The Visit of Mary and Elizabeth
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
The story goes that...
Haydn, the great musician,...
Was once asked why his church music was so cheerful,...
And he replied:
“When I think upon God,...
My heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap,...
As it were, from my pen,...
And since God has given me a cheerful heart it will be pardoned me that I serve Him with a cheerful spirit.”
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 1 and focus on verses 39 through 45.
Our message this morning is called, “The Visit of Mary and Elizabeth”
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As you are finding your place in God’s Word...
I want to share that this message this morning will focus on the joyful visit of Mary and Elizabeth:
You see Church...
The news of the long promised Messiah finally coming...
Was the most joyful news...
Especially among those of God’s chosen people that longed for His arrival.
Not only were both women filled with ecstatic joy...
But even the child still growing in Elizabeth's womb couldn’t help himself...
And he leaped for joy too.
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Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Thank you Lord for who you are...
That you are mighty and awesome...
And able to keep all your promises.
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For godly missionaries to rise up and go to the unreached parts of this world...
So, they can share the joy we as believers have in our Lord and Savior.
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For those searching for truth and answers to life’s toughest questions to find rest in you Lord.
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For your people to not lose heart in this wicked world...
That your remnant remember they have brother and sisters around the world that have not bow down the knee to Baal.
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Forgive us Lord for the times we have ignored your precious and perfect commands...
And renew our hearts with a zeal for your precious name.
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Thank you for the joy we now have in your Son...
And it is in the name of Jesus we pray...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah,
40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Baby Leaped
1) The Baby Leaped
Verses 39-41: In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
Remember, Beloved...
We just covered the birth announcement of John the Baptist and Jesus over the course of the last few weeks...
Where we last left off Gabriel, visited Mary with not just news of her giving birth to the Messiah...
But informed her that her relative Elizabeth...
Who was both barren and beyond the years of child barring...
Would also give birth to child...
The Forerunner of her child, the Messiah.
Luke 1:36 says:
36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
The purpose of informing Mary of this was to give her evidence of God’s past faithfulness.
The reality that Elizabeth was pregnant was a miracle...
And nothing is to hard for the Lord...
Even the fact that Mary as a virgin would give birth to the Savior.
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With this overwhelming joyful news Mary could not help but pack up and rush to visit Elizabeth.
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Luke says Mary “went with haste” to go see her relative.
So, Mary left right away after the angelic visit of Gabriel.
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We have further proof that Mary rushed over to Elizabeth as
the verse we just read says Elizabeth was six months pregnant...
And Mary stayed for three months and only went home just before John’s birth as Luke will later record in his Gospel account.
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Upon both women greeting each other...
Something amazing happened...
As Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting...
A greeting that would not have be a quick “hi” like we are so used to in our day...
But a greeting consisted of immediately catching up on what was going on in a person’s life...
So, it would have been here...
That as Mary is sharing about how the promised Messiah would enter the world through her by a virgin birth...
That not only where both women filled with joy but the the baby John the Baptist...
Still in Elizabeth's womb...
Leaped...
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How did John do this?
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Remember, as the Forerunner to the Messiah...
He was filled with the Holy Spirit while still in the womb...
And we will come back to this amazing miracle and the significance of its meaning later in our study today...
But first we have to pause as take not of something else significant...
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Luke uses the same Greek word for the unborn baby as the following verses...
Luke 2:12 says:
12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
Jesus as a baby is refereed to here...
And Luke...
A physician mind you...
Calls both the unborn baby and the birthed baby by the very same word...
Again we see in Luke 2:16 which says:
16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.
Luke as used this same word to describe infants or children as recorded in Luke 18:15:
15 Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
This is clear evidence...
There is no doubt about it...
In God’s eyes...
A baby in the womb or outside the womb...
Is...
Still...
Precious...
Life...
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The location of the child does not dictate value of life.
The age of the child does not dictate value of life.
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God...
Has...
Spoken...
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Period...
End of sentence!
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This precious baby...
Still in the womb...
Worshiped our Lord...
But that is not the only one who got the Holy Spirit...
Our passage says that it was at that moment that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit too.
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Now this filling with the Holy Spirit is not to be confused with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that happens for all believers after Pentecost....
Under the Old Covenant...
The very same Holy Spirit had a different function...
He would fill certain individuals for a specific task...
He even left people if they were disobedient...
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Again, this is different than the role of the Holy Spirit post Pentecost...
Were He goes inside every believer...
Guards them and models them in the process of sanctification...
And is a seal and guarantee that will preserve the follower of Christ until they reach glorification.
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Here are a few notable examples of the Holy Spirit’s work before Pentecost...
Exodus 31:2-3 says this:
2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,
3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship,
When the items of the tabernacle were to be made...
The Holy Spirit was sent to fill certain individuals for this particular task...
Which was the creation of items and objects to be used in the tabernacle.
