A Study on the Birth of Jesus Christ

Luke Chapter 1, Verses 42-47

Please return to the main page of this study for the introduction and other verses.

By Mary Stephens
Oct. 2014

We will back track just a little here and pick up a couple more thoughts from verses 42-45.

Luke 1:42-45 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

Elisabeth was obviously speaking under inspiration here because she said things that she would not have known yet. As we learned in verse 41, she was filled with the Holy Ghost when she heard Mary's greeting, and she is undoubtedly speaking by revelation. The Lord was revealing these things to her as she spoke.

Mary was blessed among women, and the fruit of her womb was certainly blessed. She was the mother of the Lord in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, not the mother of God in the Catholic sense, as we discussed before. 

Elisabeth was privileged to have her come to visit. They were both experiencing miracles, but Mary's was certainly the greater of the two. Another interesting point is that they both were experiencing the direct fulfillment of prophecy in their own lives - John was "the voice of one crying in the wilderness" and Jesus was the longed for Messiah.

It is interesting that God sent the first message in this series of events to a man who was a priest, but because of his unbelief he was not able to speak at this point. Instead, his wife, who was filled with the Holy Ghost, speaks this revelation. Furthermore, she speaks this to a young woman who did believe what the angel told her. Mary is blessed here by the Holy Ghost specifically for her belief.

The self-appointed experts of the Patriarchy Movement would probably say that Zacharias failed and so God used the woman. The problem with that would be that Joseph did not fail later when he received his revelation, and yet God intentionally left him out up to this point. It is not so much the failure of Zacharias here as that God chose to deal with Mary first and to speak revelation through Elisabeth - revelation intended to teach men, including the "patriarchs" of the present day. (God has a great sense of humor, and sometimes we just have to laugh at the things He does.) This is definitely an "ouchie" passage for "Biblical Patriarchy", though I doubt they would see it. Dogmatic types have an amazing way of talking themselves out of any corner God puts them into, to their own detriment.

Psalms 119:128 Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.

Luke 1:46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

It does not specifically say whether Mary was speaking by inspiration of the Holy Ghost here. However, Gabriel had told her that the Holy Ghost would come upon her, v. 35, and it is obvious that she had already conceived at this point and the Lord Jesus was in her womb because of Elisabeth calls her the "mother of my Lord." By the way, this effectively puts to death the Gnostic lie that "the Christ Spirit" entered into some "good" Jewish guy name "Jesus" sometime in his life and left him before he died on the cross. It is absolutely clear that she was the mother of Elisabeth's Lord at that moment.

One important thing to remember when reading scripture is that not everything spoken by people in scripture is revelation in the sense that God inspired them to say what they did. God included many conversations, speeches, and things said and thought which He obviously did not approve of, but He included them in scripture because He wanted us to know about them. This trips up a lot of people, especially unsaved people who can't discern between the mind of Christ and the mind of man. Just because a story or quote is given in scripture, it does not follow that God approved of the people's actions or thoughts or words. (Examples: Samson and Delilah, the betrayal and trial of Jesus, etc.)

Whether or not Mary was speaking exact revelation or not, what she said was true and God wanted us to read it - yes, even the men. She was speaking good and righteous words, and my personal take is that she was probably speaking through the Holy Ghost. Surely she had a great deal for which to magnify the Lord!

Luke 1:47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

There is a lot in that little phrase.

First of all, Mary clearly tells us that she needed a Savior too. She was not born without original sin as the Roman Catholic church teaches. That idea possibly stems from the cult of the Virgin (which has its origins in ancient idolatry and even goddess worship). But Mary says she needed a Savior just like we do, and she rejoiced that she had the privilege of bringing that Salvation (Jesus - Joshua) into the world. Of course, she little realized how that salvation would be obtained, but she did know that her Savior was God!

This is an indication that she is speaking under inspiration. She had Old Testament revelation to tell her that salvation only comes from God. But, the implication of things that happen later is that these Jewish believers were expecting their Messiah to take the Kingdom and restore Israel immediately. They do not appear to have all realized that He must die to save them (and us). Some perhaps did. Whether Mary did at this point or not is somewhat hard to say, but she surely declares the truth that our Savior is God, meaning the Lord Jesus Christ is God.

Isaiah 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

Acts 4:10-12 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

These two verses go so powerfully together. There is none else but God who can save us, and there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved. There is no salvation in any other but Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Yes, Christianity is an exclusive religion. Not because we made it that way but because God made it that way. No other religion or faith or belief or name will save you. It must be the Bible way or you must be eternally lost. There's no multiple choice. You believe God's Son and accept His payment for your sins, or you die in your sins and pay for them yourself forever. Since He is an eternal God that inhabits all of time at once it requires an eternal payment - either you pay for your sins forever, or you accept Jesus' eternal payment that He made with His blood.

Hebrews 9:12-14 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Jesus Christ did not come to be remembered forever as a baby in the manger. In fact, there is no evidence in scripture that God wants us to celebrate His Son's birth, or that we will celebrate it someday in the Kingdom. The thing we are to show till He comes is His death. 1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. He came to die, to rise again and to sanctify a people unto Himself through faith in His name. Blessed be the name of the LORD!

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Have you rejoiced in God your Saviour?  If not, today would be a great day to start.

Romans 10:8-11 ...The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

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