Elizabeth: Cherry & Dark Chocolate Lactation Cookies

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“The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.”
(Luke 1:35-45, 56)

Devotional

The opening chapter of Luke’s Gospel begins with the story of two women at two opposite stages of life. Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah are an old married couple. They tried to have children, but now at their older age, have given up that dream. Mary, on the other hand, finds herself at the other end of the life stage. Recently engaged to Joseph, Mary is planning a wedding and imagining what life is going to look like.

What unites the two women are their miraculous pregnancies. Elizabeth welcomes her husband home from his duties in the Temple only to find out that he is mute and unable to describe the experience he has just had. A few months later she realizes what Zechariah already knew—she is finally pregnant, and their lives will never be the same.

Elizabeth responds to this amazing news by secluding herself away for the first two trimesters. We are not sure why does this. Is it fear that something might happen to the baby? Is it pre-natal depression? The answer is unclear.

However, as Elizabeth enters her last Trimester, the angel Gabriel visits Mary and announces that she is also going to have a child even as a virgin, and that this child will be the Son of God.

Mary responds to her news with understandable shock, while quickly adding, “Here I am, a servant of the Lord.”

Immediately after announcing Mary will have a baby, the angel also informs her of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. It is an interesting detail. Presumably Mary, a relative, would have known about such a remarkable occurrence, however, since Luke has already informed us of Elizabeth’s seclusion, it is likely this news has not spread and Elizabeth and Zechariah are now entering the final stretch of pregnancy on their own.

This new information sends Mary over “with haste.” While this phrase is usually understood as quickly, a deeper reading could also mean that Mary went over intentionally and with purpose. Considering Mary was not driving herself on the first century highways, her purposefulness makes more sense.

When the two women meet, they are filled with so much joy that John, in-utero, joins in the rejoicing. The songs in this section of text are some of the most beautiful poetry in the New Testament, and they are used in worship and devotional life daily for billions of people.

While I do not want to discount the importance of their greetings and blessings, the line in verse 56 that concludes this section gets easily overlooked: “And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.” When the joyous greetings ended and the singing stopped, the work began. Mary probably helped tidy the house and prepare meals. Along the way she probably asked Elizabeth questions about her morning sickness and the many scarry unknowns early on in a pregnancy.

Was it Mary who helped deliver John when the time came or did she cool Elizabeth’s forehead and comfort a nervous Zechariah? Did she rest the newborn atop his cousin’s baby bump as his voice first cried out in the wilderness of the night? Was it Elizabeth who taught Mary how to wrap a child in swaddling clothes, or how to change the diapers of our Lord? Did Elizabeth demonstrate techniques of breastfeeding which would later sustain Jesus’ life?

These are not questions which can be answered, but they lie under the surface of a verse that packs months of shared life within it.

While much of the attention is justifiably on each of these faithful women and their important roles in God’s work in the world, their months together exemplify how when God calls us God also calls us together. Mary and Elizabeth have different roles in God’s story. Each is called to a seemingly impossible task, and each faces an unprecedented journey. However, in these pivotal moments, God sends a nervous Mary to an isolated Elizabeth and allows them to support one another.

This is the purpose of Christian community. We as those who are called by God are also called together to support and encourage each other as we live out this faith. We see this emphasis on community again at the end of Luke’s Gospel as Mary joins with Joanna and Mary Magdalene to visit the tomb of her son after his crucifixion and prepare his body. In their grief these women joined together to accomplish their important task. However, God had a more important job. When an angel appeared to them and announced Jesus’ resurrection, the women ran to tell the skeptical disciples. In this Advent season, if you are in grief or joy, if you are in a season of waiting or one of action, pay attention to those whom God is gathering around you so that you can know you are not alone in this season or in any season of life.

Baking Meditation

When my wife was breastfeeding our children, I struggled with not feeling helpful for much of that process. And so, my wife encouraged me to research lactation cookies. There is a lot of folk-science in the conversations about ways to help increase milk supply. Some of it I can imagine being shared by a wiser Elizabeth to a younger Mary. And so, while I am not going to make any scientific claims about the efficacy of these cookies to promote greater milk production in those who are breastfeeding, I can claim that they quickly became a favorite for my wife and brought her a lot of joy amidst the many challenges of providing nourishment to our children. Over time, these cookies became a prayer for me. Prayers of gratitude for my spouse. Prayers of celebration for friends who just gave birth. Prayers of hope for friends who were struggling to conceive. In a situation where words fail, a cookie can serve as a conduit of grace and love. As you bake these, hold in your heart someone who needs your support and love. The pre-portioned dough freezes beautifully so they are easy to give to someone both already baked as well as in a baggie so that weeks down the line, they can enjoy freshly baked cookies in just a few minutes.

Prayer

Gathering God, You draw us together under the wings of your love offering us community and connection with both each other and with you. In the busyness of this holiday season, let us not lose sight of those who are journeying with us. Let us look for ways to support them as needed and have the courage to allow them to care for us as well. Amen.