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Scripture Reading: Luke 1:39-56
In the previous message we began to consider the conception of John the Baptist, the Lord’s forerunner, and the conception of the Man-Savior. Luke 1:5-25 describes the conception of the forerunner, and Luke 1:26-56, the conception of the Man-Savior. In this message we shall consider the blessing of the mother of the Man-Savior’s forerunner (Luke 1:39-45) and the praise of the Man-Savior’s mother (Luke 1:46-56).
Luke 1:41 says, “And it came about as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, that the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist. This verse tells us that she was filled with the Spirit. There is no indication that she prayed or fasted in order to be filled with the Spirit. This verse simply says that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. By being filled with the Spirit she blessed Mary, the mother of the Man-Savior.
Verse 42 says, “And she lifted up her voice with a loud cry and said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” Elizabeth’s blessing by the Holy Spirit (v. 41) reveals the Savior’s humanity as the fruit and His deity as the Lord (v. 43). Her blessing also confirms Mary’s faith in the Lord’s word (v. 45). Such a blessing indicates that Elizabeth was also a godly woman, fit for God’s use in carrying out His purpose.
The Greek word rendered “fruit” in verse 42, karpos, is used for Christ in the sense of offspring only here and in Acts 2:30. This word is used for the fruit of the tree of life in Rev. 22:2. Christ is the branch of Jehovah (Isa. 4:2) and of David (Jer. 23:5), and the fruit of Mary and of David that we may eat of Him as the tree of life (Rev. 2:7).
It is significant that Elizabeth blessed the fruit of Mary’s womb. Instead of using the word “child,” Elizabeth used the word “fruit.” It is correct to say that the fruit here refers to a child. But this word also indicates that the Lord Jesus is fruit to us, the fruit for us to take in as our life supply.
Elizabeth also blessed Mary in verse 45: “And blessed is she who believed, because there shall be a completion of the things spoken to her from the Lord.” In contrast to the unbelieving Zachariah (v. 20), Mary believed what the angel said to her. Elizabeth said to Mary that there would be a completion of the things spoken to her from the Lord. This was a prophecy by the Holy Spirit to confirm the Lord’s word in verses 30 through 37 spoken to Mary by the angel Gabriel.
In verse 43 Elizabeth says, “And how can this be, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Elizabeth, being filled with the Holy Spirit, recognized the fruit of Mary’s womb as her Lord. This indicates that she acknowledged the deity of the Child to be born of Mary (Psa. 110:1; Matt. 22:43-45).
When the word fruit is used in the Scriptures to denote a child, it refers to humanity. Hence, in 1:42 “fruit” refers to the Lord Jesus in His humanity. Now we see in verse 43 that Elizabeth went on to recognize this human One as her Lord.
Elizabeth and Mary were cousins. No doubt, Elizabeth was much older than Mary. Nevertheless, this elderly woman recognized that the child of her younger cousin was her Lord. Even before His birth, Elizabeth recognized that the Lord Jesus, the Man-Savior, was both man and God. In her blessing, therefore, we have a revelation of the divine-human Person of the Man-Savior.
Verse 41 says that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in Elizabeth’s womb. The forerunner of the Man-Savior even exulted upon meeting the Savior, while both of them were still in their mothers’ wombs. Concerning this, Elizabeth says in verse 44, “For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby leaped in my womb with exultation.” This is marvelous and beyond our understanding.
In 1:46-56 we have the praise of the Man-Savior’s mother. Mary came to visit Elizabeth. When Elizabeth saw Mary, she blessed her. Mary responded to this blessing not by giving a blessing, but by offering praise to God.
Mary’s poetic praise is composed of many quotations from the Old Testament. This indicates that she was a godly woman, qualified to be a channel for the Savior’s incarnation. It also indicates that the Lord Jesus would grow up in a family which would be filled with the knowledge and love of God’s holy Word.
Although Mary was a young woman, she was very knowledgeable concerning the Old Testament and could quote verses from it in her praise to God. Actually, her praise was a composition of quotations from the Scriptures. Surely she was the right person for God to use in conceiving the Savior who was to be born.
Before Mary was visited by the angel to receive the word concerning the conception of the Man-Savior, she was already full of the knowledge of God’s Word. Many verses of the Scriptures had been absorbed into her being. Therefore, at the proper time she could pour out what was within her as she offered up praise to God.
Mary’s praise indicates that in order for us to be used by God, we need to have certain qualifications. One qualification is the proper knowledge of the Word of God. I hope that the young people in particular will learn of Mary in this matter. Do you intend to be used by the Lord to bring forth something of the Lord, even, in a spiritual sense, to “conceive” the Lord Jesus and bring Him forth? If so, then you need to be qualified by being filled with the Scriptures, filled with the Word of God.
In verses 46 and 47 Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has exulted in God my Savior.” First Mary’s spirit exulted in God; then her soul magnified the Lord. Her praise to God was initiated from her spirit and then was expressed through her soul. Her spirit was filled with joy in God her Savior so that her soul manifested her joy for the magnification of the Lord. She lived and acted in her spirit, which directed her soul. Her exultation in God in her spirit was due to her enjoyment of God as her Savior, and her magnifying of the Lord in her soul was due to her exaltation of the Lord — Jehovah, the great To Be.
