Luke 1: 39-56
We are continuing the Christmas Story we began yesterday, with the Angel Gabriel coming to Mary.
Now at this time
While a girl was engaged but not married yet was the freest period of a woman's life at that time in that society; she was free to travel and visit friends and relatives far and near.
Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah,
This describes the city of Hebron, which was given to the Kohathites, the children of Levi, in Joshua 21: 11. Zacharias and Elizabeth were Levites, and Zacharias was a priest.
and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.
Zacharias was probably at work, and Elizabeth was home.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth was taken by surprise, as Mary didn't have a way to let her know she was coming, and when she heard Mary's voice, the baby she was carrying moved so dramatically that it was like he jumped in her womb!
And God's Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth.
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?
The Holy Spirit revealed to Elizabeth who it was that Mary was carrying in her womb, and therefore, how much blessing God was pouring out on her, to be the one to experience every Jewish girl's dream, to be mother to their Messiah!
And she wondered why Mary would come to her, an older woman who didn't seem to be any more important to God than anyone else.
"For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.
The Holy Spirit that filled Elizabeth also filled John, still growing in her body, and he jumped for joy in being in the presence of his Lord, just starting to grow His body in Mary's womb.
"And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord."
Yes, Mary's faith was remarkable, in that she was willing to suffer the loss of everything to serve God this way.
And Mary said:
Mary knew her Scriptures; every line of her prayer comes directly from or is rephrased from Old Testament prayers. This is Mary's personalized prayer.
" My soul exalts the Lord,
Mary never wanted to be exalted, just her Lord, and prayed the same prayer that Hannah prayed in I Samuel 2: 1ff.
"And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
And she admitted her need for a Savior, and rejoiced in God fulfilling His promise to send the Redeemer.
"For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
Still reflecting Hannah, she just considered herself God's servant, bound to Him by choice, desiring only to obey Him even when she didn't fully understand.
for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
From "this time" everybody in every time will recognize how much God had poured out His blessings upon her in such abundant measure!
"For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
She gives all the credit to God, the Mighty One, who is the One who was doing it all, using her body; none of it was her doing at all.
"And His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him.
She learned this from Psalm 104: 17.
"He has done mighty deeds with His arm;
Through the Psalms, such as Psalm 98: 1 and 118: 15.
"He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
This reflects the thought of Psalm 33: 10.
"He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble.
This is from Job 5: 11.
"He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed.
The idea of Psalm 34: 10.
"He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy,
From Psalm 98: 3.
"as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever."
In Genesis 17: 19.
Mary knew her Scriptures well, and seemed practiced in praying God's Word back to Him. May my prayers be so focused on what God has said to me in His Word, instead of so many of my words toward Him.
And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.
Mary stayed with Elizabeth the rest of her pregnancy, to maybe help with, or even just witness, the birth of John. This would be practical learning about what to expect and how to deal with what she herself will soon also experience.
I am impressed with Mary's prayer. She based every line on Scripture, praying God's Word back to Him, idea by idea. She seemed to be just thinking God's thoughts, putting them together in her own logical way.
Paul wrote to the believers in Philippi that we are to think God's thoughts, when he said, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, in Philippians 2: 5, to adopt the attitudes our Lord God has about our lives and the things that happen to us and how we see things. We are to be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12: 2) to think His thoughts, not our own.
Mary was thinking God's thoughts in this beautiful prayer that is recorded here.
I know I have to make the effort to be thinking along God's lines when I consider all the choices and decisions I need to make every day. I pray that I stay focused on God's ways and His Word as I live my life.
During this time in Mary's life, she was apparently totally focused on her Lord, rather than what other people would have been saying to and about her concerning her pregnancy. It couldn't have been easy for her, just her and her Lord against the World. She needed to lean on Him for strength, and stay close to Him, to make it through this season of her life.
I can identify with this need, as when my husband of 30 years died, I completely collapsed. I had depended on him for everything for three decades, now suddenly he was gone. I didn't know how to manage everything he had taken care of for me, and I fell into the arms of Jesus, into the lap of my Father in Heaven. That's when I started to journal my Bible readings and prayers, and that became the basis for starting this blog.
Now I am still depending on my Lord to lead and guide me, and I've made several monumental changes in my life, transitioning into widowhood. And God has been with me every step of the way. So I know that He will never abandon me, as long as I continue to lean on Him.
O my Father, You are so good to me! You are a good God, good to all You have created. Your Love put order into the chaos of the Universe, and our Natural Laws are Your decrees as to how this Earth works. You gave us a Paradise to be our home, and in our wilfulness and rebellion we have spoiled so much of it.
Because of our sin, You cursed what You made, to wind down and wear out and require hard work to eke out a living in it. But when we follow Your ways, things just work out well, because that's how You designed it to operate.
Father, help Your children to get to know You through Your Word, and to learn Your ways, so we can apply these lessons, and enjoy the bounty You have placed here for us as the result.
Teach us, Father, how to be strong and faithful to You and Your ways, even when we find ourselves swimming against the current of this World. Because Your ways are not our ways, and Your thoughts are not our thoughts. We need to learn Your ways, Father, so we will be able to follow them. Give us the confidence and courage to live our lives Your way, even in the face of those who oppose us. Give us Your gracious compassion in our responses to them.
Make us Your lights in the darkness of this World, to show those in the World how much You Love them. Send us out to find Your lost sheep, to untangle them from the brambles of deception and to pull them out of the pits of despair, leading them into the shelter and safety of Your One Fold with One Shepherd.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus the Son of Mary is our Lord God Almighty, King over the whole Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
