Waiting: Day 14

Saturday December 13, 2025

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary the baby leaped in her womb.

And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry,

“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

Luke 1:41-43, English Standard Version

I flat-out love Elizabeth! It’s a shame when she gets overlooked in the all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas story. This is one awesome lady.

First, we’ve seen that she was righteous and faithful and prayerful. She was also not only willing for the life she’d crafted with Zechariah to be completely turned inside out, but she was also seeking for it to be so. Think about it-she wanted kids, but she was up there in years and pregnancy would be tough, plus there’d be those sleepless nights when the baby was fussy. And that was before they’d even dealt with the Terrible Twos!

Then, when she actually does get pregnant, she has to face it with a man who can’t talk, all because he’d run his big mouth and argued with an angel. That might have been a blessing for her, actually. I remember that I said a few dumb things when Regina was expecting!

But pregnancy is tough, and it’s a little bit scary, and Mr. Zechariah can only motion and gesture, and hopefully smile a lot. Remember, it’s not likely that she could read (education wasn’t an option for women in those days) so gesturing was about all Zechariah could do. And do whatever she asked him to do. Gabriel had shut his mouth, not his ears, after all.

Now, she’s in the home stretch, three months to go. Her self-imposed seclusion is over and she’s out there among her neighbors, likely rejoicing with them about the baby to come. Talk about being the Belle of the Ball! This is her time to shine.

Then, here comes Mary. Elizabeth baby starts doing gymnastics in her womb. It’s likely Elizabeth had already received word of what was going on with Mary. Thus, she could interpret what her own baby was doing-he, the future John the Baptist, was jumping for joy just by hearing Mary’s voice and being near the prenatal Jesus.

And Elizabeth, kind and humble and faithful woman that she is, turns the focus to Mary and the Baby she is carrying. “Blessed are you among women!” she says. “And blessed is the fruit of your womb!” Mary, she goes on to say, is “the mother of my Lord.”

I’m pretty sure that’s just what a young virgin-very pregnant and likely scared to death- needed to hear.