6  Mary and Elizabeth:  Confirming  Angelic Prophecy  (Luke 1:39–45)

Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” (1:39–45)

Faith is the essence of the Christian life. At the outset, believers are “justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Rom. 3:28; cf. 5:1; Gal. 2:16) and thus are “sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26). Paul wrote of living the Christian life, “the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God” (Gal. 2:20). In John 20:29 Jesus said to Thomas, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed” (cf. 1 Peter 1:8). “Faith,” notes the writer of Hebrews, “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1; cf. 2 Cor. 4:18; Rom. 8:25), apart from which it is impossible to please God (v. 6).

But as still fallen people, though “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7), even those whose faith is strongest experience doubts and discouragement. The Bible makes it clear that all through redemptive history God has been the encourager of His people, confirming and strengthening their faith.

Tasked with the daunting responsibility of leading the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt, “Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?’” (Ex. 3:11). God encouraged him: “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain” (v. 12). Despite God’s reassurance, Moses’s faith still wavered. “What if they [the Israelites] will not believe me or listen to what I say?” he demanded, “For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’” (Ex. 4:1). Again, God reassured His struggling servant:

Gideon, the judge who delivered Israel from the oppression of the Midianites, also found his faith was not up to the task. Judges 6:16–23 relates Gideon’s encounter with the Angel of the Lord (the pre-incarnate Christ), who charged him to deliver Israel:

As the Midianite army approached, Gideon sought further reassurance that God would do as He promised. Seeking to bolster his sagging faith, Gideon made the request for which he is most famous:

Afflicted with a terminal illness, the godly king Hezekiah “prayed to the Lord, saying, ‘Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight’” (2 Kings 20:2–3). In answer to Hezekiah’s prayer, God sent Isaiah the prophet to him with the good news that his prayer had been answered (vv. 4–6). In disbelief despite God’s swift answer to his prayer, “Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?’” (v. 8). As He had with Moses and Gideon, God granted Hezekiah a sign that what He had promised would come to pass:

Even John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah and the greatest man who had ever lived up to that time (Matt. 11:11), struggled with doubt:

As this passage opens, Mary had just received from the angel Gabriel the most astonishing, unimaginable, incomprehensible announcement any human has ever heard. Incredibly, his message to her was that she was to be the mother of the Messiah; the Son of God incarnate; the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary had responded in humble, obedient, submissive faith (1:38), trusting that God would do as He had said.

Although Mary did not ask for a sign, God, knowing how startling and unsetting His message to her was, gave her one anyway. The sign, communicated by Gabriel, was another conception miracle, this one involving her older relative Elizabeth. Luke’s gospel record opens with the stories of these two miracles, one involving a barren, older woman past childbearing age, and the other a young, unmarried virgin in her early teens. The child of the first would be the forerunner of the Messiah, John the Baptist; the second would be the Messiah Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Until this point, the two narratives had been separate. Elizabeth lived in the hill country of Judah, in the vicinity of Jerusalem, while Mary lived in the small Galilean village of Nazareth, approximately sixty miles to the north. But in this passage the two stories come together, as Mary visits Elizabeth. The two incidents, though separate in time and location, nonetheless contain many striking parallels.

For example, both accounts began by introducing the parents, or in Mary’s case, parent (1:5–6, 26–27). Second, both accounts stated the obstacles to childbearing (Elizabeth’s barrenness [1:7]; Mary’s virginity [1:34]). Third, Gabriel arrived (1:11, 26), and his appearing frightened the one to whom he appeared (1:12, 29). Fourth, Gabriel reassured the one to whom he appeared (1:13, 30). Fifth, Gabriel promised a son (1:13, 31). Sixth, Gabriel gave the son’s name (1:13, 31), and described his greatness (1:15–17, 32–33). Seventh, there was an objection (Zacharias’s unbelief [1:18]; Mary’ lack of understanding [1:34]). Finally, Gabriel gave a sign that what he had spoken would come true (1:19–20, 35–36).

Luke’s brief description of Mary’s meeting with Elizabeth emphasizes God’s confirmation of His promise to Mary that she would conceive a Son while still a virgin. The account reveals three aspects of that confirmation: personal confirmation, physical confirmation, and prophetic confirmation.

