December 22nd Advent Devotional

December 22

Luke 1:39-45

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb…. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

-Luke 1:42-43, 45

In this passage, we see two women who have been blessed beyond measure by God. The elderly Elizabeth, who experienced the pain of infertility, was blessed by God with a child. God blessed Mary to carry His son and our Savior. When Mary went to visit Elizabeth and greeted her, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, immediately recognized the presence of Christ in Mary’s womb, and proclaimed Mary blessed. These two women experienced miraculous pregnancies that those around them would find beyond belief, yet Elizabeth, with the Holy Spirit, believed and rejoiced.

This passage reminds me of God’s endless faithfulness and immense love for us. Elizabeth ends by stating, “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” This proclamation is directed at Mary, for whom it most certainly is true. But it is also true of Elizabeth and of us. The fulfillment of God’s promises is humanity’s greatest blessing.

What feels especially powerful in this passage is that only God could have fulfilled these promises to Mary, Elizabeth, and his people. These two women could not have become pregnant without divine intervention. Neither could we be saved without the divine intervention of God sending Jesus to earth.

So, we see that not only is God willing to fulfill his promises to us, but he is the only one who is able to. That is why our God is worth believing, worth trusting, and worth following. In this passage, we begin to see the fulfillment of God’s promises to his people, and to us, coming to fruition. Like Mary and Elizabeth, we are blessed by the great truth of the Advent story and will continue to be blessed by believing that God is both willing and able to fulfill every promise he has made to us.

Zoe Barnes