| Luke 1:39 And Mary arose in
those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. 46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. 54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; 55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. 56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house. |
| As promised by the angel,
John was filled with the Holy Spirit in his mother's womb. It was for
that reason that he jumped for joy at the approach of Mary, who already bore
the child Jesus within her. That same sensitivity that John had inside
his mother was passed on to Elizabeth, too; she knew what had happened to
Mary before she was even told. The gift of knowledge, the imparting of
special information by the Spirit that we would not otherwise know, is on of
the gifts of the Spirit passed on to the church after Pentecost. Mary's response is one of the most beautiful prayers of praise in the Bible, sometimes called "the Magnificat". The main theme of the prayer is that God lifts up the humble, and exalts the meek; those who puff themselves up through their own efforts, to seek the approval of those around them, have the reward they seek. We give our allegiance to what is most important in our lives, and if that is anything or anyone other than God, it is an idol for us. If we serve God, and seek approval first from him, we will hear his voice, the voice of his promises and his guidance. The words of promise he spoke to Abraham, about a chosen people and an eternal inheritance, applied only to the Jews until the coming of Christ. When he died for all of us, to redeem us from sin, we, too, became Abraham's seed if we accepted him as Savior and Lord, and heirs to all the promises God spoke through all of the prophets. |
| Lu 1:57 ¶ Now Elisabeth's
full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. 58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her. 59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. 60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. 61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. 62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. 64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. 65 And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea. 66 And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him. 67 ¶ And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, 68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; 70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: 71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. 76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; 77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, 78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. 80 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel. |
The eighth day of life for a Jewish male child was a very important one. Not only was the ritual of circumcision performed then, to mark him as one of God's chosen people, but he was given his name then. It was common for the firstborn son to bear his father's name, or that of one of the father's male relatives. That's why there was such surprise when Elizabeth varied from the custom, and gave him a name that was not known in the family at all. The original Hebrew version of the name was actually derived from a combination of the word for God, and a word meaning prayer, or praise. Roughly translated, it meant "Praise Jehovah". That was to be John's role and ministry, not to exalt himself, but to lift up one who was the incarnation of God himself.
Zacharias' mouth was closed by doubt; it was opened by acknowledgment of the truth of what the angel Gabriel had told him, that he and Elizabeth would have a son called John. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Zacharias then prophesies that John would be the one chosen to prepare Israel for the coming of the Messiah, as prophesied long before by Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3-5), a role later confirmed by Christ himself (Matthew 11:10-14). Following God always involves a change of direction, or repentance. John's charge to the Jews was that, if they were to come to know the promised Messiah, they must turn away from their lives of sin, and toward God. His was a ministry of preparation, a role unique in all of history, but one which would bring him, personally, not fame and recognition, but imprisonment and death.