Elizabeth recognised the Messiah when he was still in Mary’s womb, and called him ‘my Lord.’ This woman is a model of the discernment that comes from the Spirit! During Jesus’ earthly ministry many people, due to the hardness of their hearts, were not able to recognise who Jesus was or what he had come to accomplish. For these people, God’s good news was nothing but a rock they stumbled against because of their unbelief (Luke 2:34).

Those who did recognise that Jesus was the Messiah did so through the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Without the Spirit, there is no Christian discernment.

Elizabeth’s discernment was because she was full of the Spirit (Luke 1:41). For Joseph, it was a divine messenger who announced to him that Mary had conceived a child through the Spirit (Matt. 1:20– 25). With the shepherds (Luke 2:8–20), the Magi (Matt. 2:10–12), and Peter (Matt. 16:16–17), the recognition of Jesus was through the work of the Spirit, not the result of their human powers. It was a gift, not a virtue.

Jesus is the key object of our discernment because he is, to the utmost degree, the manifestation of the Father’s will. Seeing him is finding the way, discovering the truth, and enjoying life. He and the Father are one (John 14:10–11). The Spirit reminds us what he has taught us and leads us towards the life he lived. Jesus is the new Adam, the prototype of the new humanity, reconciled and full. Hence the hallmark of Christianity, in the words of the