Title: Meeting of two women
two women meeting
The Gospels that report the birth of Jesus are Matthew and Luke. The Gospels of Mark and John begin with the public life of Jesus without a story. The reason why the Gospels that report the same story about Jesus differ so little or not so little is that the time and background in which the Gospels were formed were different. For example, the Gospel of Matthew is a story about Jesus seen through the eyes of the Matthew community, and the Gospel of John is a story about Jesus seen through the eyes of the John community.
There are also slight differences in the story of Jesus' birth in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. First of all, it is to whom are we informed of Mary's pregnancy through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Matthew, the angel tells Joseph, while in Luke, it tells Mary. Also, wise men from the East appear in Matthew's Gospel, but shepherds appear in Luke's Gospel. In the Gospel of Matthew, there is the story of Joseph's family fleeing to Egypt with the newborn Jesus, and the terrible story of Herod slaughtering children, whereas in Luke, as we read today, the story of two women meeting in the mountains. Can you already see how the Gospels of Matthew and Luke are different? The Gospel of Luke is concerned with the weak, women, and children. Especially, the story of today's text is really beautiful like a picture or a fairy tale. Shall we go a little further into the story?
Elizabeth and Mary
Elizabeth, the wife of Zechariah the priest, was an old, barren woman who unexpectedly became pregnant. The story is detailed in Luke 1:5 and below. It does not matter how serious Elizabeth's heartache must have been. Fortunately, his husband, Sugariya, doesn't seem to have taken this into account. It's only natural that Sugariya didn't complain, because it's not always the woman's fault for not getting pregnant. This woman, who was physiologically infertile, became pregnant.
Unlike Elizabeth, Mary was a young woman. According to the customs of marriage at the time, Maria would have been around 15 or 16 years old. Mary's heartache was no less than that of Elizabeth. Perhaps it should be said that Maria's situation was even worse. Because although Mary was legally married to Joseph, she became pregnant before they actually lived together. This young woman could have been branded as an immoral woman. Elizabeth was in pain because she was not pregnant, while Mary was in trouble. In any case, Maria graciously accepted her fate and overcame it. The story is reported in detail in Luke 1:26 and below. Mary, who has a baby six months later than Elizabeth, visits Elizabeth. The text we read today begins with this passage.
Verses 41, 42a say: “When Elizabeth was greeted by Mary, the baby in her womb jumped. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out with a loud voice.” Those of you who have read this verse will have many questions. If you're not curious, that in itself is weird. We need to ask this question. What does it mean for the baby in the womb to jump? Could it be that there was telepathy between the baby in Elizabeth's womb and the baby in Mary's womb? This biblical expression is essentially a literary technique. Just as we use metaphor and hyperbole when writing poetry, Bible writers also used literary rhetoric. Of course, Elizabeth is an old woman, but because she was spiritually sensitive, it is possible that those spiritual forces were passed on to her unborn child. Modern medicine also recognizes that the mother's heart is transmitted to the fetus. However, today's text is not a description of such a physiological problem, but rather a description of a literary and theological fact. In other words, Elizabeth was delighted with Mary's visit to such an extent that the child in her womb responded.
It is the same with saying that they cried out because they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of life. It is the spirit who created this world. That Spirit is the Spirit of God. It is also very practical to say that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. That's right. No one is captured by the spirit of life more effectively and more desperately than a pregnant woman. Think about it. What greater spiritual event is there than to accept with all your soul that another new life is growing in your body? The pregnancy event contains the entire history of life on Earth for 4.5 billion years. It's amazing. Those who think deeply about this and accept it as a body are those who have been filled with the Holy Spirit. Today's young women neglect this spirit of life. If a pregnant woman is worried about her appearance and education expenses before having a baby, then she has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit.
A woman pregnant with an old body, captured by the spirit of life, welcomed a young woman who was pregnant just like her. It's a really picturesque scene. Elizabeth makes this amazing confession in verse 43. “What is it that the Lord’s Mother is looking for me?” If we look at the text alone, this verse is a confession that the child conceived in Mary's body is the Messiah who saved mankind. So, does that mean that Elizabeth knew it early? As we read today's text, these questions are not crucially important. What really matters is that this Elizabethan confession belongs not to an individual, but to the whole of the early Christian community. The phrase “Mother of the Lord” is a profession of faith throughout Christianity. Mary is the mother of the Lord. Mary conceived the Lord. In Mary's concrete body, in her womb, came Jesus, the Messiah who would save the world. That fact was proclaimed through Elizabeth's mouth. How amazing is that?
