Mary the Mother of JesusSample

Blessed

Mary hurried to Elizabeth’s house shortly after her interaction with the angel Gabriel. We don’t know why she went. To see if what the angel had said was true? To rejoice with her relative? To get away from pointed whispers or suspicious looks at home during the early stages of her pregnancy?

We don’t know her motivation, but we do know that what she received was the confirmation of all her hopes, all her beliefs. Mary had her mountaintop experience as Elizabeth confirmed not only Mary’s blessedness but also the significance of the baby she carried.

Before this moment, Mary was alone in her journey. But now someone else knew the truth and embraced it. Someone she loved and respected confirmed God’s promise and call. The coming Messiah was now more than just her own promise, more than a feeling inside. Mary received a taste of faith in community, of vision and confirmation outside of herself. She was filled with hope, filled with joy.

And once again, she was declared blessed.

I wonder if Mary realized, however, that through her he was doing something new, something that would forever redefine blessed. No longer would blessed mean winning a battle or the conquering of a national enemy. It wouldn’t mean reward or wealth. For Mary blessedness would look like a nearly one-hundred-mile trip while pregnant, an escape to Egypt because someone was trying to kill her child, a Messiah surrounded by Israel’s rabble, and eventually kneeling at the foot of a roman cross while her firstborn son died the most excruciating death known to the world. Her son, the Promised One, would be executed before her very eyes.

Blessed? Blessed!

With the coming of Christ, the word would mean something new, something more. For Mary and for people everywhere. The coming of the promised Messiah meant that God had now done what he had promised through the Old Testament prophets.

God had done it. The time had finally come. The promises were fulfilled. The baby growing inside Mary was the Son of God, Immanuel, God with us.