41And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. [simple_tooltip content=’39 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah,
40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.
41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
45 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”’](Luke 1:39-45)[/simple_tooltip]
This story has become so familiar to us that it’s easy to miss the miracles!
Mary and Elisabeth were cousins [simple_tooltip content=’Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.’](Luke 1:36)[/simple_tooltip]. They knew each other. Surely Elisabeth was aware that Mary was engaged but not yet married. She was just a teenager, yet Elisabeth prophesied about Mary being pregnant with the Messiah. That could not have come out of Elisabeth’s mind. She never would have said those things because they were illogical.
Elisabeth also referred to Jesus as her Lord [simple_tooltip content=’But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?’](v. 43)[/simple_tooltip]. He had just been conceived. Today, He would have been called a fetus, yet she recognized Him as Her Lord and Savior. Many others proclaimed Him Lord at His birth [simple_tooltip content=’For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’](Luke 2:11)[/simple_tooltip] and after His birth, but Elisabeth proclaimed He was Lord from the moment of conception.
It is interesting to note that John the Baptist, who was just a six-month-old fetus at the time, leapt for joy in his mother’s womb. This means that a six-month-old fetus has emotions. It is also when he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Before he was viable outside of the womb, God considered him a person and filled him with His Spirit!
Elisabeth spoke these words without reservation. She placed a blessing on Mary for believing what the Lord had told her and then reassured her that it would surely come to pass [simple_tooltip content=’„Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”’](v. 45)[/simple_tooltip]. What an encouragement and confirmation this must have been to Mary. Meditate on these wonderful insights as you go about your day.
