Elizabeth Had on Christian Faith

¶ … Elizabeth had on Christian Faith

Elizabeth is the woman in the Bible who bore St. John the Baptist and it is perhaps from that deed that her importance is recognized. However, as a character in its own right, it is important to examine her own character, alongside with her impact on the Christian Faith, as derived not only from her being the mother of St. John the Baptist, but also from her own characteristics and story.

Elizabeth's name means "God is my oath" or "dedicated to God"

A descendant from Aaron (which is an important element, because the Bible plans to show that Elizabeth had great family roots. In the Jewish tradition, this is important and relevant for the family in which John the Baptist will be born), she was married to Zachariah, who was a priest and a righteous man.

In Luke 1:6, we have the first important reference to Elizabeth's character, which makes us better understand her importance in the subsequent actions of the Bible: "Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly" (Luke 1:6). All subsequent references in Luke emphasizes some of the elements that form her righteousness, notably the fact that she names God her "Lord," that she has no fault, that she observes all required commandments and adheres to the general rules, as set by God.

Elizabeth is, however, childless. This is an essential element and correlates quite adequately to the present times. As seen from the description in the previous paragraph, she is a righteous individual, so it cannot be that it is because of this reason that she is childless. She also wants to have a child, as does her husband. As today, sometimes this is not enough and it is not because of sin that she is childless, just as much as today someone who has not sinned sometimes does not see his or her wishes come true. The explanation for this resides in God's greater plan and, as a righteous and holy woman, Elizabeth understands this and does not contest God's decision, but rather trusts him completely.

Elizabeth is one of the characters from the Bible in the tradition of Abraham who never ceases to trust God, no matter what challenges he poses for her. In Abraham's case, God imposed the slaying of one's child to demonstrate faith. In this case, he postpones the appearance of one's child for the same reason and Elizabeth answers to the cause. God builds his trust towards Elizabeth, to the degree to which God is then confident that she will be able to properly raise John the Baptist, which is her most important role in the Bible, including in terms of the thereafter impact.

The fact that Elizabeth is probably about 60 years old when she gives birth to John the Baptist is in no way a hindrance to her mission and to how she understands that mission to be completed. It is probably an advantage, because her main mission in the Bible story is an educational one and her advanced age has allowed her to gather all important and relevant experience to complete it.

Elizabeth is important in the Bible also because of her relationship with Mary and their interaction, including in the period before John and Jesus are born. Elizabeth and Mary are related, but they are also having their children at similar times, as their pregnancies overlap to some degree. In Luke 1:57-66, it is described how Mary visits Elizabeth and, during this visit, Elizabeth's baby kicks strongly, marking a sign that Mary bears Jesus ("when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe 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" -- Luke 1:39-45).

With her advanced age, especially compared to Mary's, Elizabeth also begins to have a protective role towards her younger relative and, by correlation, towards the yet unborn Jesus. Following the storyline and considering the times, Mary became pregnant without being Joseph's wife in a physical sense. Given the traditions, this may have meant that Joseph's family would have had the opportunity to kill her in order to save their honor. .

The fact that Mary chooses Elizabeth as the relative where to take refuge shows the importance of Elizabeth's character in the biblical storyline and the fact that she offers sufficient guarantees to ensure that she is chosen for that. The previously mentioned characteristics of Elizabeth blend in to ensure that she is the protective individual that can take Mary in.

Following her birth, there are few subsequent scenes in which Elizabeth appears. The storyline is focused on different, more important characters, so she last appears when deciding on the name of the child and attending his circumcision. She strongly argues that the child's name will be John, emphasizing, once more, not a stubborn nature, but rather the certitudes and sound truths that are hard to deny for somebody who has accepted God and his decisions.

Naming the child John was equivalent to breaking with the family tradition, a tradition in which the child would be named after one of the relatives or ancestors. The fact that he does not take the name of anybody else in the family means that he will start a new tradition and will belong to a new familial reality. His break with the world he belongs to, as a first step to becoming the Messenger of the Messiah, is, in fact, started by Elizabeth's stubbornness in insisting that he will be named John.