1. Lesson One of the Book of Daniel, Introduction to the Book of Daniel

The Book of Luke, The Worship of Mary and Elizabeth, Part I – Lesson 7

Luke 1:39-56,  And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; ⁴⁰And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. ⁴¹And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: ⁴²And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. ⁴³And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. ⁴⁶And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, ⁴⁷And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. ⁴⁸For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. ⁴⁹For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. ⁵⁰And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. ⁵¹He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. ⁵²He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. ⁵³He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. ⁵⁴He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; ⁵⁵As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. ⁵⁶And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

Luke shows us in the book of Luke his high regard for women by the prominence which he gives them in this account and in the Book of Acts.

We have read the first instance of his highlighting of women in our passage, where the spotlight is directed toward two godly women.

The two women are Elisabeth, the soon-to-be mother of John the Baptist, and Mary, the mother-to-be of the Messiah, were truly great and godly women.

Both were humble women of no social or economic standing.

Elisabeth was the wife of an obscure priest.

Both she and Zacharias were country people, who lived in a village not even named in the hill country of Judah.

Elisabeth bore the added social stigma of having no children.

Mary, too, was a humble peasant girl and had no social standing due to her parents or to her class. 

Without the interjection of God in their lives neither would have even been known beyond their immediate surroundings.

Yet Luke, by his careful writing, allows us to witness the worship of both of these women and we see by their worship that they are examples for all who are looking to see what true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ would be like.

As we have read in our passage Mary seems to have gone to Elisabeth’s house quickly after being given the extraordinary announcment of Gabriel of the coming of the Messiah. 

There are many things that we are not told.

We are not told about any telling of this event by Mary to anyone including Mary’s mother or even Joseph. 

In fact based upon accounts given to us by Matthew, Joseph did not learn of Mary’s pregnancy and was about to put her away privately until the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream. 

This learning of her pregnancy was certainly after she returned to Nazareth from Elisabeth’s house.

We are not specifically told that Mary is with child when she first arrived at the home of Elisabeth and Zacharias.

Neither, Elisabeth, Mary, nor Luke refer to a baby in Mary’s womb, while we are specifically told that John leaped in his mother’s womb when Elisabeth heard Mary’s greeting (Luke 1:41).

But Elisabeth says blessed is the fruit of thy womb, and whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

So it is apparent that Mary already was with child when she entered the door of Elisabeth’s house.

Her visit to Elisabeth was most likely in accordance with God’s purpose to separate her from Joseph, while at the same time being chaperoned by Elisabeth and Zacharias.

This would serve as further testimony to the divine origin; (conception by a virgin) of the Christ-child.

We are also not told whether or not Elisabeth and Mary had any previous communication before Mary’s arrival.

Elisabeth’s immediate response to Mary’s arrival might be explained by some previous communication between the two.

Did Mary write Elisabeth to tell her that she was coming and what the angel Gabriel had told her regarding her becoming the mother of Messiah?

Luke does not tell us of any such communication, and the impression given tends to lead one to believe that there was no communication prior to her arrival, at least so far as Mary’s visitation by the angel.

Luke does tell us that Mary “arose and went with haste to the hill country” (1:39), which would suggest that there was not sufficient time for any communication to have occurred.

We are also not told whether or not Mary was present when John was born.

Luke ends this section (vv. 39-56) by informing us that Mary returned home after three months which would have put Elisabeth’s pregnancy with John at 9 months(v. 56).

This would put her departure very close to the time of John’s birth but we are not told that she was or was not there for the birth of John.

But in all of these cases we must remember that Luke purposefully chose, under the guidance and control of the Holy Spirit, either to include or to exclude various details.

We are not told many things but we should remember that the important things are those things that we are told for what we are told was given to us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

When Gabriel announced to Mary, the miraculous virgin birth of Messiah, he informed her of Elisabeth’s pregnancy, indicating that this was a sign of God’s ability to achieve the impossible (Luke 1:36-37).  