Mary’s spirit exulted in God. To exult is higher than to rejoice. It is significant that Mary said that her spirit exulted in God her Savior, rather than in God her Creator. She regarded God as more than her Creator; she considered Him her Savior. She realized that she was a created person who had become fallen. Therefore, she needed her Creator to be her Savior.
We have seen that in verse 46 Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” Mary’s praise was to magnify the Lord based upon her experience of God as her Savior through His everlasting mercy (vv. 47-50) and her observation of others’ experience of God’s merciful and faithful doings (vv. 51-55). In content and standard, her praise is like some of the Old Testament Psalms. However, she does not say anything concerning Christ as does Elizabeth in her blessing (vv. 41-43) and Zachariah in his prophecy through the Holy Spirit (vv. 67-71, 76-79).
First Mary’s spirit exulted in God her Savior. Then her soul magnified the Lord. In these verses we see that Mary regarded God as both her Savior and Lord. We all need to experience what Mary experienced in knowing God as our Savior and Lord. When we enjoy God as our Savior, exulting in Him, then we shall magnify Him as our Lord.
When we magnify God as our Lord, we serve Him. Actually, to magnify the Lord is to serve Him as Lord. We need to be impressed with the fact that to serve the Lord is not mainly to do things for Him. On the contrary, the most important aspect of serving the Lord is to magnify Him. We need to be those who live a life not merely of doing things for God but of magnifying Him.
Magnifying the Lord is a matter of our soul, not of our spirit. This means that magnifying the Lord involves our mind, emotion, and will. It involves our thoughts, our likes and dislikes, and our decisions. In all these things the Lord should be magnified. He should be magnified in our thoughts, in our likes and dislikes, and in our decisions concerning our direction.
Mary enjoyed God in the spirit as her saving One. Then her soul, her being, with her mind, emotion, and will, magnified the Lord. When Mary spoke these words, she was still living at the conclusion of Old Testament times. She had not yet fully been brought into the New Testament age. Nevertheless, she could be a person whose spirit exulted in God her Savior and whose soul magnified the Lord. We certainly need to learn of her to exult in the Lord with our spirit and magnify Him with our soul.
In 1:48-50 Mary says, “Because He has looked upon the low estate of His slave. For behold, from now on all generations will count me blessed; because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name; and His mercy is unto generations and generations to those who fear Him.” Both Mary and Zachariah stress God’s mercy (vv. 54, 58, 72, 78), realizing their low estate (v. 48) and humbly (v. 52) recognizing that they are not worthy of being favored by God. Both God’s mercy and His grace are the expression of His love. When we are in a pitiful condition, His mercy first reaches us and brings us into a situation where God is able to favor us with His grace. For example, 15:20-24 tells us that when the father saw the prodigal son returning, he had compassion on him. That is mercy, as expressing the father’s love. Then the father clothed him with the best robe and fed him with the fatted calf. That is grace, which also manifests the father’s love. God’s mercy reaches further and bridges the gap between us and God’s grace.
In a sense, Mary was more knowledgeable of God than many believers today. In her praise she speaks of God’s mercy, but she does not mention His grace. In order to receive God’s grace, we need to be in a suitable condition. However, Mary realized that she and all the people at that time were in a poor condition. Because they were in a pitiful condition, they needed God’s mercy.
Mary praised God for His mercy and His mighty doings. In verses 51 and 52 she says, “He has done mighty things with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the understanding of their heart. He brought down potentates from thrones and exalted the humble.” God did mighty things in taking care of His people in their low estate. Because their estate was so low, they needed God’s mercy to reach them, for His mercy extends further than His grace.
In 1:53-55 Mary says, “He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He sent away empty. He has succored Israel His servant to remember mercy, even as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.” Verse 55 refers to God’s faithfulness in keeping His word. Both Mary and Zachariah emphasize not only God’s mercy but also His faithfulness (vv. 70, 72). God’s mercy takes care of their condition, and His faithfulness takes care of His position so that He can favor them with His gracious doings.
God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were His faithful word. Now God was visiting His people according to those promises.
We should appreciate Mary’s praise. When she uttered this praise, she was a young woman, probably still in her twenties. Even though she was so young, she could offer up a praise that was a composition of quotations from the Old Testament related to her own experience of God as her Savior and Lord. She could speak concerning God’s mercy and His mighty doings in caring for His people according to the faithful promises given to the fathers.
As we consider Mary’s praise, we can see something of the reason she was chosen by God for the conception of the Man-Savior. No doubt Mary also taught the Lord Jesus many portions from the Scriptures as He was growing up.
Mary’s praise is not doctrinal; on the contrary, it is experiential. She praised God from her experience. Mary said that her spirit exulted in God her Savior and her soul magnified the Lord. This was based on experience. Then she went on to praise God in His mercy and in His faithful doings in taking care of His people, who were in a low estate. God’s doings were according to His promise, according to His faithful word given to the fathers.
