“And it came to pass, that, when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary …she spake out with a loud voice, and said …blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her of the Lord.”
Luke 1:41a, 45 [KJV]
This week, I opened my Bible to one of the verses on my long list of favourite passages. It’s a verse spoken to Mary around the time she became pregnant with the Messiah. It says, “And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord” (Luke 1:45). While the verse is a great encouragement to have faith in our faithful God, this time I was struck by the beautiful relationship Luke describes between the young Mary and the verse’s speaker, Elizabeth.
In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel told the virgin Mary that she would give birth to the Messiah, Jesus (v31). He also said that Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, who everyone considered barren, was six months pregnant (v36) with a son, John the Baptist. Mary immediately travelled from her home in Nazareth to visit Elizabeth in Juda (v39), where Elizabeth encouraged her (v42-45), and Mary responded with a song of praise and thanksgiving to God (v46-55).
There aren’t many specific illustrations of female friendships described in the Bible. Yet the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth is often overlooked, perhaps because it is tucked into a chapter we associate with the incarnation and Christmas. But Christian women need the support of other Christian women all year round. The relationship between Mary and Elizabeth was more than a friendship or a biological connection. Instead, it shows an older woman encouraging a younger one in her faith. We need such relationships whether we are young or mature in faith; single or married; going through trials or doing ‘just fine’. These relationships are the outworking of the command in Hebrews 10:24, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works”.
What can we learn from Mary and Elizabeth about how godly women should encourage one another?
Let’s think about which women we should go to for encouragement and counsel. Elizabeth is described as childless and “stricken in years” (Luke1:7,18), implying she is around menopause and perhaps in her late forties or fifties. She was married to Zacharias the priest and is described in Luke 1:6 as, “righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” Just like Mary, we should seek counsel from those whose lives demonstrate that they “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37). Titus 2:3 emphasises that while God expects older women to be able to teach younger women, older women are only eligible to teach if they “be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, [and are] teachers of good things”. Wise counsel can only come from a wise person, with Matthew 12:34b reminding us that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh”. The specific person we approach might depend on their availability, circumstances, or life experience. But above all, it is important that these sources – whether in person or media – are women with a clear salvation testimony, an ongoing love for God’s Word, and are living victorious Christian lives (1 Corinthians 15:57).
We can also learn much about godly encouragement from what Elizabeth said (and didn’t say). Firstly, Elizabeth recognised God’s work in Mary’s life, knowing through the Holy Spirit that Mary was to be the ‘mother of my Lord’ (v43). This was a direct, miraculous revelation, but I started thinking about how we can recognise God at work in others’ lives. Am I praying for God to work in others’ lives? Am I observant of signs of maturity, such as fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and a love for God’s Word (Jeremiah 15:16)? Or am I so self-focused or immature myself I cannot begin to discern another woman’s spiritual state? Secondly, Elizabeth encouraged Mary to trust God’s promises, saying, “And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord” (Luke 1:45). Do we share scriptures? While sharing our opinions or sympathy may offer some temporary comfort, God’s unchanging Word offers permanent encouragement. Isaiah 40:8 declares, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Psalms reminds us, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). Encouraging other women to study the scriptures as instructed in 2 Timothy 2:15 helps them grow in their relationship with God. It also helps avoid creating disciples of ourselves, a destructive situation that split the Corinthian church (see 1 Corinthians 3:1-10). Thirdly, we see Elizabeth was not jealous. Nowhere does she say, I’m older and wiser, I’m the daughter of a priest and married to a priest; why should this Mary have a bigger, more important part than me? It’s easy to be jealous when God gives some other woman that opportunity or life experience you crave. The antidote for jealousy is the security of knowing that God has a good, acceptable and perfect will for our lives (Romans 12:2), and that “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, And that seek him with the whole heart.” (Psalm 119:2). Elizabeth’s encouragement was also timely. Mary would soon return to Nazareth alone, to face speculation, and, perhaps most upsetting of all, a fiancé who believed she had been unfaithful, with Matthew 1:19 recording that Joseph thought to marry and then divorce Mary to cover up the societal shame of having an illegitimate child. How it must have encouraged Mary to know that Elizabeth understood and supported God’s will for her life! In the same way, we women need to remind each other that we are called (1 Peter 2:21) to be like Christ, who said, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34b).
We can also see in Mary some important qualities of those seeking counsel and encouragement. Mary was a humble woman (v48), who accepted what God said in faith and obedience (v38). She showed maturity, initiative and commitment in seeking out Elizabeth. Mary would have taken multiple days to travel from Nazareth in northern Israel to the cities of Juda in the south of the country, but how many of us wouldn’t even cross the room to speak to someone? How often have I missed out on receiving godly insight because I never asked for it? Proverbs 20:5 says, “Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.” Sometimes we go to people wanting approval rather than godly feedback. But God wants us to have a learner’s heart, “Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5b).
We all need Mary’s teachable heart. But Christ also wants all of us to become encouragers like Elizabeth. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.” Like Mary and Elizabeth, may we help each other to lift our hearts and voices in praise to God. And may we encourage one another with the truth of Luke 1:45, “blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
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