Mother of My Lord

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. Luke 1:39-45


After the shocking announcement by Gabriel, Mary seemingly needed some privacy and positive reinforcement from her close community of faith. She immediately headed for the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth. We've all seen the exuberance of elderly aunts/cousins with their beloved relatives, especially tender young cousins. Can't you just see and hear Elizabeth's shout as she gathered Mary into her arms? I had aunts and cousins like that. Their enthusiasm is loud and contagious. The Holy Spirit, in His specialized ministry before the Church Age, has filled this woman and the baby in her womb, as prophesied in v.15. The unborn baby reacted with great vigor. There is no natural explanation for this phenomenon, it is the work of God.

Elizabeth was a woman of great faith and she recognized Mary as a woman of great faith, and she knew that their pregnancies were not just routine human procreation. They were both to be instruments in the fulfillment of God's perfect plan of grace. These women understood by miraculous revelation what was being done through them, and were more than willing to be of this service to the Kingdom of God. We know, though, that they could not humanly grasp the profound, all-consuming price they would pay in seeing their sons endure the burdens of their ministries. There are things in our futures as servants of God that we can never foresee, and that is a good thing, for we would be paralyzed with dread. God gently brings us through each phase of our Christian growth, day-by-day, one foot in front of the other, until we arrive at our moment of destiny. The blessings we reap are also incomprehensible, until they appear.

"And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”