Elizabeth
“The mother of my Lord comes to me…”
A woman who spent a lifetime without children in her old age, yet who exalted another child above her own.
Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron, and her husband Zechariah was a priest. Scripture describes them together: 'righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.' Yet the two had no children. And they were already old. Her lifetime was proof that living righteously doesn't guarantee every prayer is answered.
One day, when it was Zechariah's turn to burn incense in the temple, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and promised him a son. Zechariah couldn't believe it and lost his ability to speak. After returning home, Elizabeth conceived. What she did was hide for five months. Before an answer that had come so late, she didn't make a spectacle of it. She simply said quietly, 'Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.'
When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, the angel visited her relative Mary as well — a virgin's pregnancy that Mary would have had no way to explain to others. As the angel told her about it, he also told her that 'Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived.' Mary hurried to Elizabeth's home in the hill country. The moment Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby in her womb leapt, and, filled with the Holy Spirit, she cried out: 'And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?' A mother who had herself conceived miraculously exalts another child above her own. Mary stayed there for about three months. A woman who had lived a lifetime without children became, at a decisive moment, the deepest refuge for another mother.
After long waiting, she conceived in old age. She was the first to recognize Mary and bless her.
Defining Moments
The events that made this person who they were
A woman without children into old age
She and Zechariah were both 'righteous, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.' Yet they had no children — a lifetime of living honestly without an answer.
Conceiving in old age and hiding for five months
After her husband Zechariah meets an angel in the temple, she conceives. She hides for five months, saying, 'Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.'
Recognizing and blessing Mary
When the pregnant Mary comes to visit her, the baby in her womb leaps, and, filled with the Holy Spirit, she cries out, 'And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?' — exalting another child above her own.
Personality
The colors revealed through their story
A lifetime lived righteously even while the answer was delayed
She lived blamelessly even in a place where her prayer went unanswered. A firm honesty that doesn't judge her faith by outcomes.
Someone who never forgot her own sense of shame
After conceiving, she says it was 'to take away my reproach.' A depth that doesn't forget the time she had passed through, even after receiving the answer.
A mother who exalts another child above her own
The first line of her Spirit-filled cry is 'the mother of my Lord.' A spiritual insight that recognizes someone greater than her own child.
★ Strengths
- Staying steady through long waiting
◐ Shadow
- Waiting hardening into sorrow within
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