PERSONAL CONFIRMATION

Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. (1:39–40)

Eager to see the promised sign, Mary wasted no time in setting out to visit her older relative Elizabeth. The phrase at this time refers to the time of Gabriel’s visit. That and Luke’s note that she went in a hurry indicates that Mary immediately dropped everything to make the trip south to Judea to see Elizabeth, who was by that time six months pregnant (v. 36). Since she stayed with Elizabeth for three months (v. 56), Mary evidently returned home around the time of the birth of John the Baptist (v. 57).

Travel to the Judean hill country near Jerusalem would have taken three or four days. Such a journey by a girl of Mary’s age was highly unusual in a culture where young girls were carefully shielded and protected. In addition, though the Bible nowhere mentions the exact moment of her conception, Mary no doubt was already pregnant when she made the trip. Some have even suggested that the reason she went was to hide her pregnancy. But her pregnancy would not have been evident that soon after conception. And if that were Mary’s intent, she would hardly have returned home three months later when her condition would have been obvious to all. It is doubtful that Joseph was aware that Mary was pregnant. The account of Joseph’s awareness of Mary’s pregnancy, his response, and the next angelic visit is given by Matthew (1:18–25).

The exact location of the city (village) of Judah where Zacharias and Elizabeth lived is unknown, although a sixth-century tradition places it about five miles from Jerusalem. After arriving there Mary entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth (cf. vv. 41, 44). Unlike the brief, casual, even flippant greetings common today, a greeting in the Ancient Near East was an extended social event, involving a lengthy dialogue. Moses’ encounter with his father-in-law, Jethro, illustrates such a greeting:

Similarly, Mary and Elizabeth no doubt shared all the details of their remarkable stories with each other. Elizabeth would have told Mary of the amazing events that culminated in her pregnancy, starting with Gabriel’s appearance to Zacharias in the temple. Mary likewise would have related to Elizabeth the story of her visit from Gabriel a short time earlier. The remarkable similarities in the two accounts, noted above, would have thrilled and amazed them as they realized that the long-awaited Messiah was about to arrive, and that God had chosen these two obscure women to be the miraculous bearers of these two sons.

Mary would share her wonderful news with Elizabeth, confident that she was the one person Mary could count on to believe her story. Others might have viewed her account as a far-fetched attempt to cover up her sexual immorality and resulting pregnancy. Even Joseph, who knew her well, did not believe Mary’s account, and intended to divorce her (Matt. 1:19). It was not until he heard the truth from an angel (vv. 20–21, 24–25) that he accepted what had really happened. Therefore, the text does not reveal what, if anything Mary said to him, her family, or her friends; it says only that she told Elizabeth, since she too had experienced a miraculous conception. Hearing Elizabeth’s account, and even more seeing her condition, also confirmed to Mary that God would keep His word to her.

PHYSICAL CONFIRMATION

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; … For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. (1:41a,44)

The confirmation Mary received from talking with Elizabeth was reinforced in a wondrous manner. At some point in the lengthy conversation that comprised the greeting (no doubt after Mary recounted Gabriel’s words to her), Elizabeth’s baby leaped in her womb. Clearly this was not merely the normal movement of the baby in her womb that she felt frequently. Elizabeth’s exclamation to Mary, “When the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy” clearly reveals that her baby’s movement was not the familiar kind, but one she identified with joy at Messiah’s anticipated coming.

This life would be born to be the forerunner (1:17) and herald (3:4–6) of the Messiah, and this silent prophecy was His first announcement. It was to enable Him to make this involuntary supernatural prophecy that John was “filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb” (v. 15). As will be seen later, the filling of the Spirit (an expression describing the power of the Holy Spirit taking control and effecting service to God by word or deed) is often connected with prophecy.

This was not the first time that movement in a pregnant woman’s womb had prophetic significance. Centuries earlier, during Rebekah’s pregnancy, there was an incident with far-reaching implications:

The children were Jacob and Esau, whose descendants, Israel and the Arabs, have been in conflict for millennia.

The joy that began in his mother’s womb would set the tone for John’s entire life and ministry. In John 3:29, he declared, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.”

