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Winter Quarter 2023-2024: Faith That Pleases God
Unit 1: Profiles In Faith
Sunday School Lesson for the week of December 24, 2023
By Jay Harris
Lesson Scripture: Luke 1:36-45, 56
Key Text: When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb”. (Luke 1:41-42)
Lesson Aims
- To introduce Elizabeth, her news, and the experience of expectant mothers shaping their faith
- To introduce Mary and Gabriel’s news about the child she was to bring forth into the world
- To ponder the significance of Mary being told that her relative Elizabeth was also pregnant
- To wonder at the reasons why Mary went with haste to visit Elizabeth
- To recall the details of the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth and what they foreshadowed
- To reflect on God’s favor and the response we are called to make
- To contemplate the themes of Advent that resonate with the faith of expectant mothers
Introduction to Elizabeth and this Lesson’s Theme
The theme of the Winter Quarter is “Faith that Pleases God.” The theme of the first unit is “Profiles in Faith.” For today’s lesson, there are not one but two subjects that make up this particular profile in faith. The two subjects are Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Elizabeth, her relative. The title of this lesson is “Expectant Mothers’ Faith.” The idea is that these two particular expectant mothers exhibit something special about the nature of faith because of their unique situation. Yet, this special quality of faith can be translated in ways to any believer’s faith.
In the liturgical calendar of the Church, we are in the season of Advent. In fact, the date of today’s lesson is the Fourth Sunday in Advent, which also happens to fall this year on Christmas Eve. There are connections we can make between the season of Advent and this theme of expectant mothers. We will draw out these connections in the course of our lesson.
We want to learn about the overall context of our scripture passage since it comes from a story already in progress. The first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel contain the Nativity Story of Jesus. Interestingly enough, the Nativity Story starts before the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Knowing how the Gospel of Luke begins shows us what has happened in the lives of both Mary and Elizabeth before the event recalled in our scripture passage. This lead-up shows what has brought Mary and Elizabeth together.
Luke’s gospel begins with the angel Gabriel visiting a man named Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth. We are told that Zechariah and Elizabeth were very devout, that they were on up in years, and that they had never been able to have children. Zechariah was fulfilling his annual duty in the Temple when Gabriel appeared and told him that his wife Elizabeth was going to bear a son and his name was to be John. John would be brought up in a devout home and lead a devout life. Before John was even born, he was being set apart to preach to the masses one day with the spirit and power of the legendary prophet, Elijah. John would move the hearts of people to the Lord in order “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17)
Elizabeth conceived a child and remained in seclusion for five months with the knowledge that God had blessed her and had removed the stigma that she had carried all those years among her people for not being able to conceive children. Elizabeth and Zechariah also carried the secret of their son’s destiny. The connection to Elijah was a signal that their son would grow to prepare the way for the Messiah.
What do you think it would be like to be in Zechariah and Elizabeth’s shoes? What would it be like to be expecting a child who would be shared with all of God’s people and change history? Why do you think God chose a woman who had been unable to have children without divine intervention?
Introduction to Mary
It was at this time when the angel Gabriel visited Nazareth and appeared to a young virgin named Mary and made an amazing announcement. Gabriel announced to Mary that she had found favor with God and would conceive and bear a son whom she was to name Jesus. What Gabriel said next let Mary know that her child was to be unlike any child who had ever been born in the past or who would ever be born in the future.
32 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Mary’s child would not only be rightly described as “great,” but he would be called “Son of the Most High.” His relation to the Divine would make him divine. To be named as the heir to the throne of David meant that Mary’s child would be God’s anointed One, the promised Messiah to expand God’s rule and to reign forever. Imagine all the thoughts that must have filled the mind and heart of this young maiden.
Unlike Elizabeth who was married, Mary was unmarried and was only engaged to her future husband, Joseph. So, Mary asked the angel,
“How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel explained,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.”
Can you imagine receiving this announcement? If she was prepared to ask more questions she would not have gotten the opportunity to ask them because Gabriel had another announcement to add. This is where our scripture lesson begins.
36 “And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Mary would be hearing this news for the first time. It was a part of Gabriel’s mission to share the news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy in conjunction with Mary’s announcement. What a connection Mary and Elizabeth shared! They were relatives. Although their ages were very different, they would both be expecting at the same time. Although their conception stories were different what was happening to each of them would have been thought to be impossible. In one case, a barren woman was able to conceive a child through her husband. In another case, a virgin would conceive a child without a human father. For in the opening of this new chapter of history nothing will impossible.
