The Fruitfulness of Dying to Dreams: Meditations on Luke 1 & 2
At the heart of the Christmas story are two pregnant women: Elizabeth who is pregnant with John the Baptist and Mary who is pregnant with Jesus. But this is no fairy tale for these women. They never got their “designer lives,” the lives they had hoped and planned for themselves. Instead, we see that both women experienced pain and the sting of unfulfilled longings.
First we meet Elizabeth in Luke 1:5-7:
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
A righteous woman, with a father who would have been a priest (she was a daughter of Aaron), married to a man who is a priest. She’s the pastor’s kid who marries a pastor. She has been careful to follow God all her days. I’m sure when she met and married Zechariah, she dreamed of a family just like all young wives do. I’m sure there was hopefulness in her heart before each monthly cycle came, wondering if this month would be the one she could receive the joy of pregnancy.
Months turned to years. Years to decades. And Elizabeth finds herself an old woman, likely post-menopausal, without ever feeling the joy of a baby kicking inside of her. Can you imagine the sting you’d feel each time a young woman announces a pregnancy? How angry would you be when women less righteous than yourself receive the blessing of children while you remain barren? Consider the pain of realizing you are going through menopause, seeing your hope for a family slip away forever? Burying all hope of a lineage?
On top of it all, she faces public humiliation. The stigma of barrenness in Israel at that time is that it was a sign of God’s punishment. Elizabeth’s peers would have assumed her barrenness was due to some sin in her life. “Are you really walking blamelessly before the Lord and if he has not blessed you with children?” they would have questioned. Imagine being misunderstood and rejected for reasons you cannot control or fix. Consider the deep pain of carrying public shame for sins you never committed, of continually facing the speculation and rumors of others.
Elizabeth did not get the life she wanted or hoped for.
Yet, we are told she is blameless. Righteous. Even with all that she suffered, we see no bitterness toward God or unforgiveness toward her peers. She willingly accepted the lot God gave her. She let her dreams die and her hopes be buried. Instead of doing the hard work of motherhood, she willingly shouldered the hard work of choosing joy instead of bitterness. Instead of loving children, she willing chose to love God and others, despite the pain they both caused her.
But Elizabeth isn’t the only woman dying to her hopes and dreams. Her cousin, Mary, is facing her own set of unexpected circumstances.
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:26-33
When we think of Mary, most of us think of how good she had it. What an honor to be sent an angel directly from the throne of God, announcing that you’ll be pregnant with the very son of God! And it is true, Mary was given an experience so precious that we can hardly overstate it.
But, this assignment from God is not all roses. We know that it immediately caused her to face the same unmerited public humiliation as Elizabeth. Pregnant before marriage? That’s never a sign of righteousness. On top of that, it her beloved fiancé begins to pursue divorce (Matthew 1:18-19). Immediately, she faces shame, scandal, and isolation because God redirected her life in ways she never asked for it to go.
Of course, the Lord eventually speaks to Joseph in a dream and backs Mary up and they become a united team in this narrative God is writing. But it doesn’t take away the public scandal that would have followed their family. God didn’t give everyone dreams confirming that she truly was a virgin when Jesus was born.
But Mary’s challenges didn’t end that first Christmas. Right after Jesus is born, we are given a little foretaste of the pain Mary will experience. As she brings him into the temple, only 8 days after he is born, a man named Simeon prophecies and rejoices over Jesus. But then he turns to Mary and has something to ominous say:
And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of man in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:34-35
A sword will pierce through your soul. Did that mean her own sinful heart would be exposed as she raised Jesus? Was it referring to the excruciating pain she would feel as her son was later abused, tortured and murdered? I have no idea how Mary would feel that pain, but I know it’s not the joyful, celebratory word I would have expected as a new mom.
Either way, we know raising Jesus couldn’t have been a walk in the park. We think we struggle with mommy guilt?? Imagine raising the very son of God! How terrified would you be of messing up as a mom? I mean, this is the savior of the world here. Pressure is on! Beyond that, Jesus is perfect! He never sins. Through toddlerhood, through teenage years, not one moment of rebellion. (Some of you are thinking, “well, that’d be nice!”) And yes, it would save so much heartache. But it would be so challenging! So exposing! Motherhood often exposes my own sins and issues, but for that to happen while raising a perfect child… that would be hard.
Mary did not get the life she wanted or hoped for. A life free from scandal and pain. Yet her response to Gabriel’s life-altering news is one of submission. Submission to the will of God above her own will.
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38
Unless it dies…
Later, during his ministry years, Jesus lets us in on a major life lesson. One his mother and Elizabeth lived out:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:24-25
Elizabeth and Mary chose to die.
To their expectations.
To their hopes and dreams.
To their desires.
To their plans.
To their preferences.
To their reputations.
They did not love their own lives, but rather gave them up. They surrendered their lives to the will of God and his plans for them, even when it cost them dearly.
But, when a grain of wheat dies, it bears much fruit. These two women bore much fruit. Not just physically, in the birth of their sons, but spiritually. Their sacrifice and their story bear fruit today, reminding us that surrendering our plans and receiving God’s plans is worth it. Their testimony reminds us that God is writing something better into our stories than we would write for ourselves. These women beckon us to let go of what we’re clinging to and trust God with our whole hearts, even when it costs our very lives. Because she “who loses her life will keep it for eternal life.”
Where is God calling you to surrender? What dreams is he calling you to let go of? What pain are you facing that God has orchestrated in your life? What obedience are you avoiding because it feels too costly? What hopes are you burying this Christmas?
Consider these two faithful women today.
Consider their surrender.
Consider their hardship.
And then consider their joy!
God is not a masochist who delights in our pain. He is working for our joy! A joy far deeper than we can comprehend! Will you trust him? Take a moment to read the rest of the story and let Mary and Elizabeth’s joy give you strength to die to whatever you need to today and trust God with your whole heart:
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
Luke 1:39–55