 No instruction to go to Elisabeth’s house was given to Mary by Gabriel but Elisabeth would be an encouragement to Mary, and Elisabeth was a woman who would understand what God was doing in the virgin’s life.  

They were both women, upon which God had and was to perform miracles.

Gabriel’s inference was clear to Mary so she quickly prepared and left to visit her relative living in the hill country of Juda (v. 39).

Could Mary left alone been able to contain herself with such news as she was given by the Angel? 

God did not have her to be alone but even in these beginning days, John, through his mother, was to play a part in comforting and supporting Mary in the early months of her pregnancy.   

While Mary is the principle character in this passage, Luke is careful to show how her relative Elisabeth is also a remarkable women.

Before we look further at Mary let us take time to look at Elisabeth, as Luke does, and look at her response to the arrival of Mary, the mother-to-be of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

I believe that Luke gives us details concerning Elisabeth’s response to the arrival of Mary to show us the godliness of Elisabeth, the chosen mother of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ.

(1) Elisabeth seems to praise Mary before Mary has had any opportunity to explain anything to her.

Mary left almost immediately for the home of Elisabeth and Zacharias, and the journey may have taken some time.

So far as Luke’s account tells us, Mary was only told Elisabeth had conceived in her old age, which testified to the fact that nothing was impossible for God (Luke 1:36-37).

We aren’t told whether the angel informed Mary that the child which was to be born to Elisabeth was to be the forerunner of the Messiah.

Mary may have wondered how Elisabeth would respond to the news she had to share.

She may have even wondered whether or not to tell of her visit by the angel Gabriel.

We can only imagine as to what Mary may have been thinking along the way to Elisabeth’s home in the hill country of Juda.

Do you suppose that she even rehearsed what she would say to Elisabeth when she first saw her.

But as most fears are, they never were realized because the very moment she entered the house and gave a customary greeting, Elisabeth blessed Mary as the mother of her Lord.

(2) Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and her words were a divinely inspired utterance.

Gabriel had informed Zacharias that the child would be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15).

Now, it would appear that both mother and child were both filled with the Holy Spirit simultaneously.

John “spoke” as it were by leaping in the womb (1:41), while Elisabeth seems almost to speak for John.

⁴¹And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: ⁴²And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. ⁴³And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

What Elisabeth said, no doubt, came directly from the Spirit of God, but Elisabeth was obviously a women that was filled with the Word of God and had a good grasp of the Scriptures. 

But Elisabeth, we’re told, was also filled with the Holy Spirit and what she said was divinely inspired.

Not only did Elisabeth, in a sense, speak for John, she also spoke like John would speak.

We learn from the other gospel accounts that John was quick to acknowledge and proclaim the superiority of Christ (John 1:19-28), and thus to accept his secondary role as “forerunner” to the Messiah.

He even encouraged his disciples to leave him and to follow Christ (John 1:35-37).

So this humility of John began in the womb of Elisabeth as he rejoiced by the Holy Spirit in the presence of his Lord in the womb of Mary.

Elisabeth also acknowledged the superior blessing bestowed on Mary, and rejoiced in that blessing.

Like mother, like son Elisabeth decreased in the presence of the soon to be mother of her Lord and showed the pattern that was to be in her son, John as he decreased while Christ was to increase.

(3) Elisabeth’s praise is not for her blessing in the bearing of a child, but in the blessing bestowed on her by the visit of Mary. 

Elisabeth’s declaration does not focus on the blessing of the child which she will bear (John), but on the blessing of God in the arrival of Mary, who is to be the mother of the Messiah.

In short, Mary is the focus, not Elisabeth, even though Elisabeth was greatly blessed.   

Even though what is happening to her is a miracle, she gives all the attention to what is happening to Mary in bearing the Messiah. 

There was no “I can top your blessing” conversation but a rejoicing with those that rejoice.