah and Elizabeth lived in Judah, not in Galilee. Perhaps it is through this connection that the marriage of Mary and Joseph was arranged. The area in Judah referred to as the “hill country”, encompasses the mountains from Bethel to Beersheba1. In the heart of this region is a small town called Bethlehem. There’s no way of knowing whether this was the location of Elizabeth’s home, but it’s a very valid possibility.
The world at this time is under the power of Rome, the SPQR (Senatus PopulusQue Romanus or “Sentate and People of Rome”). The era is the great Pax Romana, the “peace of Rome”, and the empire is in a time of relative stability.
However, the Edomite, Herod the Great had been in power in the regions of Galilee and Judea for over 30 years at this time. Herod was a ruthless ruler with a reputation not unlike the dictators of the 20th century. He had wife and several of his sons killed for no reason other than that he feared they may attempt to take his throne.
Violent as he was, he was under pressure from the Roman empire to keep things in order, and so he was compelled to do whatever it took to quell any rebellion in the region while carrying out the wishes of Ceasar if he was to keep his throne.
Our story continues with Mary making her way to the home of Elizabeth. Was this perhaps in response to the revelation that she was with child? The timeline is a bit difficult to pinpoint, but it could make sense that once she is found with child, and Joseph has agreed to proceed with the marriage, that arrangements might be made for her to leave town for a period of time. This might have prevented rumors from materializing in Nazareth in an already stressful situation.
Still, I find it curious that Mary travels to see Elizabeth in the hill country of Judah, a journey of equal distance to the trip Mary and Joseph would take from Nazareth to Bethlehem, seemingly alone. The Bible says she went “with haste”, indicating that she did not spend much time preparing for her trip. Perhaps the roads were safe enough under the Pax Romana that she could travel alone, or perhaps she quickly found a caravan to travel with. We can only speculate.
What we do know is that this was not a trivial trip. It would have taken several days to travel to the northern Jordan river crossing, follow the river south, crossing back over the river near Jericho, then traveling to Jerusalem, and then on to Bethlehem2 if this was her destination.
When Mary arrives at the house of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, we begin to see why the angel mentioned Elizabeth’s pregnancy to Mary and the incredible significance of their meeting.
Mary came into the house and greeted Elizabeth. As soon as Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby she carried, John the Baptist, jumped for joy! The word we have to describe this in the Bible is that he “leaped”. It was such a movement within her that Elizabeth exclaims the moving of her baby to Mary. She blesses Mary and knows without question that Mary carries the Lord in her womb.3
Here in this meeting, Mary voices her humble submission and magnification of her God and Savior in what is known as the “Magnificat” from the Latin, “Magnificat anima mea Dominum” or literally, “magnifies soul my Lord”.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He hath regarded…
For He that is mighty…
and His mercy…
He hath shewed…
He hath put down the mighty…
He hath filled the hungry…
He hath holpen his servant…
(“holpen” is from a beautiful Middle-English word “yholpen” meaning ‘to help’.)
Oh that we would recognize the work of God in our lives as Mary did. No, we will not be this close to the physical presence of God incarnate, we will not birth the Messiah or raise a perfect child, but for those of us who have received Him, the Holy Spirit indwells us. Just as He came upon Mary and was with her through all of these challenges and experiences, God will come with us on our own journey in this difficult world.
And Mary stayed in the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth for 3 months before making the trip back to Nazareth, presumably again on her own.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Judaea
https://www.jpost.com/christian-news/from-bethlehem-to-egypt-to-nazareth-jesuss-family-accepted-changes-around-them-413821
Luk 1:42 KJV - And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed [art] thou among women, and blessed [is] the fruit of thy womb.
Luk 1:43 KJV - And whence [is] this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
Luk 1:44 KJV - For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.