Mary
arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah, and entered into 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. She called out with a loud voice, and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy! Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!”
Luke 1:39-45
Luke 1 [38.] Mary said, “Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” The angel departed from her.
Luke 1 [39.] Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah, and entered into 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. She called out with a loud voice, and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy! Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!”
Luke 1 [46.] Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord.
My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,
for he has looked at the humble state of his servant.
For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed.
For he who is mighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
Meaning:
The angel had told Mary that her relative Elizabeth was six months pregnant, as a sign that “nothing spoken by God is impossible” (Luke 1:36-37). Mary responded at once. This passage records the meeting of the two expectant mothers, one old and once barren, the other young and a virgin, and the two unborn children, John and Jesus. It is the first time in Luke that John “goes before” Jesus, and he does it before either is born.
- “Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste”
The hill country of Judah lay south of Jerusalem, a journey of perhaps four or five days from Nazareth. Mary went “with haste.” She was not testing the angel’s word but eager to share in what God was doing and perhaps to find understanding and support. Elizabeth was the one person who could understand what Mary was going through, since she too had been visited by God’s promise.
- “the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit”
The angel had said of John, “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15). Now that promise begins to be fulfilled. At the sound of Mary’s greeting the unborn John leaped, and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Spirit and began to prophesy. Before Jesus was born, the Spirit made him known. Later John would describe himself as the friend of the bridegroom who “rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice” (John 3:29), and say, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). His joy at Jesus’ presence started in the womb.
- “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”
“Blessed among women” is a Hebrew way of saying “most blessed of all women.” In the Song of Deborah the same honour was given to Jael: “Jael shall be blessed above women” (Judges 5:24). Mary is blessed because of the child she carries. Elizabeth, the older woman and the wife of a priest, shows no jealousy that the younger relative has received the greater honour. She rejoices in God’s choice.
- “Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Elizabeth calls the unborn child “my Lord.” Filled with the Spirit, she recognised that Mary’s son was the Messiah, the Lord of David and of all Israel. Her words echo David’s question when the ark of the covenant was on its way to Jerusalem: “How could Yahweh’s ark come to me?” The ark then stayed in the hill country “three months” and brought blessing to the house where it rested (2 Samuel 6:9-11). In a similar way Mary, carrying the Lord, came to the hill country, and stayed with Elizabeth “about three months” (Luke 1:56), and the house was filled with joy.
- “Blessed is she who believed”
Elizabeth’s final blessing points to Mary’s faith. Zacharias, Elizabeth’s husband, had not believed the angel and had been struck silent (Luke 1:20). Mary believed, and her faith is praised. Later, when a woman cried out to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore you,” he replied, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it” (Luke 11:27-28). Mary’s true blessedness lay in her trust in God’s word.
The Significance of Luke 1:39-45
- Sharing God’s work with others
Mary and Elizabeth encouraged one another. God often gives his people companions who understand their journey. Believers can strengthen each other’s faith by sharing what God is doing and rejoicing together.
- Joy without envy
Elizabeth rejoiced that her younger relative had received a greater calling than her own. Her humility anticipates John’s attitude toward Jesus. True joy in God frees us from comparing ourselves with others.
- The worth of the unborn
Luke describes the unborn John as responding with joy to the presence of the unborn Jesus. The passage reminds us that God knows and works in human lives even before birth.
Cross-References:
Luke 1:15: "He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb." The angel’s promise about John.
2 Samuel 6:9: "How could Yahweh’s ark come to me?" David’s awe at the presence of God.
Judges 5:24: "Jael shall be blessed above women," a similar blessing in the Song of Deborah.
John 3:30: "He must increase, but I must decrease." John the Baptist’s joy in Jesus.
Conclusion: Mary hurried to the hill country to visit Elizabeth. At her greeting, the unborn John leaped for joy and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, blessed Mary and her child and called him “my Lord.” She humbly wondered why the mother of her Lord should come to her, and she praised Mary for believing that God would fulfil his word.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible