39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechari’ah and greeted Elizabeth.
John the Baptist leaps in Womb
41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
Elizabeth’s Greeting
42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
EXPLANATION
39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechari’ah and greeted Elizabeth.
“In those days Mary arose” — The initiative in the visit is Mary’s. She, mother of Jesus, represents the New Testament. Elizabeth represents the Old Testament. Her son John was the last prophet of the Old Testament. The visit represents the New Testament reaching out to the Old and giving it the significance of preparing for the coming of the Messiah–Saviour. Just as Mary believed the word of God spoken by the archangel and experienced its fulfilment in her conception, the Old Testament was the word of God to be believed as a preparation for the New Testament which was fulfilled in Jesus.
“and went with haste into the hill country to a city of Judah” — The archangel spoke to Mary in Nazareth which is in Galilee in the north. Judah was the southern kingdom and a journey there in those days would have taken four days.
This “city of Judah” is not named though tradition has linked it with Ain Karim, about four miles from Jerusalem.
“and she entered the house of Zechari’ah and greeted Elizabeth” — Zechariah plays no part in this passage. He was silenced by the angel and that silence continued until John was born. The important characters on stage are the two unborn children with the mothers supplying the dialogue though the words of Mary are not recorded.
41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb” — John “leaping” in his mother’s womb recalls three scenes in the Old Testament:
(i) Rebecca’s twins are described as struggling in her womb. This was an indication of what they would do in later years (Gn. 25: 21–23). So also in this scene, John the Baptist dancing with joy before the ark which is Mary containing the Messiah, Christ, indicates his future role as prophet who announces the presence of Christ.
(ii) The Ark of the Covenant, containing the presence of God, was brought to Jerusalem by King David (II Sam. 6: 1-15). Note these three similarities with the Visitation of Mary, a new Ark, containing the presence of God in her womb.
(a) As the ark is brought to Jerusalem, King David is overcome with awe saying, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” (II Sm. 6: 9). As Mary greets Elizabeth the latter exclaims, “And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk. 1: 43).
(b) The ark remains three months in the hill country near Jerusalem, bringing great blessings to the house of Obed–edom. (II Sm. 6: 11). Mary remained three months with Elizabeth obviously filling her house with blessings of the Holy Spirit (Lk. 1: 56).
(c) King David leaps for joy — dancing before the ark. (II Sm. 6: 13). John the Baptist “leaped” for joy in his mother’s womb.
(iii) “Behold our God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a hart…” (Is. 35: 4–6). Dancing and joy are described as the reaction of the lame before the Messiah when he comes.
When the angel told Zechariah that Elizabeth his wife would conceive he informed him that John, his promised son “will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Lk. 1: 15). This prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus entered the house of Zechariah. One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit in this case was that John the Baptist was cleansed from original sin at this moment. When Zechariah’s speech was restored he praised God in the Benedictus canticle where he began, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people”, obviously a reference to John’s and Elizabeth’s redemption.
St. John Chrysostom has written: “See how new and how wonderful this mystery is. He has not yet left the womb but he communicates by leaping; he is not yet allowed to cry out but he makes himself understood by his actions […]; he has not yet seen the light but he points out the Sun; he has not yet been born and he is keen to act as Precursor. The Lord is present, so he cannot contain himself or wait for nature to run its course: he wants to break out of the prison of his mother’s womb and he makes sure he witnesses to the fact that the Saviour is about to come”.
“and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” — By being filled with the Holy Spirit Elizabeth, now a prophetess, will interpret the events around her.
42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.
“and she exclaimed with a loud cry” – This is a figure of speech to indicate that she is prophesying, moved by the Holy Spirit.
“Blessed are you among women” — Elizabeth says that Mary is particularly “blessed” for two reasons: first, that the babe in her womb is divine (shown in the following words and in v. 43) and second, that she believed the promise of God given her by the Archangel (v. 45).
“and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” — Elizabeth, who had no prior knowledge that Mary had conceived, announces that Mary is blessed because she is pregnant (in verse 45 she will elaborate on this) and she is blessed because of whom the Babe is that she is carrying.
Elizabeth uses the same words as the Archangel Gabriel to Mary to endorse that her speech is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives a beautiful commentary on the Ave Maria in nos. 2676–2677.
