Second Midweek in Advent - "Filled with the Holy Spirit"
2024 Advent 2 Midweek Psalm 66:1-12 Luke 1:39-45
Babies move around in their mother’s wombs for all kinds of reasons. Each child is different. Some are more active than others. Some start testing the boundaries sooner than others. Other times it is because they need a different position. For example, when Momma is laying down on her back and her spine is uncomfortable. I have also heard that babies in the womb can move around more due to Momma’s mood or because of what she just ate or drank.
Years ago, Marie and I were at a dinner party. Two of the women were pregnant for the first time. One mother drank some coffee. A minute or two later we all observed movement, whether in displeasure, pleasure, or because of the rush of energy from the caffeine, I cannot say for certain. But it was a source of amusement for us to behold the direct connection between mother’s intake and the baby’s response.
As common experience tells us that there are numerous reasons for babies to move around inside the womb, how does Elizabeth know how to interpret her baby’s sudden movement?
Not to take away from the beautiful confession that Elizabeth makes; nor the fact that in the same room, there stood two miracles of God hugging on each other and speaking to one another; but the reason that Elizabeth can state with confidence that her baby leapt because he recognized that Jesus was in the room, is because of the Holy Spirit.
The text says in verse 41, “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit is essential to our salvation. The Holy Spirit is behind every confession of faith that we make before God and men. The Holy Spirit creates faith within us. Jesus teaches us that the Holy Spirit provides words for us when we find ourselves in situations when we just don’t know what to say or how to say it. In the eighth chapter of his letter to the church in Rome, the Apostle Paul recognizes that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and leads us into prayer when we are at a loss for what to say.
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Luke reports on this miraculous event where two women that love God have each received a miracle and through them God is working his purpose to bring Christ, the long awaited Messiah, into the world and to make Him known at the appointed time. In that house in an anonymous town in Judea, Elizabeth, who long ago accepted her barrenness, is now pregnant with the Voice in the Wilderness that Isaiah foretold. Mary, a virgin, bears the Christ child.
The Holy Spirit opens their eyes to see what is truly going on. The Lord is at work in his mysterious ways. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth declares those remarkable words that ring down through the ages: “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?”
Indeed, a good question. Why is this granted to Elizabeth? The Holy Spirit reveals that the reason is because the Lord simply desires it to be so. This is a mercy that will bring great joy to Elizabeth and her husband. God chose Elizabeth to bear John. God chose Mary to bear Jesus. Both miracles happen simply because of God’s inexplicable grace. We can no more explain this any further than we can explain why God’s Son would die on a cross for us and that the Holy Spirit would lead us into faith to receive Jesus’ gifts of forgiveness and the promise of eternal life with Him. God simply chooses to be gracious.
For that, the Holy Spirit leads us to bless the Lord. We offer our highest praise to the author of our salvation for his mercy and grace.
Thanks be to God!
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