Luke 1:39-45

            {Prayer}

            Families are beginning to gather for their Christmas celebrations. In light of that, I have a question for you … have you ever had company come unannounced? Maybe your surprise guests don’t rival Cousin Eddie and Catherine crashing the Griswold family in the classic Christmas movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” Maybe your unannounced guests didn’t roll up in a “vintage” RV with their children Rocky and Ruby Sue and their dog Snots, who drank water from the Christmas tree base, smashed through an interior door, demolished a china cabinet, and vandalized tableware in pursuit of a squirrel … but some of us have undoubtedly been there.

            In the midst of your cleaning, decorating, shopping, baking, wrapping and entertaining you are having to do for Christmas, the text or the Facebook message comes in: “Hey, we’re passing through the area and thought we’d stop by.” Surprise!

            As we work through Luke 1, everything is falling into place for the coming of the Messiah. The angel Gabriel has come and told Mary that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and bear a son who would be called the Son of God. Before Gabriel left, he told Mary that her elderly relative, Elizabeth, was already in her sixth month of pregnancy. “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

Things continue to gain momentum this morning with a surprise visit. “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth” (Luke 1:39-40). Believing the angel, Mary packs up and travels what could have been a 60-to-100-mile journey spanning 3 to 4 days to see God’s remarkable miracle.

As soon as Mary enters Elizabeth’s home and announces she’s there, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaps. At the sound of Mary’s voice, Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit! She comes out to Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!” (Luke 1:42).

Before any conversation happens, the Holy Spirit reveals to Elizabeth that there is not one surprise guest in her house, but two. For the virgin Mary is also with child! This is far from an ordinary visit. You might call this an in utero play date. Two miraculously conceived children encounter each other for the first time and it is anything but ordinary.

With the Holy Spirit still upon Elizabeth, she continues her prophetic revealing … “Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:42-43). You see, Mary is not just some relative anymore, she’s the “mother of the Lord.” Let those words sink in for a moment. … In the Spirit’s power, Elizabeth proclaims that Mary is not bearing an ordinary child, but her Lord. Long before the cross and resurrection, even from conception and the first trimester … Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Kyrios in the Greek. The interesting thing about this term Kyrios is that it is used interchangeably in Luke 1 for both God and Mary’s child. Jesus is the one and same Lord of heaven and earth.

So is there any wonder then that the text has twice drawn our attention to the leaping baby? This time leaping with joy in the presence of the Lord? The word joy here is not the common Greek word chara, but rather its agalliasis, (ag-al-lee-as-is), which means extreme joy. Mary rejoices, not just a little bit, but greatly in God her Savior (Luke 1:47). Jesus rejoices greatly in the Holy Spirit in Luke 10. The Philippian jailer and his household rejoice greatly in their baptismal faith in Acts 16.

Here, in Luke 1, the unborn John leaps with extreme joy in the company of his unborn Lord, Jesus. By drawing attention to Jesus’ presence, even from within the womb, John has already begun his work of preparing the way for the Messiah! Unlike cousin Eddy showing up, this surprise visit truly keeps getting better and better.

The Holy Spirit has a final word to speak through Elizabeth … “Blessed is she {Mary} who has believed what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” (Luke 1:45). Mary is commended for having faith in every word which the Lord had spoken to her through the angel. She believed God’s Word that she would miraculously conceive a child by the Holy Spirit. She believed her child would be called the Son of the Most High. She believed her child would be given the throne of her father David. She believed her aged relative was miraculously in her sixth month already, and she believed her child was Elizabeth’s Lord.

Mary’s faith reminds me of a team-building exercise I had to do in high school. During my Senior year, I had the opportunity to throw cheerleaders up in the air and then catch them. In order to do this, or any other stunts, the girls had to trust us guys. So numerous times, the girls would line up in front of the guys, stick their arms out, close their eyes, and at the count of three, they would fall backwards into our arms. At first, they weren’t so sure about it, but over time, they began to trust us.

Mary is blessed by the Holy Spirit for her strong faith. She falls trustingly into every word and promise of God. Even at a young age and with many questions yet unanswered. But that is the beauty of Mary’s faith … and our faith. Like Mary, we know whose Word and whose arms we fall safely onto in faith. By our faith in Mary’s child and His Word, by faith in Jesus and also the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit in us, we too are blessed, now and eternally.

As we welcome guests into our homes, whether by surprise or expectation, I challenge us to greet them all with joy in the Lord and faith in His plan for their lives and our own. But we don’t just greet and welcome them, we bear Christ to them. We point our company to our Savior. Christmas is the perfect time to remind all who come under our roofs, “Surely the Lord is in this place” (Genesis 28:16). Just like Elizabeth did with Mary, we must in word or deed express to our guests this season … “the Lord is with you.” Let our joy in the Lord be fully shown to everyone who walks through our front doors. And may our dear Christ enter in to all our time together. Amen.

The peace of God that surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.