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In Deuteronomy 34:9 we see this again with Joshua being filled with the Holy Spirit in ordered for him to take over after Moses and lead the Israelite people :
9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
As we mentioned...
John the Baptist was filled with thew Holy Spirit for the role of being the Forerunner of the Lord...
Luke 1:15 says:
15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
And in Luke 1:67 Zechariah we will see later in our study in the following weeks...
Is filled with the Holy Spirit so that he can prophesy:
67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
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And now Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit...
So, let’s take a look at our next point and see the purpose of the Holy Spirit filling her at this particular moment.
2) The Blessings
2) The Blessings
Verses 42-43: And she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
The phrase “loud cry” is a term associated with the speaking of divine truth...
So keep that in mind as we study what Elizabeth says which is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
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The phrase “blessed are you among women” is a Semitic way of saying “most blessed.”
Since according to contemporary Jewish ideas a woman’s greatness was measured by the greatness of the children that she bore...
Mary was called most blessed due to who Jesus is...
So, this blessing is not to be interpreted as a call to praise or bless Mary but as an affirmation that Mary stood in a state of blessedness.
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Pastor John MacArthur says this about Elizabeth calling Mary the “Mother of my Lord”:
“This expression is not in praise of Mary, but in praise of the Child whom she bore.
It was a profound expression of Elizabeth’s confidence that Mary’s Child would be the long-hoped-for Messiah—the one whom even David called “Lord”.
Elizabeth’s grasp of the situation was extraordinary, considering the aura of mystery that overshadowed all these events.
She greeted Mary not with skepticism but with joy.
She understood the response of the child in her own womb.
And she seemed to comprehend the immense importance of the Child whom Mary was carrying.
All of this must be attributed to the illuminating work of the Spirit.”
So, again we see that this indicates that the focus in this account is upon Mary’s child more than Mary herself...
Our focus is to be on the Lord...
Not a person whom the Lord blesses or even the ones who are faithful to Him.
You may love and cherish people from the Bible...
And those faithful to our Lord thought out church history...
You may love and cherish faithful men and women who stand firm in God’s Word in our day today...
But our focus in to never be on them...
Our only focus is to be on our Lord and Savior!!!
The King of Kings!!!
And Lord of Lords!!!
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So, like Mary in our passage...
It is the ones who trust in the Lord that stand in a state of blessedness.
Just take a look at Psalm 84:12 which says:
12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!
And Galatians 3:9 that links all believers to the man of faith or who also know as the father of the faith, Abraham:
9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
When Mary put her trust in the Lord...
She was considered blessed by God...
Just like all other believers.
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The reason we must stress this it that many will dangerously and unfaithfully elevate Mary to a degree they have no right to do...
Mary was blessed...
But it is the one who blesses her that is the focus...
It is the child she was carrying that made her blessed and the focus of Elizabeth's Holy Spirit inspired words.
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Church, when Elizabeth says “blessed is the fruit of your womb”...
She is talking about Jesus Christ...
As Psalm 127:3 says:
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.
Well how much more of a blessing can you have than Jesus being the fruit of Mary’s womb...
But Jesus is the focus of our worship and veneration...
Not anyone else...
No matter how great a blessing they receive or the way in which God used them.
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This is not a problem we have with just the Catholic and Orthodox Churches...
This attitude of an unhealthy focus on Mary even existed in the days Jesus walked the earth.
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Later in our study in the Gospel of Luke we will go more in-depth on this passage but it is important we bring it up know...
Look at what Luke records in Luke 11:27-28 as Jesus is teaching:
27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!”
Well, if we stop right there it sounds like a hymn or response in a Catholic or Orthodox liturgy...
In fact, they sing praises of this much greater toward Mary...
Even calling her savior...
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But let’s look and the next verse to see what Jesus thinks about all this attention to His mother...
28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Jesus said...
“Blessed rather”...
That is “instead of”...
Meaning instead of shouting praise for His mother...
The focus should be on those “who hear the Word of God”...
That is the Scriptures...
“And Keep it!”
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Honestly, can Jesus be any more clear!
It is not shocking than that Catholics and Orthodox church goers as a whole are a lot less biblically literate than members of faithful Bible-believing churches...
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Beloved...
build upon the solid foundation of the Bible and not the claims of mortal men!
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Look at the faithful response of Elizabeth...
She was humbled that the mother of her Lord came to her!
Notice the focus on the Lord!
Notice this confession was inspired by the Holy Spirit that now filled her...
This is no small confession.
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Theologian James R. Edwards says this about the word “Lord”:
“‘Lord’ (kyrios in Greek), which in the Septuagint (LXX) is the default rendering of YHWH, clearly refers to Jesus.
What is conceived in Mary’s womb can be described only in the language proper to Israel’s unique and incomparable God.”
Elizabeth's deceleration that Jesus is the Lord is a statement on the deity of Christ...
And she was not the only one.
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Many cults like Jehovah’s witness and Mormons deny that Jesus is fully man and fully God...
