Luke 1:56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth three months, until it was time for Elizabeth to deliver. No doubt this partly helped with the problem of public ridicule for her unwed pregnancy, and she was also able to assist Elizabeth with household duties during her third trimester. Since Elizabeth was advanced in years, it is unlikely that her mother would have been able to offer much assistance, if she was even still alive. Can you imagine the conversations between the first two Holy Spirit-filled women in human history? We have only a snapshot of the first interchange between them. What would those Holy Spirit-infused conversations been like?

Luke 1:57-58 tells us that by the time it came for Elizabeth to give birth, word had gotten around to everyone who knew her and all her relatives that The Lord had supernaturally graced her with a child well beyond the normal child-bearing years. This was not gossip; they were rejoicing with her. Would that our talk about others was never tale-bearing, but always rejoicing in the goodness of The Lord in other's lives.

Luke 1:59-66 Elizabeth's son was born, and Zacharias' tongue was loosed after he gave direction as to the child's name. His first words were also worship of God, although curiously the Holy Spirit is not mentioned in this passage. Those who knew of it feared, and there was much speculation about what the child would turn out to be. Indeed, given the supernatural circumstances of John's conception and birth, it would be appropriate to wonder what God was going to do - what was His purpose? But in my mind, every conception has a miraculous element. Biologists may tell us the facts concerning ova and spermata and offer theories as to how things came to be this way. But the coming together of two appropriate and complementary cells, giving rise to the creation of a new individual that starts with a few cells but grows under the guidance of DNA into a fully human adult, with a soul and a spirit, is a miracle in my book. And with each birth, ought we not to have the same anticipation that God is doing something and wondering what God will do through this new life that has just come into the world?