38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
It is noteworthy that the angel Gabriel was not tasked with asking for Mary’s consent. The truth is that God knew Mary. God knew what Mary knew about herself and even what Mary had not yet learned about herself. God knew all that of which Mary was capable. Gabriel announced that Mary had found favor with God, and that said volumes.
God’s favor conveys God’s grace. To be in God’s favor means to be chosen and selected. God’s favor toward Mary in this particular instance meant that she had been singled out by God among women to carry the Son of God and then raise him.
The words Mary said should not surprise us. She was ready to offer herself as a servant, a handmaiden of the Lord, no more and no less. When she said, “Let it be to me according to your word,” it signaled her obedience to the word Gabriel announced to her on behalf of God. One cannot miss the humble quality which comes forth through Mary’s words.
What do you think it would have been like to be in Mary’s shoes? What early indications do you think Mary gives that God found favor on the right person? What would be added to Mary’s experience upon hearing that her relative Elizabeth was going to bear a child?
The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth
Interestingly, this story that we read from Luke’s gospel does not tell us about Joseph. It is Matthew’s gospel that tells us about Joseph. Matthew’s gospel tells us that Joseph had some initial misgivings about Mary’s pregnancy and wondered whether it might lessen the potential for scandal by quietly ending the engagement. Thankfully, Joseph was visited by an angel who helped Joseph understand the importance of the role he was being called to play. The marriage of Joseph and Mary might have helped quell any rumors about the timing of Mary’s pregnancy. Still, we are left to wonder whether life in Nazareth would have been difficult for Mary if she had stayed in Nazareth. As it happened, Mary did not stay.
39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
Mary left Nazareth, but as much as we might speculate about any difficulty in Mary staying in her hometown, it should be stated that Luke’s gospel remains completely silent on this matter. There is no mention of Mary “escaping” Nazareth. The emphasis is on Mary going with haste to the house of Zechariah to see Elizabeth, leading us to believe that it was the message from the angel Gabriel that motivated her.
Imagine Mary entering the house and greeting Elizabeth. Had Mary been able to communicate with Elizabeth ahead of time through a messenger that she was coming or was this a surprise visit? What did Mary say when she entered the door? How much did she divulge about her situation in the greeting?
Why do you think Mary went with haste to visit Elizabeth? What all do you think could have been going through Mary’s mind?
Elizabeth’s Response to Mary’s Visit
Perhaps it was Gabriel’s announcements to Zechariah and Mary, and no small bit of intuition, that conveyed enough to make the greeting a joyous one. We are also told that more than intuition was at work as they greeted one another.
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb.
The child that Elizabeth was carrying leaped in her womb. Elizabeth felt it. The unborn child in her womb reacted to the unborn child in another mother’s womb! We know this to be a sign of the connection that God has ordained between Elizabeth’s child and Mary’s child. Their destinies are intertwined. Although John and Jesus are not even born yet, the roles chosen for them were the stuff of prophecies that were centuries-old.
And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit at the same time that her child leaped in her womb. It is not hard to imagine Elizabeth making connections between what the angel Gabriel told her husband and her child leaping in her womb. Her son was the one to move the hearts of people to the Lord in order “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Not only did this mean her son was special beyond measure, it also meant that she was in the presence of a young woman chosen among all women to carry the promised Messiah. Indeed, Mary really was blessed among women because the fruit of Mary’s womb was singularly blessed by God for the grandest purpose ever given to a human being.
Which details stand out to you the most in this special connection that was made between the two expectant mothers and their unborn children? What do you think they foreshadowed?
Elizabeth’s Recognition of Mary and Her Child’s Place in Salvation History
Through the Holy Spirit filling her Elizabeth recognized the moment unfolding before her and the meaning of it, and she gave words to these thoughts and feelings. What she said, she exclaimed with a loud cry. She could not contain her joy.
43 “And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.”
Elizabeth recognized also the divine order of what was unfolding. Elizabeth was a mature, older woman who was past normal child-bearing age, and Mary was a humble young maiden. But we see Elizabeth showing Mary deference due to someone significantly above Elizabeth’s own station in life. That’s not all. Notice what she calls the unborn child in Mary’s womb. She calls him “Lord.”
The Holy Spirit working in Elizabeth, the words of the angel Gabriel, and her own child leaping in her womb for joy all led Elizabeth to understand that Mary was none other than the mother of her Lord. The mother of her Lord honored her by visiting her. She could not believe why this was happening to her and the favor she was being shown.