Yet they will misleadingly claim they believe in the same Bible we do...
Yet if that is the case why do they deny the many proclamations of Jesus being Lord...
A title reserved for God alone.
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For example the angels call Jesus Lord at His birth announcement to the shepherds in the field in Luke 2:11:
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
The disciples call Jesus Lord in John 13:13 and Jesus confirms what they said is true:
13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
Paul calls Jesus Lord in one of the clearest verses that answers the question what must I do to be saved?
Romans 10:9 says:
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Paul also states in 1 Corinthians 12:3:
3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
And 2 Corinthians 4:5:
5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
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You see...
You can’t just say that Jesus is a lord...
Because what He is is the Lord...
Or as John the Beloved says in Revelation 19:16:
16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
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The focus of this visit between Mary and Elizabeth is the Lord...
And what Elizabeth says next shows us why John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb...
And this takes us to our next point.
3) Genuine Faith
3) Genuine Faith
Verses 44-45: For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Pastor John McArthur again has some great incite to share...
This time in regards why the baby leaped:
“The infant, like his mother, was Spirit-filled.
His response, like that of Elizabeth, was supernaturally prompted by the Spirit of God.”
So, here is the major take way from this event...
John the Baptist already begins his prophetic testimony as the forerunner to Christ even before his birth...
He is already making the way for the Lord...
And as an infant he was acknowledging that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah even with this small yet miraculous event.
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Or as theologian Robert H. Stein puts it:
“Just as John the Baptist in his ministry was to be Jesus’ precursor and prepare his way,...
So even here he prepared the way, i.e., he announced the Messiah’s presence by leaping in his mother’s womb...
John and Elizabeth were filled with the Holy Spirit even before John’s birth.
Thus they were the first persons to realize that Mary’s child is the Messiah”
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And now if we look at the rest of the Holy Spirit inspired statement by Elizabeth...
She says, “ And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
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Although Elizabeth is talking about Mary’s faith...
She uses the words “blessed is she who believed” meaning this blessing of faith in the Lord is for all who believe.
And this is a constant and vital pattern found through out Scripture that is crucial to understanding the Gospel message.
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Consider the truth found in Romans 4:3:
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Abraham believed in the promises of God as it says in Genesis 15:4–6:
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Yet this promise was tested for Abraham...
Just look at what it says in Hebrews 11:17–19:
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,
18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
Look at what the author of Hebrews says...
This is remarkable...
Abraham was told he must offer up his only son from Sarah...
The son that was the offspring that the promised God made was to be through...
And Abraham was fully ready to sacrifice his son...
His son that he loved...
Because he knew that God would still keep His promises even if that ment raising Isaac from the dead.
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It makes sense that the father of the faith...
Abraham was tested in this way...
For God stopped Abraham even though he was willing to give up everything for God...
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Well it was God the Father...
Who would in the end have to sacrifice His one and only Son...
The Son He loved with an everlasting love...
But no one came to stop this sacrifice...
And thanks be to God no one did or we would all be doomed!
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Yet the Father crushed the Son...
And it pleased Him because Jesus volunteerly gave His life in perfect obedience to the Father.
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So, when we believe in the truth of what happened at Calvary...
And we believe this truth in our mind and in our heart...
We are the true sons of Abraham...
Linked together by faith!
Or as it says in Romans 4:20–24 about Abraham and all other believers:
20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”
23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,
24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
As this message comes to a close...
I would like to share this tale:
A father had told his son he would send him to sleep in the attic, with only bread and water for his supper, if he broke the laws of the home once more.
The child disobeyed again and was sent to the attic:
The father could not eat.
He had the boy on his mind and his heart.
His wife said:
“I know what you are thinking.
But you must not bring the boy from the attic.
It would cause him to disobey again.
He would have no respect for your word.
You must not cheapen your relation as his father by failing to keep your promise.”
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To which her husband replied:
“You are right.
I will not break my word.
To do so would cause my son to lose his respect for my word.
But he is so lonely up there.”
He kissed his wife good-night, entered the attic, ate bread and water with the boy, and when the child went to sleep on the hard boards, his father’s arm was his pillow.
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He who knew no sin suffered for the sinner.
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That is what Jesus did for us...
He knew no sin...
Yet He took our place that we deserved...
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Jesus was the long awaited promised Messiah...
And all of Isreal should have been as joyful as Mary, Elizabeth and even the little baby John...
Yet that was not the case...
He was slandered...
He was rejected...
Humiliated and beaten...
And eventually crucified.
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This is a truth we as believers must remind ourselves of every moment of every day...
And this is the truth the world needs to hear...
So, I challenge you...
Go forth this week and declare the truth of the Gospel of Jesus...
This world is passing away...
And time is running out...
Show the world the joy that is inside you...
Show the world that Christ is your everything...
And the source of the joy the world can never understand...
Or ever take away from you!
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To God be all the glory.
Amen.
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Please join us for one more song from the Praise Band.