This is the second part of a teaching I shared at my church’s women’s Bible study. If you haven’t yet, read part one here.

We pick up the story of Mary in Luke 1:39. The angel has just shared this huge piece of news that will forever affect Mary’s life, and she has willingly submitted herself to God’s plan. The angel departs, and what is the first thing Mary does? She goes “with haste” to her relative Elizabeth’s house, which was probably an 80-100 mile journey. I had to ask myself, why go visit Elizabeth? First, because of her similar experience, Elizabeth is probably the only person who would believe Mary’s angelic tale. As women, when we have news we often want to share it with someone, and I can imagine Mary felt the same way. But she needed someone who would believe her, not lock her in the loony bin.

Second, thinking practically, Elizabeth is described as “advanced in years” (Luke 1:7) and she is six months pregnant (v. 26), so having a younger woman would be a great help to her around the house. We have already seen Mary’s character, so we know she is not posted up on Elizabeth’s couch eating bon-bons. We can imagine her helping with the cooking and cleaning and everything that needs to be done in those last few months to prepare for a baby.

When Elizbeth greets Mary, she uses the word “blessed” three times. She says Mary is blessed because her child is blessed, and Mary is blessed because she believed. If you are familiar with Elizabeth’s story from the first part of Luke chapter 1, you know she had her husband in mind as she was saying this. Zechariah was a priest serving in the temple when an angel appeared to him and told him his wife would bear a son, yet verse 20 tells us he did not believe the angel’s words. If anyone had reason to doubt, it was Mary. We’ve already established that she was a “nobody” young girl who was told would experience this miraculous conception and bear God’s Son, something that had never been done before. Zechariah had biblical precedent for a barren woman being made able to conceive in her old age (remember the story of Abraham and Sarah?), yet he doubted. I’m sure all of this was flashing through Elizabeth’s mind as she praised Mary’s faith.

This blessing also made me see Elizabeth’s humility. Her pregnancy pales in comparison to Mary’s, yet there is no trace of envy or bitterness in her speech. She supports and encourages Mary, and I am reminded that we all need women like this in our lives. Although Mary and Elizabeth were different ages and were in different stages of life, they both had faith in the Lord’s plan. We need older women in the faith who can teach and encourage us in our walk, and we need younger women we can do the same for. This type of discipleship relationship has been so important in my own faith journey, I would encourage you to reach out to someone in your church if you don’t feel like you have someone who fills these rolls in your life.

The last verses Mary speaks in this chapter are so powerful, I just want to write them out here.

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” (Luke 1:46-55)

Mary’s song of praise is filled with joy, admiration, and gratitude, but what sticks out the most are the attributes of God she calls out in her song. She says God is mighty (v. 49), holy (v. 49), merciful (v. 50), strong (v. 51), a gracious provider (v. 53), and a helper (v. 54).

As we prepare for Christmas and celebrate the birth of God’s Son, keep this attributes in mind, and praise Him along with Mary for who He is and what He has done!