The Jesse Tree: Blameless – The Story of Elizabeth

Advent 2021 – The Jesse Tree
This is a series of reflections on daily readings designed for families during the season of Advent.  

I remember cowering under a blanket with my brother and sister the day my parent’s marriage ended.  We were terrified of the loud voices and crashing sounds going on above us.  We cried and prayed with all the earnestness our pious grade school hearts could muster, “Jesus, make them stop.”  

If there were any two people who ought to have warranted a divine intervention in their marriage it was my mom and dad.  No two people were more committed to their church than my parents.  They led services, raised money, organized cleaning days, taught Sunday School, built the church addition, volunteered at every bake sale, and sang in every choir.  Surely, God, would intervene in the catastrophe unfolding above us.  Wouldn’t he? 

What do you do when God doesn’t live up to your expectations?  

Day Twenty-three – Blameless: Elizabeth  

It’s always fascinated me that Luke uses the term Blameless to introduce Elizabeth in Luke 1:6.  “Both of them (Zachariah and Elizabeth) were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.”  In a context where a woman’s value and virtue were directly tied to her ability to bear children, Luke is careful to clarify that Elizabeth is blameless before pointing out that she was also barren.  

Holding these two truths together creates no tension for modern readers who can easily conceive of a virtuous woman with no children, but this was not true in the first century.  Elizabeth must have blamed herself, as she listened to the comments, pitying remarks, or awkward silences as years passed with no children.  Perhaps she, like her forebear Sarah, felt responsible to give her husband children, even if it meant a surrogate.  A “blameless” wife might have expected children from God.  What do you do when God doesn’t meet your expectations?  

Elizabeth, not Mary, is described as blameless in Luke 1.  Not only is she described as blameless, but she, not Zachariah, twice confirms the Angelic promise.  First, she is filled with the Spirit of God (Luke 1:41) and speaks to Mary in words that echo the blessings foretold.  Then, after giving birth to her son, she names him John, in accordance with the angelic visit, despite her relatives and friend’s objections.  

I expect Mary to be the blameless one (as implied by some later Catholic theology) and Elizabeth to be the favored one (because she finally bears a son).  But, God, then as now, doesn’t meet my expectations.  God expands the categories, inviting me to learn about blamelessness from Elizabeth, despite her age and presumed disappointments.  Am I willing to live blamelessly in the way of God when it isn’t “working?”  Am I willing to listen to the voice of God in an unexpected visit, or challenge expectations?  

How does this story challenge your expectations?