Elizabeth must have had a pretty good press agent. Her story gets three days’ worth of exposure in the run-up to Christmas!
The delightful details of her story are irresistible. She is the elderly, childless wife, favored with a surprise pregnancy. She is the costar in a beautiful encounter between two pregnant cousins. And she is the enigmatic mother who gives the name John to her child.
Hidden in the story is Luke’s intention to portray Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, in an important symbolic role. Behind them, like hidden images beneath the strokes of a painted masterpiece, are the Old Testament portraits of Abraham and Sarah, and the parents of the prophet Samuel, Elkanah and Hannah. Elizabeth’s age and barrenness echo the stories of those two ancient ancestors of Israel. And in today’s Gospel, her joy over the birth of John the Baptist parallels the joy of Sarah in Genesis, at the birth of Isaac.
But Elizabeth also looks forward to the story of the adult Jesus. During Mary’s visit, she cries out, “Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled.” In Luke 8:21 Jesus uses similar words honoring his mother—and all true disciples—as one who hears the word of God and acts upon it.
—adapted from the book Advent with the Saints: Daily Reflections
by Greg Friedman, OFM
