In His Presence

Now Mary arose in those days

and went into the hill country with haste,

to a city of Judah, and entered the house

of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.

And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary,

that the babe leaped in her womb,

and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1:39-41

Two great men were in the making. It was early winter, November or December of 4 BC on our calendar, and the season of Hanukkah. It was a time of feasting and gift-giving and rejoicing, of lighting candles and remembering the goodness of God in the shortened days and longer nights of cold. The womb of one mother was already six months with child, a son prophesied by an angel to be one coming in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare Israel for their soon-coming Messiah. The womb of the other mother was newly active, her offspring a cluster of cells barely the size of a mustard seed. But the first meeting of these two--both the meeting of the mothers and the meeting of their sons--was filled with great import!

We are not told the reasoning behind Mary's winter vacation to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Perhaps when the message of the angel was confirmed that Elizabeth was indeed six months pregnant, Mary was dispatched as a near relative to assist her in the final months of her pregnancy. And I'm guessing that at this point she had told no one of her own angelic announcement. Whatever the circumstances behind the visit, when Mary came into Elizabeth's presence, things began to happen.

Remember that Elizabeth had secluded herself after she found out she was pregnant. And Zacharias couldn't talk. What a mysterious greeting Mary must have received, even if they knew she was coming, and how strange she must have felt. I can imagine her knocking on the door, being greeted in silence by the old priest with a gesture toward some inner room, and her pushing open the door with a timid greeting for her cousin. And I can imagine Elizabeth sitting on a cushioned couch or bench of some kind, needlework in hand.

At the sound of a girl's voice, she looks up and feels a lurch within her, not of sickness but of exultation. At six months, her child is about nine inches long and weighs over two pounds. When he leaps, she takes notice. And instantly the power of the Holy Spirit fills her as He did the prophets in days of old. A joy inexpressible which she cannot contain fills the depths of her innermost being, and ecstatic expression spills from her lips! All this, because they--mother and child--were suddenly in the presence of God Incarnate, unborn, barely a collection of small cells in the womb of His mother, but alive and powerful.

God With Us is an awesome encounter, one that should produce such a filling every time we enter His presence!