“And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” — The word “Lord” is a title for God (Lk. 1: 6, 9, 11, 16, 17, 25). When it refers to Jesus it is used as a title referring to him as resurrected (Lk. 2: 11; 7: 13; 10: 1; 11:39; 12: 42; 17: 6; 18: 6; 19: 8;, 31; 24: 3, 34). Elizabeth uses it as Mother of God.
The “mother of my Lord [God]” has given rise to two Catholic dogmas: first that Jesus is God and, second, that Mary is the mother of God. This second dogma was defined at the Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.). The Greek word used by the Council for this title was “Theotokos”, a not unfamiliar word in spiritual writings about Mary. See also Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium (53). This Marian dogma was the first of four defined dogmas concerning Mary. The other three are: Mary’s Perpetual Virginity (Council of the Lateran, 649 A.D.); her Immaculate Conception (8 Dec 1854) and her Assumption (November 1st, 1950).
“For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy” — Elizabeth recognises that it was Mary’s greeting which caused her son in the womb to leap for joy. John’s expressed joy and Elizabeth’s words indicate the joy which was a reaction to the coming of the Messiah–Saviour.
45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” — Mary is praised for believing that God is faithful to his word: what he promises he will fulfil. Later when “a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!’ [Jesus] said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” (Lk. 11: 27–28). In this way he praised his mother more for being a believer who conformed to his will and accepted his invitation to be his mother rather than for being merely his mother.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “The Virgin Mary most perfectly embodies the obedience of faith. By faith Mary welcomes the tidings and promise brought by the angel Gabriel, believing that “with God nothing will be impossible” and so giving her assent: “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word.” Elizabeth greeted her: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” It is for this faith that all generations have called Mary blessed (CCC, 148).
“Throughout her life and until her last ordeal when Jesus her son died on the cross, Mary’s faith never wavered. She never ceased to believe in the fulfilment of God’s word. And so the Church venerates in Mary the purest realization of faith” (CCC, 149).
APPLICATION
1. The most important statement in this passage is that Jesus is divine. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Mary is the “mother of my Lord”, that is God. And she is carrying him in her womb. John the Baptist is introduced as the precursor who announces the presence of Jesus Christ the Messiah–Saviour by leaping in his mother’s womb. Both John and Elizabeth believed in the divinity of the Babe in Mary’s womb.
2. We are told four important facts about Mary.
(i) She is Mother of God. She is the person closes to him ever. No one could be closer than his mother. When we pray the “Ave Maria” or “Hail Mary” we recite these words of Sacred Scripture to rejoice with Mary at her dignity as Mother of God, we thank God for giving us Jesus through Mary and we thank him for her faith by which she accepted his offer to become his mother.
(ii) Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith. Being a woman of faith and obeying God’s word is more important than being the Mother of God. Jesus himself praised her for her faith and he it is who told us that her faith was more important than her motherhood.
(iii) Mary is the model of being a missionary. This does not mean going overseas to share the faith with those who have never heard of Jesus but of doing one’s best, even at great inconvenience, to share Jesus with others as Mary did by going to visit her cousin Elizabeth. And she brought them salvation as they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Some time ago Pope Benedict XVI said “The young Mary, who carried Jesus in her womb and, forgetting herself, goes to help her neighbour, is a stupendous icon of the Church in the perennial youth of the Spirit, of the missionary Church of the Incarnate Word, called to bring [this Word] to the world and to testify to him especially in the service of charity”.
The Second Vatican Council has taught that “This union of the Mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to His death; first when Mary, arising in haste to go to visit Elizabeth, is greeted by her as blessed because of her belief in the promise of salvation and the Precursor leaps with joy in the womb of his mother […]. The Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the Divine Plan, enduring with her only–begotten Son the intensity of His suffering, associating herself with His sacrifice in his mother’s heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this Victim which was born of her” (Lumen Gentium, 57).
(iv) Elizabeth praises and thanks God for the gift of Jesus, as Mary does in the following verses which record her Magnificat. Christmas, as previous Sundays have taught, is a time for repentance. This Sunday tells us that it is also a time for adoration of the divine Babe born for us and our salvation. It is also a time for thanksgiving. Elizabeth and Mary have given the example; let us follow.
