I am experimenting with visual exegesis–painting being the sermon. The accompanying text for enriching the interpretation rather an explaining the picture. I am imagining a kind of visual sermon could be given during a church service, in a combined format of visio-divina and spoken word.

Scripture

Luke 1:39-45 (NRSV):

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.

Accompanying Text 

Today I want to invite you to experience the Advent through the eyes of Elizabeth. 

Elizabeth, whom we know well as a wife of Zechariah, mother of John the Baptist, and relative of Mary, and a priestess. Her poem, a prayer, or a loud cry proclaimed with unrestrained joy upon seeing Mary, becomes adopted by the Catholic church as the Hail Mary Prayer and is still recited every day by Christians all over the world. 

Blessed art thou amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

My painting is an attempt to depict what Elizabeth may have been seeing as she was proclaiming these words to Mary. 

When I heard the Hail Mary Prayer for the first time, I was baffled by this word, “fruit of thy womb.” Why did they speak of a baby in such way? 

Luke is using the Hebrew idiom peri bitni–the fruit of my womb–which was used interchangeably with bene bitni–the son of my womb. These expressions simply mean children and were used by both men and women. So when a Hebrew man spoke of children as having come from his womb, he was using this word not literally, but as a figure of speech for his body. 

This phrase, “fruit of body” stretches our imagination and opens up a pathway to see human bodies along with other species that produce fruits, such as an apple tree, a tomato vine, and an autumn olive tree. 

But still, Elizabeth blessing the fruit of Mary’s womb sounds strange to me because it sounds like she is isolating the biological body of Mary as an object to be blessed. This can be read in two ways. First option is to see the role of woman as an incubator for the son, who is more worthy than her. Although it sounds insulting for women of our time, this was how women were viewed in ancient times. Therefore, when a woman’s body couldn’t fulfill this function, she was blamed and was considered unworthy. 

Elizabeth at this time was six-months-pregnant, and this pregnancy would have been considered a miracle given that she was well beyond the typical age of childbearing. We don’t get to hear about her prayer for a child before her conceiving John, but it is not difficult to imagine her numerous prayers of plea for a child. The Old Testament gives us accounts of other women who shared a similar trouble as Elizabeth as in the cases of Sarah, Naomi, Rachel, and Hannah. These women were blamed for childlessness and had to endure social disgrace for not being able to produce or nurture any fruit. 

In this context we can emphasize with Elizabeth’s joy, when she said, “Blessed are you, among women.” It would not be to say that Mary is special only among women, as opposed to the whole humanity, but Elizabeth is acknowledging the particular problems that women had in her time. When we are blessing others, I think it can be replaced with other words that represents hardships present in a specific community. For example, we can say “Blessed are you, among middle schoolers.” “among the immigrants,” “among the refugees,” “among the unemployed,” … and so on. 

Another way of reading womb here is to see it in connection with how the common ancient Near Eastern viewed the earth as a mother’s body and mother’s body as earth. In Psalm 139, we hear the author using mother’s womb and the earth interchangeably.

For it was you who formed my inward parts
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Job says in the first chapter in verse 21, 

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Job cannot mean literally what it says, that Job will return to his human mother’s womb, but what he means is that the dead returns to the womb of Mother Earth.

I think Elizabeth is first seeing Mary as a biological woman whose body has a womb that is bearing a child, and she is rejoicing for her pregnancy as we know it is one of the highest honors woman could have in her time. But also, filled with the Holy Hpirit, she is seeing Mary as the mother of all universe, who is carrying a child, who is to be her Lord, her God. 

And she is unapologetic to proclaim what she sees: 

And why has this happened to me
That the mother of my Lord comes to me

Following this initial proclamation of joy and surprise, Elizabeth offers Mary words of affirmation, as a caring pastor would, acknowledging the praiseworthy deeds and intentions that she sees in Mary.

Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.

My prayer is that we, who are called as ordained ministers, lay leaders, activists, teachers, public theologians, or any other roles that are incubating in our bodies, will be filled with the same Spirit that once filled Elizabeth–that through our words of blessing and affirmation, God’s words will bear fruit on earth.