and cried out with a loud voice and said, Blessed [art] *thou* amongst women, and blessed the fruit of thy womb.
Mary has just heard she will bear the Messiah, and she goes to the hill country to visit her relative Elizabeth. The Holy Spirit fills Elizabeth, and she cries out these words — but where did they come from, and how much honour do they give Mary?
Elizabeth knows Mary's news before Mary has said a word about it. No one could have carried it to her:
She knew both Mary's expectations and Mary's faith. When and how did she learn all this? Mary had not had time to speak of it. No whisper of it carried by human messenger had reached the hill country of Judea. Mary evidently, as Matthew teaches us, had not even told Joseph, to whom she was betrothed.
The answer is in the verse just before: the Holy Spirit filled her. That filling had a purpose:
The Spirit filled her so that she could speak the inspired words she said to Mary: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."
Elizabeth's opening words are not her own invention. Gabriel had already greeted Mary in the same terms. That repetition is the point:
We see at once that Elizabeth, as one "filled with the Holy Spirit," is in complete agreement with the mind of God about Mary. Gabriel had said to her, "Blessed are you among women," and Elizabeth now says, "Blessed are you among women," adding, "and blessed is the fruit of your womb." God's power opened her eyes, so she saw as God saw. She declares His own estimate of the one He had chosen for this singular favour.
The blessing's second half turns from the mother to the Child in her womb:
It is remarkable how beautifully Elizabeth owns that even the child not yet born was the Lord. We find just the same thing with Mary herself. She has no notion of being taken out of the place of a needy sinner. And the miraculous birth of John does not lessen Elizabeth's sense of the Messiah. It adds to it.
Elizabeth was carrying a miracle son of her own. Still, she takes the lower place, and one writer draws the lesson:
Herself the object of God's favour, she still took the lowest place before the one who was to become the mother of her Lord. Let this instruction sink deep into our hearts: when the Spirit of God is working in souls, He banishes all envy, strife, and jealousy. Love then flows out freely, and humility is the fruit of love. Then she described the effect Mary's greeting had on her, and proclaimed a third kind of blessedness. Mary was blessed as the object of God's sovereign favour. She was blessed as the vessel for the incarnation of our Lord. And she was blessed because of her faith.
Writers weigh the exact wording here, because people have stretched it far. The quote below uses an older translation of the angel's greeting in verse 28, where the ESV reads "O favored one":
The angel tells her she is "highly favoured" (Luke 1:28). Could any woman have a higher favour than to be the mother of our Lord according to the flesh? "Blessed are you among women" is the angel's greeting. "Blessed" she certainly was. Note, it does not say "Most blessed." The language is restrained.
In her own reply a few verses later, Mary calls God her Saviour:
Though the mother of our Saviour, she herself found her Saviour in God.
Later another woman calls out something very like Elizabeth's words. Jesus answers by pointing elsewhere:
A woman, alive to the joy of having a son like Jesus, declares aloud the value of such a natural family tie to Him. The Lord puts this blessing, as He did in the case of Mary, on those who heard and kept His word.
- Filled — No one had told Elizabeth Mary's news. The Spirit filled her so that she could speak these words.
- Echoed — She repeats Gabriel's own greeting. Her verdict on Mary is God's verdict, not a relative's warm welcome.
- Owned — The blessing runs past the mother to the unborn Child, whom she calls her Lord.
- Freed — Where the Spirit works, envy goes. Elizabeth rejoiced in another woman's honour instead of guarding her own.
- Shared — Mary was blessed as chosen, as the vessel, and for her faith. And Jesus later held out a blessing to anyone who hears God's word and keeps it.
And whence [is] this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
Elizabeth is the older woman, and she is expecting a son of her own. Yet when her young relative walks in, she treats the visit as an honour she cannot account for. Her question turns on two words: who is "my Lord," and why should His mother come to her?
Mary's child is not yet born. Elizabeth already speaks of Him as her Lord.
Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, breaks out into an acknowledgment of the place God had given Mary. "And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" It is remarkable how beautifully she acknowledges that even the child not yet born was the Lord.
That confession came before He entered the world.
The One these women spoke of, the Babe of Bethlehem, will soon be acknowledged as supreme in the universe. But before His birth, before He came into this world in lowly Manhood, Elizabeth's words already bore testimony to His supremacy — "my Lord."
In that world "Lord" was also an ordinary word of respect between people. The same word does far more work here.
These words are usually translated "lord." People use them as a term of respect between one person and another… Scripture gives the title "Lord" to God (Ps. 90:1, Adonai). In the New Testament it gives the same title to the Lord Jesus, not only as a term of respect, but as owning His constituted lordship (Acts 2:36; Phil. 2:11). For the Christian He is the Lord above all, eclipsing every other, and the Christian delights to claim Him as "My Lord."
Because the name carries that much, it is not one to handle casually.
How beautiful the language of the older woman calling the Virgin "the mother of my Lord." Surely this was a great revelation she received. With holy reverence we also should use that worthy Name. It has been well said, "Let us remember the deep meaning of the words 'the Lord' and beware of using them lightly and carelessly."
Elizabeth names a secret Mary has had no chance to tell her. So where did she learn it?
Mary crossed the threshold of Elizabeth's house and greeted her cousin. The expectant mother of John then learned who was to be the mother of her Lord… She knew both Mary's expectations and Mary's faith. Mary had not had time to speak of it. No whisper of it had reached the hill country of Judea by any human means. Mary clearly, as Matthew teaches us, had not even told Joseph, to whom she was betrothed (Matt. 1:18-19). How did Elizabeth know?
Nothing in the account says that anyone told her.
What was it that made her address her young relative like that? We are not told that she had heard of the angel's visit to Mary, so how did she know what lay ahead of her? The answer is that she "was filled with the Holy Spirit" (v. 41), and she spoke by divine inspiration.
Elizabeth had God's favour on her own life. Still she puts herself below the younger woman.
With her eyes opened by the power of God, she saw as God saw. She speaks God's own estimate of the one He had chosen for this singular favour. Filled with the Spirit, she also acknowledged with meekness and humility that the grace of God had lifted Mary high… She was herself an object of God's favour. Yet she took the lowest place before the one who was to become the mother of her Lord.
Mary answers Elizabeth moments later. Her reply shows how she took the honour given her.
Mary had no thought of exaltation. She says, "all generations will call me blessed," but not a blesser. She was the object of blessing, not the giver or mediator of it. "He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name" — not a word of her own. "And His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation" — not for those who pray to or worship me.
Both women keep their eyes on the same Person, not on each other.
Humility and contented lowliness mark their whole conversation… He was the One who filled their vision… Mary herself is content to take the "humble estate" of a "servant." God's mighty thoughts were not to reach their completion in Mary. Someone else has well said of her — "she lost her place if she made anything of herself, but in truth she did not," a helpful word for today!
- Lord already. Before Bethlehem, before He was born, Elizabeth calls the unborn child her Lord.
- Lord revealed. No one told Elizabeth. The Holy Spirit filled her, so she saw as God saw and spoke by inspiration.
- Lord honoured. Because He is Lord, the older woman takes the lowest place before the younger. She asks why such a visit should come to her at all.
- Lord alone the blesser. Mary is the object of blessing, never its giver — called blessed by all generations, but "not a blesser."
- Lord mine. The Christian claims Him as "My Lord" — a name too weighty to use lightly.