Commentary on the 4th Sunday of Advent (C) 19.12.2021
TEXT – Luke 1: 39-45 – Mary visits Elizabeth
Mary’s Journey
39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechari’ah and greeted Elizabeth.
John the Baptist leaps in Womb
41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
Elizabeth’s Greeting
42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
EXPLANATION
39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechari’ah and greeted Elizabeth.
“In those days Mary arose” — The initiative in the visit is Mary’s. She, mother of Jesus, represents the New Testament. Elizabeth represents the Old Testament. Her son John was the last prophet of the Old Testament. The visit represents the New Testament reaching out to the Old and giving it the significance of preparing for the coming of the Messiah–Saviour. Just as Mary believed the word of God spoken by the archangel and experienced its fulfilment in her conception, the Old Testament was the word of God to be believed as a preparation for the New Testament which was fulfilled in Jesus.
“and went with haste into the hill country to a city of Judah” — The archangel spoke to Mary in Nazareth which is in Galilee in the north. Judah was the southern kingdom and a journey there in those days would have taken four days.
This “city of Judah” is not named though tradition has linked it with Ain Karim, about four miles from Jerusalem.
“and she entered the house of Zechari’ah and greeted Elizabeth” — Zechariah plays no part in this passage. He was silenced by the angel and that silence continued until John was born. The important characters on stage are the two unborn children with the mothers supplying the dialogue though the words of Mary are not recorded.
41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb” — John “leaping” in his mother’s womb recalls three scenes in the Old Testament:
(i) Rebecca’s twins are described as struggling in her womb. This was an indication of what they would do in later years (Gn. 25: 21–23). So also in this scene, John the Baptist dancing with joy before the ark which is Mary containing the Messiah, Christ, indicates his future role as prophet who announces the presence of Christ.
(ii) The Ark of the Covenant, containing the presence of God, was brought to Jerusalem by King David (II Sam. 6: 1-15). Note these three similarities with the Visitation of Mary, a new Ark, containing the presence of God in her womb.
(a) As the ark is brought to Jerusalem, King David is overcome with awe saying, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” (II Sm. 6: 9). As Mary greets Elizabeth the latter exclaims, “And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk. 1: 43).
(b) The ark remains three months in the hill country near Jerusalem, bringing great blessings to the house of Obed–edom. (II Sm. 6: 11). Mary remained three months with Elizabeth obviously filling her house with blessings of the Holy Spirit (Lk. 1: 56).
(c) King David leaps for joy — dancing before the ark. (II Sm. 6: 13). John the Baptist “leaped” for joy in his mother’s womb.
(iii) “Behold our God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a hart…” (Is. 35: 4–6). Dancing and joy are described as the reaction of the lame before the Messiah when he comes.
When the angel told Zechariah that Elizabeth his wife would conceive he informed him that John, his promised son “will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Lk. 1: 15). This prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus entered the house of Zechariah. One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit in this case was that John the Baptist was cleansed from original sin at this moment. When Zechariah’s speech was restored he praised God in the Benedictus canticle where he began, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people”, obviously a reference to John’s and Elizabeth’s redemption.
St. John Chrysostom has written: “See how new and how wonderful this mystery is. He has not yet left the womb but he communicates by leaping; he is not yet allowed to cry out but he makes himself understood by his actions […]; he has not yet seen the light but he points out the Sun; he has not yet been born and he is keen to act as Precursor. The Lord is present, so he cannot contain himself or wait for nature to run its course: he wants to break out of the prison of his mother’s womb and he makes sure he witnesses to the fact that the Saviour is about to come”.
“and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” — By being filled with the Holy Spirit Elizabeth, now a prophetess, will interpret the events around her.
42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.
“and she exclaimed with a loud cry” – This is a figure of speech to indicate that she is prophesying, moved by the Holy Spirit.
“Blessed are you among women” — Elizabeth says that Mary is particularly “blessed” for two reasons: first, that the babe in her womb is divine (shown in the following words and in v. 43) and second, that she believed the promise of God given her by the Archangel (v. 45).
“and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” — Elizabeth, who had no prior knowledge that Mary had conceived, announces that Mary is blessed because she is pregnant (in verse 45 she will elaborate on this) and she is blessed because of whom the Babe is that she is carrying.
Elizabeth uses the same words as the Archangel Gabriel to Mary to endorse that her speech is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives a beautiful commentary on the Ave Maria in nos. 2676–2677.