I go back to the angel Gabriel telling Mary that Mary had found favor with God. Mary was the recipient of God’s special favor. Elizabeth, in turn, felt that she was being shown special favor by being visited by the mother of her Lord. Perhaps they were beginning to understand that the whole world was being shown God’s special favor. The means of their salvation was coming into the world.
45 “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
When we are shown divine favor, the honor belongs to the Lord, not to us. For Mary’s part, she responded to the angel Gabriel humbly and appropriately by offering herself as a servant of the Lord. Elizabeth, however, saw fit to pronounce upon Mary a blessing for believing “that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” Mary did believe everything that the Lord had spoken to her. Mary was a witness to Elizabeth.
When we are shown God’s favor it is right and good to give God all the credit. We have no right to boast. Yet, there is a role we play in responding to God’s prerogative, grace, and favor. The action we take is our grateful response to God’s grace. God’s grace, favor, and initiative comes to us in the form of God’s forgiveness, salvation, call, and everyday blessings, large and small. The more attention we give to acknowledging God’s initiative in our lives and the more we offer our life as a thankful response to God’s grace, the better our life is ordered.
What pleases God is when this thankful response becomes a “whole life” response—a response we make with our whole lives and the way it is lived daily. You could say that this is what faith looks like. Andre Crouch’s song, “My Tribute,” expresses this well. It begins with the question, “How can I say thanks for the things you have done for me, things so undeserved, yet you give to prove your love for me?” Then the song answers, “The voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude.” This is when the song gets to the only fitting response we can attempt to make: “All that I am and ever hope to be, I owe it all to you.” When we live out our faith this way it truly pleases God, and it provides a powerful witness to all those around us.
What do you make of the favor shown Mary by God? What do you make of Elizabeth recognizing the favor she was being shown by having the mother of her Lord visit her? If grace is defined as God’s underserved favor what examples can you name of God’s grace and God’s favor that has been shown to you? How do you understand your own thankful response to God’s favor?
Jesus and John the Baptist
In Luke’s gospel, Mary responded to this special moment with Elizabeth with a song we call the “Magnificat,” named after the opening words, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” Mary’s song is in part an echo of the song Hannah sang when God responded to her prayers for a child and allowed Hannah to conceive and bear a son who became the great prophet, Samuel. Although Mary’s song contains echoes of Hannah’s song, most of it is a song only Mary could sing because of what God was doing for her, through her, and for the whole human race.
What else did Mary and Elizabeth talk about? We can only wonder.
56 And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
Three months is a long time to visit someone. This would take Elizabeth through the remaining months of her pregnancy. Mary returned home not long before Elizabeth gave birth to John. Mary was at her home in Nazareth for the remaining months of her pregnancy until Mary and Joseph found out that they had to travel to Bethlehem, their ancestral hometown, to be registered for a census that the emperor in Rome was imposing on the Roman empire. It was in Bethlehem, of course, that Mary gave birth to Jesus.
We are not told about any more visits between Mary and Elizabeth or between their families. We do not know whether Jesus and John got together during their childhood, teenage, or young adult years. We can only imagine them growing into their respective destinies.
When we reflect on John living into his destiny, we must recall the event that happened when he was eight days old and he was taken to be circumcised. For more than nine months, Zechariah had not been able to speak—not a word. Why had he not been able to speak? You could say that Zechariah had been put in “time out” when he expressed his disbelief to the angel Gabriel nine months earlier. At that time, Zechariah had trouble believing how his barren wife, who was on up in years, could conceive and bear a son. Gabriel thought Zechariah needed time out to reflect.
So, it was at John’s circumcision where something big happened. They were at the point in the ritual which called for the naming of the child. The community assumed the child would be named after his father, Zechariah. But Elizabeth told them that his name was to be John in accordance with what Zechariah had been able to convey to Elizabeth. The community was not satisfied though and wanted to hear it from Zechariah himself. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet, and when he wrote, “His name is John.” That was when he was able to speak again, and he talked up a storm.
This miraculous turn of events caused quite a stir in the community:
“Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, ‘What then will this child become?’ For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.” (Luke 1:65-66) The whole community knew John was a child of destiny.
John would also be reminded of his destiny in the way he was raised by his parents. The angel Gabriel had told Zechariah that his son, John, “must never drink wine or strong drink.” Zechariah was told that even before John’s birth “he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.” John’s devout upbringing would serve as a constant reminder that he was set aside for a special calling.
