In the previous message we began to consider the conception of John the Baptist, the Lord’s forerunner, and the conception of the Man-Savior. Luke 1:5-25 describes the conception of the forerunner, and 1:26-56, the conception of the Man-Savior. In this message we shall consider the blessing of the mother of the Man-Savior’s forerunner (vv. 39-45) and the praise of the Man-Savior’s mother (vv. 46-56).
Luke 1:41 says, “And it came about as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, that the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist. This verse tells us that she was filled with the Spirit. There is no indication that she prayed or fasted in order to be filled with the Spirit. This verse simply says that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. By being filled with the Spirit she blessed Mary, the mother of the Man-Savior.
Verse 42 says, “And she lifted up her voice with a loud cry and said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” Elizabeth’s blessing by the Holy Spirit (v. 41) reveals the Savior’s humanity as the fruit and His deity as the Lord (v. 43). Her blessing also confirms Mary’s faith in the Lord’s word (v. 45). Such a blessing indicates that Elizabeth was also a godly woman, fit for God’s use in carrying out His purpose.
The Greek word rendered “fruit” in verse 42, karpos, is used for Christ in the sense of offspring only here and in Acts 2:30. This word is used for the fruit of the tree of life in Revelation 22:2. Christ is the branch of Jehovah (Isa. 4:2) and of David (Jer. 23:5), and the fruit of Mary and of David that we may eat of Him as the tree of life (Rev. 2:7).
It is significant that Elizabeth blessed the fruit of Mary’s womb. Instead of using the word “child,” Elizabeth used the word “fruit.” It is correct to say that the fruit here refers to a child. But this word also indicates that the Lord Jesus is fruit to us, the fruit for us to take in as our life supply.
Elizabeth also blessed Mary in verse 45: “And blessed is she who believed, because there shall be a completion of the things spoken to her from the Lord.” In contrast to the unbelieving Zachariah (v. 20), Mary believed what the angel said to her. Elizabeth said to Mary that there would be a completion of the things spoken to her from the Lord. This was a prophecy by the Holy Spirit to confirm the Lord’s word in verses 30 through 37 spoken to Mary by the angel Gabriel.
In verse 43 Elizabeth says, “And how can this be, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Elizabeth, being filled with the Holy Spirit, recognized the fruit of Mary’s womb as her Lord. This indicates that she acknowledged the deity of the Child to be born of Mary (Psa. 110:1; Matt. 22:43-45).
When the word fruit is used in the Scriptures to denote a child, it refers to humanity. Hence, in 1:42 “fruit” refers to the Lord Jesus in His humanity. Now we see in verse 43 that Elizabeth went on to recognize this human One as her Lord.
Elizabeth and Mary were cousins. No doubt, Elizabeth was much older than Mary. Nevertheless, this elderly woman recognized that the child of her younger cousin was her Lord. Even before His birth, Elizabeth recognized that the Lord Jesus, the Man-Savior, was both man and God. In her blessing, therefore, we have a revelation of the divine-human Person of the Man-Savior.
Verse 41 says that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in Elizabeth’s womb. The forerunner of the Man-Savior even exulted upon meeting the Savior, while both of them were still in their mothers’ wombs. Concerning this, Elizabeth says in verse 44, “For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby leaped in my womb with exultation.” This is marvelous and beyond our understanding.