The baby’s leap for joy provided the fulfillment of the promised confirmation to Mary. But unlike her unborn son, Elizabeth could speak, and she added her voice to the unspoken prophecy.

PROPHETIC CONFIRMATION

and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? … And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” (1:41b–43, 45)

Like her unborn son, Elizabeth too was filled with the Holy Spirit. As mentioned earlier, such filling was often connected to speaking a message from God. In 2 Samuel 23:2, David declared, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.” After John’s birth “Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied” (1:67; cf. vv. 68–79). Simeon

Acts 2:4 records that on the day of Pentecost the believers “were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues [recognized foreign languages; vv. 8–11], as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” Later in Acts,

After Peter and John were threatened and released by the Sanhedrin, the believers “were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). The writers of Scripture were “men moved by the Holy Spirit [who] spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:21).

After being filled with the Spirit Elizabeth cried out with a loud (a term associated with the speaking of divine truth in such passages as John 1:15; 7:28; 37; Rom. 9:27) voice. She literally shouted out the message God gave her, both from excitement over its content, and to emphasize its authority. What followed was a hymn of praise, the first of five associated with Christ’s birth that Luke records (cf. 1:46–55, 67–79; 2:14, 25–32). This hymn of praise pronounced blessing on Mary, her child, Elizabeth herself, and ultimately everyone who believes God’s word.

The phrase blessed are you among women is a Hebrew superlative expression that describes Mary as the most blessed of all women (cf. Judg. 5:24). In Hebrew culture, a woman’s status was based to a great extent on her children; her significance was directly tied to their significance. Thus, when a woman wanted to honor Mary, she called out to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed” (Luke 11:27). Elizabeth’s point was that Mary was the most blessed woman of all because she would bear the greatest child. Although Gabriel had informed Zacharias that their own son would be great, Elizabeth humbly acknowledged that Mary’s would be greater. Elizabeth’s child would be Messiah’s forerunner, but Mary’s was the Messiah. Thus, Elizabeth acknowledged that Mary had received the greater privilege and the greater honor. Being a righteous woman (1:6), she was thrilled not only at the privilege of bearing Messiah’s forerunner, but even more so that Messiah was coming.

Elizabeth then blessed Mary’s Son, crying out, “Blessed is the fruit of your womb!” That familiar Old Testament phrase (cf. Gen. 30:2; Deut. 7:13; Ps. 127:3; Isa. 13:18), used only here in the New Testament, refers to the holy Child that Mary would bear. He is the Messiah (John 4:25–26); the Savior of the world (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14); the recipient of all of heaven’s praise (Heb. 1:6); the one who is “holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens” (Heb. 7:26); the one whom “God highly exalted … and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:9); the one who will inherit all that the Father possesses (John 16:15; 17:10); the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8).

Elizabeth’s exclamation of wonder and awe, “And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?” is in effect a pronouncement of blessing on herself. In her true humility, she felt unworthy to be in the presence of such an honored person (cf. Luke 5:8). That Elizabeth, still speaking under the control of the Holy Spirit, referred to Mary’s Son as my Lord attests to His deity. Lord is a divine title, used more than two dozen times in the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel to refer to God. Therefore, to call Jesus Lord is first to call Him God (cf. John 20:28). Later the emphasis will include the consequent total submission to His sovereign lordship (6:46).

Despite the teaching and liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, the New Testament nowhere gives Mary the title “mother of God.” God, being eternal (Gen. 21:33; Deut. 33:27; Ps. 90:2; Isa. 40:28; Hab. 1:12; Rom. 16:26), was never conceived or born, but has always existed. Mary was the mother of the human Jesus, not His eternal divine nature.

Elizabeth’s closing statement, “blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord,” supplements her earlier blessing of Mary. Mary was blessed not only because of her privilege in being the mother of the Messiah, but also because of her faith in believing that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord. But Elizabeth’s use of the third person pronoun she broadens the blessing beyond Mary to encompass all who believe that God fulfills His promises.

Mary is not the mother of God, or the queen of heaven. She plays no role in the redemption of sinners, and does not intercede for them or hear their prayers. But she is a model of faith, humility, and submission to God’s will. She is an example to all believers of how to respond obediently, joyfully, and worshipfully to the Word of God. Therein lies her true greatness.