The Messiah Anna Longed For

Luke 1:39-45 In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah ⁴⁰ where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² Then she exclaimed with a loud cry:

“You are the most blessed of women,
and your child will be blessed!

⁴³ How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me! ⁴⁵ She who has believed is blessed because what was spoken to her by the Lord will be fulfilled!” (HCSB)

Mary arrived, pregnant with Jesus, just as Elizabeth was ending her seclusion. As Zechariah was a priest in the temple, the town in the hill country of Judah where Elizabeth lived could not be far from Jerusalem.

Mary stayed with Elizabeth three months. A lot can happen in three months. Since both women loved God and rejoiced in his favor, I believe they would have gone to the temple on at least one occasion. Enough holidays and ceremonies existed in the Jewish calendar that may have required the presence of all able to attend the temple.

So could Anna have seen Elizabeth and Mary together? It is certainly possible. Since Anna was known as a prophetess and a woman of God, they may have spoken with her and prayed with her.

Maybe when Mary showed up six to seven months later with the baby, Anna knew some of what transpired. That wouldn’t reduce or eliminate her ability as a prophetess at all. After all, she knew it to be true. She knew Jesus was the redemption of Jerusalem. She knew he was the hope of all.

But can’t you just see these three godly women together in the temple, praying, singing praises and worshiping God? One teenager, one in midlife and one elderly… three generations of women with supposedly nothing in common.

Nothing, except passionate love for Yahweh and lives in total submission to him.