Luke 1:42-45

“Blessed are you among women,

And blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And whence is this to me,

That the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For behold, when the voice of your greeting came into my ears,

The babe leaped in my womb for joy.

And blessed is she who believed,

For there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord.”

Note Elisabeth’s emphasis. It is on ‘the Lord’, just as Mary’s response will be. These two women were not exalting each other. Both were exalting the Lord. And both were humbled by what was happening to them.

‘“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’ Mary was truly blessed above all women, because she had been chosen to mother God’s Messiah. Women in those days saw their function as being that of a child producer and a good mother. It was what they saw themselves as mainly living for, the supreme purpose of their lives. And to mother the Messiah was to be the greatest privilege of all. Thus Mary was blessed by being given this great privilege. Note, however, that what is meant by such a ‘blessing’ is described. The reason that she is blessed is ‘because there will be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her’. They will ‘come to their true end’. This was not because of anything that she was in herself. Mary is not being exalted here. When a woman called out to Jesus that Mary was especially blessed because she was His mother He rejected the idea and said that rather blessed were those who heard the word of God and kept it (Luke 11:27-28). That is, those who hear God’s word and keep it are more blessed than Mary was in bearing Him. What a contrast with the views of some today.

Elisabeth then immediately turns to what she knows is more important than the mother, the fruit of her womb. Here is the idea of the fuller, undefined, blessing. Here is the One Who is to be exalted.

‘And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?’ Elisabeth’s humility shines out here. Who is she, she asks, that the mother of the Messiah should seek her out? Her period of quiet meditation has well prepared her for this moment. ‘My Lord’ here possibly has in mind Psalms 110:1. There the coming Messiah is ‘my Lord’ (compare Luke 20:41-44). Here then is her recognition that the babe who is to be born of Mary is already her Lord.

And the reason why she knows this so spontaneously is because the babe in her own womb had leaped so convincingly within her at the sound of Mary’s voice. It had ‘leaped for joy’. Thus did she know that all would be well, and that Mary would have a child safely Who would be truly blessed. And rather than being jealous, she was humbled by the wonder of it. Note the continual emphasis on ‘joy’ (also in Luke 1:14; Luke 1:47).

Mary’s Response.

Mary’s response was to be full of devotion and gratitude to God, and we are probably to see it as spoken under inspiration from the Spirit (but see below). The silence about that may be because the Holy Spirit was to come on her for a special purpose, the conception of Jesus, so that Luke did not want it to be thought that that was happening already. It echoes the ideas in the song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-11), although not too slavishly, and reflects Old Testament thought continuously (e.g. see parts of Psalms 111:9; Psalms 103:17; Psalms 89:10; Psalms 107:9; Psalms 98:3). As we consider it we need to remember that Mary would be steeped in Old Testament thoughts and phraseology.

Often would she have sung Old Testament songs, and many Scriptures would be in her memory. She would think in Old Testament language. She may well even have composed some of these words previously as a psalm of praise for her own use. This would then be another explanation as to why it is not said to be the result of the work of the Holy Spirit. (Psalm writing was evidenced at Qumran although with a different emphasis from this). So its contents may not be totally new to her, which would explain why she could remember it so well.

There is no thought of self-exaltation in her words. She does not even mention the favour that has been granted to her, unless we see it in ‘has given help’. The theological concepts of the angel have gone over her head, to be remembered later. (An inventor of a song to fit the occasion would have made sure that they were included). All her thoughts are on God. It will only be later that what the angel has said to her will gain new meaning. It brings out that she was not a theologian, and did not think in those terms. Her immature teen-age thought would be on the fact that God was now about to deliver her people, and that He was bringing her into it by producing through her the Messiah. The ramifications would come later (a sign of the genuineness of the song). It can be divided up as follows:

a And Mary said.

b My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour (Luke 1:46-47).

c For he has looked on the low estate of his handmaiden, for behold, from henceforth all generations will call me blessed (Luke 1:48).

d For he who is mighty has done to me great things, and holy is his name (Luke 1:49).

e And his mercy is unto generations and generations, on those who fear him (Luke 1:50).

e He has showed strength with his arm, He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart (Luke 1:51).

d He has put down princes from their thrones, and has exalted those of low degree (Luke 1:52).

c The hungry he has filled with good things; and the rich he has sent empty away (Luke 1:53).

b He has given help to Israel his servant, that he might remember mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, toward Abraham and his seed for ever (Luke 1:54-55).

a And Mary stayed with her about three months, and returned to her house (Luke 1:56).

In ‘a’ Mary speaks, and in the parallel Mary remains for three months. In ‘b’ Mary rejoices in her Lord and Saviour, and in the parallel describes His saving work. In ‘c’ she acknowledges God’s goodness to her in her low estate and in the parallel God satisfies the needs of those of low estate. In ‘d’ He acts mightily on her behalf and in the parallel He acts mightily on behalf of His own. And central to it all is the revealing of His mercy to those who fear Him so that in the parallel He has dealt with their enemies, who were too proud to fear Him. This will be especially relevant to John and Jesus who will constantly face up to the proud ones of the earth, who in their pride will be scattered before them.