“And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” — The word “Lord” is a title for God (Lk. 1: 6, 9, 11, 16, 17, 25). When it refers to Jesus it is used as a title referring to him as resurrected (Lk. 2: 11; 7: 13; 10: 1; 11:39; 12: 42; 17: 6; 18: 6; 19: 8;, 31; 24: 3, 34). Elizabeth uses it as Mother of God.
The “mother of my Lord [God]” has given rise to two Catholic dogmas: first that Jesus is God and, second, that Mary is the mother of God. This second dogma was defined at the Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.). The Greek word used by the Council for this title was “Theotokos”, a not unfamiliar word in spiritual writings about Mary. See also Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium (53). This Marian dogma was the first of four defined dogmas concerning Mary. The other three are: Mary’s Perpetual Virginity (Council of the Lateran, 649 A.D.); her Immaculate Conception (8 Dec 1854) and her Assumption (November 1st, 1950).
“For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy” — Elizabeth recognises that it was Mary’s greeting which caused her son in the womb to leap for joy. John’s expressed joy and Elizabeth’s words indicate the joy which was a reaction to the coming of the Messiah–Saviour.
45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” — Mary is praised for believing that God is faithful to his word: what he promises he will fulfil. Later when “a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!’ [Jesus] said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” (Lk. 11: 27–28). In this way he praised his mother more for being a believer who conformed to his will and accepted his invitation to be his mother rather than for being merely his mother.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “The Virgin Mary most perfectly embodies the obedience of faith. By faith Mary welcomes the tidings and promise brought by the angel Gabriel, believing that “with God nothing will be impossible” and so giving her assent: “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word.” Elizabeth greeted her: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” It is for this faith that all generations have called Mary blessed (CCC, 148).
“Throughout her life and until her last ordeal when Jesus her son died on the cross, Mary’s faith never wavered. She never ceased to believe in the fulfilment of God’s word. And so the Church venerates in Mary the purest realization of faith” (CCC, 149).
APPLICATION
1. The most important statement in this passage is that Jesus is divine. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Mary is the “mother of my Lord”, that is God. And she is carrying him in her womb. John the Baptist is introduced as the precursor who announces the presence of Jesus Christ the Messiah–Saviour by leaping in his mother’s womb. Both John and Elizabeth believed in the divinity of the Babe in Mary’s womb.
2. We are told four important facts about Mary.
(i) She is Mother of God. She is the person closes to him ever. No one could be closer than his mother. When we pray the “Ave Maria” or “Hail Mary” we recite these words of Sacred Scripture to rejoice with Mary at her dignity as Mother of God, we thank God for giving us Jesus through Mary and we thank him for her faith by which she accepted his offer to become his mother.
(ii) Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith. Being a woman of faith and obeying God’s word is more important than being the Mother of God. Jesus himself praised her for her faith and he it is who told us that her faith was more important than her motherhood.
(iii) Mary is the model of being a missionary. This does not mean going overseas to share the faith with those who have never heard of Jesus but of doing one’s best, even at great inconvenience, to share Jesus with others as Mary did by going to visit her cousin Elizabeth. And she brought them salvation as they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Some time ago Pope Benedict XVI said “The young Mary, who carried Jesus in her womb and, forgetting herself, goes to help her neighbour, is a stupendous icon of the Church in the perennial youth of the Spirit, of the missionary Church of the Incarnate Word, called to bring [this Word] to the world and to testify to him especially in the service of charity”.
The Second Vatican Council has taught that “This union of the Mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to His death; first when Mary, arising in haste to go to visit Elizabeth, is greeted by her as blessed because of her belief in the promise of salvation and the Precursor leaps with joy in the womb of his mother […]. The Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the Divine Plan, enduring with her only–begotten Son the intensity of His suffering, associating herself with His sacrifice in his mother’s heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this Victim which was born of her” (Lumen Gentium, 57).
(iv) Elizabeth praises and thanks God for the gift of Jesus, as Mary does in the following verses which record her Magnificat. Christmas, as previous Sundays have taught, is a time for repentance. This Sunday tells us that it is also a time for adoration of the divine Babe born for us and our salvation. It is also a time for thanksgiving. Elizabeth and Mary have given the example; let us follow.