Luke in many ways is a strange gospel. This weekend is a case in point.
It has been said of this gospel: that it is “an extremely dangerous text,” perhaps the most dangerous in the entire Bible.
Because it contains a great deal of material about women that is found nowhere else in the Gospels, many readers insist that the author is “enhancing or promoting” the “status of women.”
Luke is even said to be – a “special friend” of women, portraying them in an “extremely progressive” and “almost modern” fashion, giving them a “new identity” and “a new social status.”
I think…that commentary is a bit far out. While some of that is true, some of that commentary may be a bit of a reach.
It is still a patriarchal society, male dominated and led – and women, for the most part are still viewed as possessions and not as people.
That being said, Luke still pushes the envelope. He is consistent.
The sheer number of women depicted in Luke and the emphasis on their presence in the various narratives is “surprisingly delightful.”
Normally speaking, matters having to do with “the womb” are not talked about in public. They are definitely not written about by men – or for men.
This is “women’s talk” and it is usually kept – very carefully within specific close-knit “private circles.”
The fact that Luke is recording such “female conversation” is indeed strange and suggests that he considers the hearer’s or the reader’s of his gospel – to be close, family, insiders.
He is breaking down some stereotypical walls. Some ancient barriers are falling by the wayside. Taboos are fleeing.
Men simply are not included within the “intimacy” of women’s conversations.
Yet, here, in this gospel we are!
Following Luke’s lead then…what I want to talk about and address is “Mary’s haste.”
Of course, Mary is in a hurry.
When Luke writes, “In those days…” he is talking about the first days, weeks or months of Mary’s pregnancy.
He is talking about a pregnancy 2000 years ago of a young girl who is probably 12 or 13 years of age, unwed..no visible ring on her finger.
She is unmarried and living in a small village where such a thing would bring “untold shame”…no, not “untold shame,” but rather frequently-told- shame-and-gossip, that would be repeated to her, her family, her relatives, her neighbors, her entire village and her unborn child forever.
We know that – the tales of these days followed Mary all of her life. There was no escaping them. That’s simply the way things were.
But a young girl – doesn’t know about such things. She flees in the hopes of escaping them.
In that day and time – this was an “earth shattering scandal.”
Her pregnancy would be a disappointment to everyone in her hometown. Most of all, her parents, her betrothed, her rabbi…everyone…
If I were her, I would want to get out of Dodge, as well. And we would probably want to do it with haste.
Her journey would take her – some 100 miles away from home. A young girl, pregnant, all alone, traveling the hill country by herself.
It was a journey that would be considered to be highly improper and unusual. It was something that “just was not done.”
While visiting family members was considered a legitimate reason for travel – it was never deemed so – for a woman alone…much less a young pregnant unmarried woman.
It was as if, the disappointment she fled -was following her “every step of the way.” There was no escaping it.
She probably had a great deal of fear as she approached the Judean town where her relatives resided.
How would they react? What would they say? Would she be forced out of their home? Wasn’t Zechariah a priest?
There is a lot that goes on in these few words of our text, some stated, some not stated.
What strikes me is that we need “more people” like Elizabeth in our world today. We need more people willing to move past judgment and shaming and stating their objections…
We need more people who filter what think and what they say. More people who think first, and speak later.
We need more people who are willing to offer God’s blessings. We need people who look upon our world and see God’s redeeming work, and not just see the worst in other people and in themselves.
We need more Elizabeth’s…