Mary's Praise
Following Elizabeth's confession, the writer of Luke reports Mary's praise in verses 46-55. This hymn is an explanation of Elizabeth's confession of faith that the One who was conceived in Mary's body was the Lord. Here, too, we can ask this question. Could Maria, who has just taken off her t-shirt, have written a song with such theological depth? Just as violinist Young-Ju Jang and cellist Han-Na Jang were able to hold a concert before she turned ten, Maria may have been able to sing these praises despite her young age because she has matured spiritually. However, what is important here is the fact that the text is not confined to the individual Mary, but is the confession of the early Christian community. Early Christianity maintained this belief through the mouth of a woman named Mary. In particular, this scene is the moment Elizabeth and Mary are meeting. It is important that at the moment they met, the essence of the Christian faith resounded in praise. Since I preached with this text on December 18, 2005, I will briefly summarize the content of the hymn today without mentioning it in detail.
Verses 51-53 are the heart of this hymn. The work of the Lord, conceived in Mary's body, is described here as follows: “The Lord stretches out his mighty arm and scatters the proud in heart. He has put down the powerful from their place, and has exalted the little ones; the hungry are filled with good things, and the rich have returned empty-handed.” Is this praise right to defeat the proud and the powerful and exalt the lowly? Did it happen to us? Today's life is more convenient and politically democratized than in the past, but it seems that something has been enlightened and improved, but essentially nothing has changed. Even now, good people pretend to be good-looking, and bad people get frustrated. In the 21st century, a wave of globalization, this phenomenon seems to be getting worse. So, is Mary's praise just an unrealistic, dreamy self-monologue?
It's not like that. Here we need to examine the essence of life in a little more detail. The authority and pride we see right now seem to be very strong, but when we look into the center of it, it is not. Why? The proud and the powerful give all their attention to themselves. But the problem here is that he's not so sure. Man never finds true peace and satisfaction in this way. This condition has already been evicted from God. On the other hand, poor people are not anxious because they have nothing to show for themselves. It means that when you humble yourself completely, when you completely empty yourself, then the peace of God will fill you, and then you will know the joy of life. This condition has already been exalted by God. That's right. We want the peace of God and not the powers of the world. Mary's praise that exalts those who are in a humble place means that God judges the world in a way that is different from this world.
Another way we find it in the life of Jesus Christ. The crucifixion of Jesus was the most shameful event. No one in this world has descended to a lower or more shameful position than Jesus. After the cross of Jesus Christ, we can no longer be humbled. The cursed cross did not end there. God exalted the very event that could no longer be humbled. The resurrection of Jesus is the ascending from the lowest to the highest. That's right. The Jesus Christ we believe in is the salvation event of God who judges the world in a different way.
Perhaps some of you will ask this question. We can believe that it is Jesus who rose from the cross, but what does that have to do with us? There is no easy answer to these questions. It is similar to how hard it is for the child to admit that no matter how much you explain to children who like cola that water is better for their body than cola. To solve this problem, this child must know the taste of water. A child who is accustomed to the taste of Coke has a little difficulty recognizing the taste of water. Even if it is slow, you should practice slowly. That's right. We can become one with the events of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection when we humble ourselves completely and experience the peace that God allows, not in a place of authority and pride. Conversely, when we coincide with the events of Jesus Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, we eventually turn away from our pride and authority and humble ourselves so that God's peace and reign can come.
when two girls meet
Today we listened to the oldest hymns of the Christian community. By the way, folks, the early Christian community made these hymns sung by young women. Moreover, the meeting between Elizabeth and Mary is the background of this song. That's right. A great religious event occurred at the meeting of these two women. It is surprising that the early Christian community remembered such an important profession of faith in the meeting of an old pregnant woman with a pregnant young woman.
Many criticize Christianity as patriarchal and misogynistic, but in today's text, it is not at all. It is clear that such criticism is a misunderstanding, given that this hymn, which is almost socially revolutionary, began to resound at the meeting between the old woman Elizabeth and the young woman Mary. If the praise for this new world is sung by women, can't the gospel of Christianity really play the role of the leaven that changes the world?