The last thing that we are told about John’s formative years is that “the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.” We know that Jesus lived his life out of the public eye until the age of 30, and the first thing he did was to join John in the wilderness where John’s ministry was in full swing. The impression we are left with is that John seems to have been at it for a while when Jesus joined him. We can surmise this because John’s following had grown quite large. John had been fulfilling his destiny.
So, when Jesus joined him, it was John and Jesus with each other again, just as they had been together when Elizabeth and Mary were expectant mothers. They were destined to reunite 30 years later. John was preparing the way for Jesus the Messiah just as the prophets had foreseen centuries earlier.
Some Characteristics of Expectant Mothers’ Faith
So, what can we say about the faith of these two expectant mothers? They were in tune with their own parts in the unfolding story of the salvation God was offering. They were in tune with each other’s part in the story. Elizabeth, especially, was in tune with Mary’s role and the role her child would play in salvation history. Elizabeth knew that the way her unborn child stirred in her womb was him leaping for joy, and she certainly expressed her own joy. Both Elizabeth and Mary were filled with a mixture of humility and joy at the privilege of serving the Lord as mothers of special children. Elizabeth knew that her son would serve Mary’s son, and Elizabeth saw great joy and significance in this servant role. Even John, in the womb, seemed to have felt this same joy.
We can draw out other qualities of these expectant mothers’ faith stories that we all can share in this season of the year. A good lens for us is the season of Advent and its meaning. Although we are at the end of the season, there are qualities of Advent that are worth taking into the new year.
One theme of the Advent season is anticipation. Elizabeth and Mary would certainly have been filled with a sense of anticipation. In a world where we often tend to expect instant gratification, nine months of pregnancy is bound to create a sense of anticipation and expectation because of the natural delay between conception and birth. The father experiences this also, and it is a big deal for the father. I would dare say, however, that a mother feels the anticipation more intensely because it is accompanied with what is happening in her body.
In the Common Lectionary, the scriptures of the first Sunday of Advent often center around the theme of anticipation associated with the coming of the Lord. The New Testament scriptures that focus on this theme are about Christ’s second coming. It may seem strange at first, in a season preparing for the celebration of Christmas, to jump forward in time and talk about the future return of Christ. This tradition, however, makes Advent more relevant in a sense. It is not enough for Advent to fill us with a sense of nostalgia for the past. Advent should make us long for the return of Christ, when Christ will come and finish what he started at his first coming. Every generation of believers should prepare for the return of Christ. We are either preparing for the return of Christ in our lifetime or we are continuing to kindle the flame for the next generation to carry the torch.
Another theme of Advent is the theme of waiting. The faith of the two expectant mothers in our scripture was about waiting. Waiting is about patience. We often say that good things come to those who wait. This is certainly true for expectant mothers.
Think about farmers. The farmer plants the seed and waits for the harvest. Until the harvest, the farmer has work to do, but the farmer also knows that the time of waiting is when God does his part in bringing the seed into a plant and the plant growing to produce the fruit.
These themes lead to another theme of Advent, which is preparation. The farmer does not just wait, the farmer prepares. Expectant parents prepare. In every Advent season, there are lectionary scriptures that focus on John the Baptist. The message that he had been preaching to the masses on the day that Jesus joined him was a message of repentance. John was turning hearts to the Lord. John was telling them to bear the fruits that befit repentance. In other words, repentance is not just a feeling of remorse. It is a desire to turn from one’s sinful ways. People were going to John in the wilderness, and they were undergoing the baptism that John led in order to signify the cleansing that needed to occur among God’s people in preparation for the coming of the Messiah.
We have a wonderful, time-tested path to take in this profile of faith. This path has been provided through the tradition of Advent and the faith of Mary and Elizabeth as expectant mothers.
What themes of Advent do you want to carry past Advent and Christmas into the new year? How do you see yourself doing this?
Prayer
Gracious Lord and Author of our salvation, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, and for the amazing way you used Mary and Elizabeth in the Advent of the Messiah. Give us that same sense of expectant waiting and anticipation, and help us to prepare our hearts for a fresh advent of the Christ into our own lives, that we may also make a whole life response to You worthy of our gratitude for all that You have done and are doing in our lives, through our precious Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
Dr. Jay Harris serves as the Superintendent of Clergy and District Services for the South Georgia Conference. Email him at jharris@sgaumc.com. Find his plot-driven guide to reading the Bible, the “Layered Bible Journey,” at www.layeredbiblejourney.com.
