MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/10/2026
10:24 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“Personal Confirmation”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Focus: Luke
1:39-40
Message of the verses: “Now at this time Mary arose and went
in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of
Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.”
I can see that Mary seems to be in a
hurry as the verse states, and the reason was she wanted to find out more information,
and the Angel had told her that Elizabeth was pregnant in her old age. It looks like that as Mary would stay with
Elizabeth for three months and that would mean that Mary must have left right
before the birth of John the Baptist.
Mary did not have the modern
convenience of driving to Jerusalem so she had to walk which probably would
have taken three to four days. MacArthur
adds “Such a journey by a girl of Mary’s age was highly unusual in the culture
where young girls were carefully shielded and protected. In addition, though the Bible nowhere
mentions the exact moment of her conception, Mary no doubt was already pregnant
when she made the trip. Some have even
suggested that the reason show went was to hide her pregnancy. But her pregnancy would not have been evident
that soon after conception. And if that
were Mary’s intent, she would hardly have returned home three months later when her condition would
have been obvious to all. It is doubtful that Joeseph was aware that Mary was
pregnant. The account of Joseph’s
awareness of Mary’s pregnancy, his response, the next angelic visit is given by
Matthew (1:18-25).”
MacArthur goes on to write about the
city where Elizabeth and her husband were living. “The exact location of the city (village)
of Judah where Zacharias and Elizabeth lived is unknown, although a
sixth-century tradition places it about five miles from Jerusalem. After arriving there Mary entered the
house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth (cf. vv. 41, 44). Unlike the brief, casual even flippant
greetings common today, a greeting in the Ancient Near East was an extended
social event, involving a lengthy dialogue.
Moses’ encounter with his father-in-law, Jethro, illustrates such a
greeting:
“7 ¶ Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and
bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went
into the tent. 8 Then Moses told his
father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for
Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the
LORD had delivered them. 9 And Jethro
rejoiced for all the good that the LORD had done to Israel, in that he had
delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. (Exodus 18:7-9) ESV)
I think that I would have liked to have been around
when Mary first entered Zacharias and Elizabeth’s home and listened to the
conversation. Imagine who would have
been living in the wombs of Mary and Elizebeth, and as one fast forward about
thirty years John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus Christ would be seen together
as John would be baptizing Jesus so that He could begin His ministry.
MacArthur concludes this section by
writing “Mary would share her wonderful news with Elizabeth, confident that she
was the one person Mary could count on to believe her story. Others might have viewed her account as
far-fetched attempt to cover up her sexual immorality and resulting
pregnancy. Even Joseph, who knew her
well, did not believe Mary’s account, and intended to divorce her (Matt.
1:19). It was not until he heard the
truth from an angel (vv. 20-21, 24-25) that he accepted what had really
happened. Therefore, the text does not
reveal what, if anything Mary said to him, her family, or her friends; it says
only that she told Ezlisabeth, since she too had experienced a miraculous
conception. Hearing Elizabeth’s account,
and even more seeing her condition, also confirmed to Mary that God would keep
His word to her.”
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life Today: I want to go back to look at what
may have happened when Mary walked into the house of Elizabeth and
Zacharias. In the grand Skeem of things
this was a very, very big deal, but if you don’t stop and think about it you
may miss that. In that house in the
wombs of these two women began the greatest miracle ever to happen on the face
of this earth.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to trust the Lord to show
me what could be called “little things” as I go about my day today, to not miss
anything that the Lord desires me to see.
3/10/2026
11:22 AM
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