Yesterday’s post ended with Mary arriving at her relatives’ house and greeting a similarly pregnant, Elizabeth. The Bible records that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and called out to Mary:

“Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favoured, 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. Blessed is she who has believed what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.”

That is one meaty part of the Bible There is so much that I could reflect on:

• Why is favour shown to one family and its women?
• What is the Holy Spirit?
• Why the spiritual response in the womb?
• How on earth does Elizabeth seem to know everything already?
• Does Elizabeth just have women’s intuition in overdrive?

That’s a terrible joke. The second and fourth question above are connected.

One thing I will mention is that Elizabeth is the first human I can see in the account to know exactly what is going on with Mary’s pregnancy. Elizabeth calls Mary ‘the mother of my Lord’. Elizabeth gets it in one.

There has to be some divine assistance for that to happen.

Yet this is not the first time in recent months that Elizabeth has received divine assistance. Gabriel said it to Mary herself:

Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.

It was utterly extraordinary that Elizabeth was pregnant. Elizabeth being pregnant should make people sit up and take notice. An old woman past her used by date with child? Unbelievable.

But don’t get confused. Don’t think that’s the main game.

Early next year, I’ll be at the Keith Urban Graffiti U concert. Apparently the person opening the concert for him is Julia Michaels, an American singer-songwriter. I’ve never heard of her (I’ve never heard of anyone) but I’ll hear her sing before January 2019 is out.

I’m not going to the concert to hear Julia Michaels, whoever she is. I’m going to the concert to hear Keith Urban. Don’t get confused.

So why Elizabeth’s baby?

Because you’ve always got to have a warm-up act before the main event.

That’s what John the Baptist (Elizabeth’s baby) did. He ‘opened’ the concert for The Messiah. God gives himself a front runner because that’s how he operates:

The Lord will indeed give what is good and our land will yield its harvest. Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.

The salvation plan was a two act play.

John the Baptist was amazing, but he wasn’t the one we were waiting for.

Yours in preparation,

Alison