Now, it may well be that you have heard sermons before that present the pro-life applications of Scriptures like Psalm 139, Jeremiah 22, the Decalogue itself, the royal law taught by Jesus, James 2, and many others. But I’d like to examine a text that you may not have connected to the sanctity of life. In fact, it’s a text that we tend to associate with Christmas in that it tells of the annunciation of the virgin birth followed by Mary’s visit to Elizabeth.
Now, it may well be that you have heard sermons before that present the pro-life applications of Scriptures like Psalm 139, Jeremiah 22, the Decalogue itself, the royal law taught by Jesus, James 2, and many others. But I’d like to examine a text that you may not have connected to the sanctity of life. In fact, it’s a text that we tend to associate with Christmas in that it tells of the annunciation of the virgin birth followed by Mary’s visit to Elizabeth.
Please begin by carefully reading Luke 1:26-45 and then, as you read this brief commentary, you can check it with the Scripture text. Okay? Then let’s “unpack” this text just a bit, especially noting the timeline and the geography presented here.
Verse 26 places the annunciation event in Nazareth, a town in southern Galilee just north of the border of Samaria. There in Nazareth the angel Gabriel explains to Mary a prophetic event; that is, something that is to come. This is emphasized by the future tense of the verbs in verses 31 and 35: “you will conceive,” “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,” and “the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”
Gabriel, of course, is predicting the miracle of the incarnation. But remember it is a coming event; it hasn’t happened yet. However, zero in now on verse 39. “Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah.” Undoubtedly Mary started on this trip to Elizabeth very soon after Gabriel’s visit. Some translations say “at this time.” Others say “immediately.” The Message paraphrase puts it this way, “Mary didn’t waste a minute.” We are also told that she travels there “in a hurry.”
And just where is she headed? She’s going to see Elizabeth, her kinswoman who the angel Gabriel had made reference to. Now, Elizabeth may have been an aunt or a cousin (the Greek word used here doesn’t specify) but clearly she is a relative who Mary loves and trusts and admires. Also, we do not know exactly where Elizabeth and her husband Zacharias were living. The city isn’t named in the text. But we are told it is in the “hill country” which would place it somewhere very near Jerusalem.
Now here’s the deal. The distance between Nazareth and Jerusalem was about 70 miles and so depending on Mary’s mode of travel (walking or using a donkey), this would mean a 4 to 8 day trip. Yet when she arrives, indeed, at the very moment she walks through Elizabeth’s door, we see this incredible scene when the preborn John the Baptist recognizes the presence of the preborn Jesus! Furthermore, the Holy Spirit reveals to Elizabeth that “the fruit of Mary’s womb,” is the Messiah, He Who Elizabeth humbly refers to as “my Lord.”
Do you see the timing the text reveals? In verse 35, up in Nazareth, the angel was prophesying. He was predicting the conception of Jesus as a future event. But here in verse 41, at the very moment Mary enters Elizabeth and Zacharias’ home, she is pregnant. The future tense has now become the present tense. The prophecy of Gabriel has been fulfilled and the Emmanuel moment has begun. Jesus is here!
This, of course, means that the miraculous moment when the Holy Spirit “overshadowed” Mary, resulting in the conception of the child Jesus, occurred sometime after the annunciation but before her arrival at Elizabeth’s. And with that journey – remember, it only lasted from 4 to 8 days – it is very likely that the tiny, tiny body of our Lord had not even implanted in the uterine wall yet!
What an astounding testimony these Scriptures present that human life is a gift of God from the moment of fertilization. And how monumental a revelation that the sanctity of human life needs to be protected at the very earliest stages of the person’s existence.
Of course, this revelation is fully consistent with what we now know from the science of embryology. But this divine testimony came way before mankind’s science knew anything about eggs or sperm, chromosomes, or DNA. No, the early church formed its pro-life convictions from the testimony of the Scriptures alone — convictions which have been amazingly clear and strong from the earliest days. For more on that, I encourage you to investigate the Vital Signs Ministries website (vitalsignsministries.org) where, among other things, you will find a remarkable list of statements beginning with the Church fathers, through the Reformation, and then the present era condemning the sin of abortion (including abortion via poisonous drugs) and infanticide.
Ladies and gentlemen, this Scripture text is only one of many that convinced the early saints to make a passionate, consistent defense of the sanctity of human life an integral part of their mission; that is, to do justice, preach the truth in love, make disciples, and minister both the precepts and the practice of the gospel. These Scriptures present the same charge to you and me today.