READ Luke 1:24-45 | Isaiah 40:1-11
COMMENTARY | Rev. Cecelia D. Armstrong
When we are weary, we find it hard to express joy. When we
are weary, we might find it hard to share space with others because our
weariness has seemingly stolen our joy. However, is it even possible to be
joy-filled by yourself? Sure, there are things we can do that will bring us
joy, but what external joy is possible without others to acknowledge it? Could
it be that internal joy can only be actualized in external connections? Shared
joy is one way that a weary world can rejoice.
We find Elizabeth alone for five months. There is no
indication in the text that explains her isolation, but speculation offers that
her isolation was due to the same reasons Zechariah was silenced. Elizabeth
probably had questions. Can we speculate what those questions might have been?
“Does the Lord know how old I am?” “We have been wanting children for a while
and NOW we are pregnant?” “The shame of being barren has caused me to be weary,
so how am I supposed to rejoice with this?” We don’t hear her questions, but we
hear her resolve in verse 25: “This is what the Lord has done for me when he
looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my
people.”
We are not sure about Mary’s travels. Mary sets out with
haste to enter the house of Zechariah and greet Elizabeth. (Zechariah probably
didn’t say a word.) We don’t know if she traveled alone, but we do know she
went on a mission to get clarity about her own encounter with Gabriel. Creative
thinking suggests that Mary did all of this on her own, in isolation, by
herself, with no one to help, hurt, or hinder her mission. We don’t hear her
questions either. We hear her question Gabriel wondering how this can be, since
she is a virgin, but we don’t hear her internal dialogue during her travels.
Reprinted with permission from A Sanctified Art
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