After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived,
and for five months she remained in seclusion.
She said, "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."
Luke 1:24-25
My husband always says, "Beware of angels appearing and proclaiming 'Do not be afraid,' because when that happens someone ends up pregnant." While he certainly exaggerates, he does have a point when it comes to the birth narratives. Mary, Joseph, Zechariah all received that angelic "Do not be afraid" message to prepare them for the births of their sons but I can't help but notice someone is missing from that list...where was Elizabeth's angel?
Elizabeth and Zechariah were "getting on in years" according to the text. She had no doubt prayed and waited for the arrival of a child of her own and year after year was met with bitter disappointment. I have no doubt that Zechariah felt the same, it was a bitter reality in that day to be without an heir. They had anticipated a baby so long and yet none had come and years had trickled by.
Mary and Joseph had no such expectation for a child, not yet anyway. So an angel visits each to break the news - a baby is on the way! Not just any baby, mind you, but God's son and they have been chosen to become his parents...no pressure there right? Without the angel's visit Mary would have been in grave danger. There would have been no doubt in anyone's mind that she had been unfaithful to Joseph and the penalty could have been death. However, the angel prepares Mary to understand what is happening to her body and it prepares Joseph to understand what is happening to his future wife. They are chosen - they are blessed. This is the message the angel must bring so that they would understand God breaking into their lives in such an incredible, and unexpected, way.
Zechariah receives his angel visit while alone in the temple, serving his priestly duties. He is then rendered mute so he cannot tell anyone what he heard or witnessed - not even his beloved Elizabeth. Where is her angel visit? Why is it that Mary, Joseph and Zechariah all get a warning, all get a preview of the exciting news while Elizabeth is left in the dark?
I smile every time I read her response, "This is what the Lord has done for me..." I hear it as a statement full of years of expectation. Mary and Joseph had no expectation of a baby to come so soon, they needed to be told so they could understand and manage the situation. Zechariah? I can't help but wonder if Zechariah had lost hope over the years. Perhaps he had stopped expecting joyful news as each month passed and Elizabeth's body reveled the disappointing truth - no baby - not yet. When the angel declares the coming birth Zechariah responds - how can this be? we are old. Yes, I think he had given up the expectation of a child and so the angel had to come and prepare him for the acceptance of the unexpected.
Elizabeth, however, gets no such heads up - no angelic warning - no preparation for such an incredible event. Why? "This is what the Lord has done for me..." she says. In that statement I hear her smile - you know the smile - the kind that comes only when what you knew would happen finally happens and you get to say, "I told you so." I can't help but wonder if the reason Elizabeth is the only one that doesn't get an angelic visit is because Elizabeth is the only one that was expecting God to do this very kind of thing. I don't think Elizabeth had ever stopped believing that God would give her a child...I think she expected it...she anticipated it. She didn't need an angel to say, "Surprise! You are with child" because every single month she watched her body for the signs of what she trusted would some day be...a baby. Patiently, expectantly, faithfully...Elizabeth watched and waiting for what she knew God would some day bring her.
In this season of Advent we are encouraged to watch and wait expectantly for what God is about to do. We re-live and remember the birth stories and how God broke into this world in such an amazing fashion and yet at the same time we are called to watch and wait for re-entry...the day when Jesus returns and God's Kingdom is fulfilled. Everyone wants to look for signs of this next big event - just the other day a woman stopped me to ask me if I had noticed the sun was burning more intensely than every before. No, I replied I had not noticed and so she warned me it was a sign of the Lord's returning. People are looking for signs - 12/12/12 or 12/21/12 or national conflicts or river's running red or you name it - folks are surveying the world around them and wondering - when will it come and what will be the sign that warns us so we will know to prepare?
I picture Elizabeth, standing in her doorway, holding her swollen belly with that knowing smile on her face...she didn't need a sign. She didn't need a warning. She didn't need a messenger. She had expected all along for God to show up - she had never once stopped expecting it she just stood ready to receive it.
Stand ready to receive the gift that was promised: Hope, Joy, Peace and Love. Live each moment as if you expect these gifts to already be within you and around you. Then you won't need to worry about the coming of Jesus - for he will already be present.
