Young Mary, the mother of Jesus, gets the surprise of her life. The surprise will be the focus of her whole life. It will bring shame to onlookers. The surprise is so magnificent that God arranged a way for her to have a close family member go through it with her…Elizabeth, older, wiser and with her own child of surprise is close by to help Mary.

Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, will have the forerunner of the Messiah they have all been waiting for for centuries. First John will be born, then Jesus a few months later. John will prepare the way for his cousin on earth, Jesus. John even leaps in the womb of Elizabeth, at the mere closeness of the One “who he is not worthy to even tie his sandals” in pregnant Mary. He knows he is close to greatness before even being born! Jesus will be the Savior of them all…Mary, Elizabeth, their families, AND all of us. Yes, those who are lost will be found by Jesus, the Christ, the long awaited Messiah.

Read with joy and see what thoughts enter as we put ourselves in the scene looking on at the surprise that will save the lost world.

Luke 1, The Message
A Virgin Conceives
26-28 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.
29-33 She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

He will be great,
be called ‘Son of the Highest.’
The Lord God will give him
the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob’s house forever—
no end, ever, to his kingdom.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”

35 The angel answered,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth
will be called Holy, Son of God.
36-38 “And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”

And Mary said,

Yes, I see it all now:
I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
just as you say.
Then the angel left her.

Mary’s reaction to this grand surprise, her “calling” if you will? “Let it be with me just as you say. When we KNOW without doubt it is God, we do not question.

Luke 1, The Message
39-45 Mary didn’t waste a minute. She got up and traveled to a town in Judah in the hill country, straight to Zachariah’s house, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang out exuberantly,

You’re so blessed among women,
and the babe in your womb, also blessed!
And why am I so blessed that
the mother of my Lord visits me?
The moment the sound of your
greeting entered my ears,
The babe in my womb
skipped like a lamb for sheer joy.
Blessed woman, who believed what God said,
believed every word would come true!
46-55 And Mary said,

I’m bursting with God-news;
I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It’s exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then went back to her own home.

God took very awkward moments, a very old woman suddenly with child and a virgin who is now pregnant, and gave them each other until they were strong enough to handle the onlookers of the world. God does that for us, too. It’s called peace. It’s called depend on Me and not others to validate who you are in Me. It’s a “I will take care of you no matter what” kind of peace.

Dear Heavenly Father, So many thought enter our head about the birth of John and the Messiah, Your Son, Jesus. Thank you for those thoughts. Thank you for peace. Thank you for seeing us through our own life stuff. Thank you for surprises in our lives that take our breath away…like the birth of our own children! Thank you, most of all for saving us, ALL of us. Forever. Be with us, still.
In Jesus Name, Amen