Three Months

And Mary remained with her about three months,

and returned to her house.

Luke 1:56

Elizabeth conceived John and hid herself for five months. In the sixth month, Gabriel made the Annunciation to Mary and she conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit. If she immediately set out for the Judean hill country to visit Elizabeth and then stayed three months, it stands to reason that Mary was still with Elizabeth when John was born.

What do you think transpired during those three months?

There are parts of the story the Holy Spirit simply left blank in the Bible, stories that--as a story-teller and detail person myself--I would love to hear in eternity. You know, I'd like to just pop by Mary's mansion in heaven someday and say, "Hail Mary! What was it like when..." But until then, my technicolor imagination will have to suffice.

If anyone understood the significance of what was going on in Mary's life, it had to be Elizabeth, for she herself was part of the experience. Barren for years, perhaps even decades, after her marriage to her beloved Zacharias, Elizabeth had been visited and favored by the Lord. Like Sarah of old, like Rebekah and Rachel, like Hannah and Mrs. Manoah, in her advancing years she received the strength to conceive God's next instrument of faith and power, God's next messenger. Secluding herself for five months, shutting herself in with the Lord, there is no limit to what she may have learned from intimate communication with her God. She was full enough of the Spirit that when the barely pregnant mother of the coming Savior stepped into her room and spoke her name, even the baby within her leaped for joy in the presence of the Lord.

Now these two women, vessels of honor chosen for God's glory, could sit together for hours and hours and hours on end talking about the goodness of God. Did they go through the Scriptures together? Did they discuss the ramifications of God's promises and expectations? One old woman, one young woman; one married, one not; neither of them had experience as mothers, but undoubtedly they had been raised to be wives and mothers in a culture that celebrated the family as the oldest and highest of God's institutions. What did they talk about?

Did Mary have questions and doubts concerning the child growing within her womb? Did she fear for her own life once her friends, family and fiancee found out about her condition? Did she wonder what kind of mother she could possibly be to the son of God? And did Elizabeth have any guidance to help her?

Though they aren't included in Paul's treatment of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, undoubtedly they walk those halls today. These were women of faith, who walked by faith in the words and promises of God. By faith, Elizabeth received the strength to conceive and bring forth a son who would be the first prophet of her people in 400 years. By faith, Mary consented to the will of the Lord and conceived a son through supernatural means, that she might become the mother of salvation to a world that world that would believe.

Thank God for their faith!