EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
3/9/2026 7:25 PM
My
Worship Time Focus PT-2 “Mary and Elizabeth: Confirming Angelic Prophecy”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
1:39-45
Message of the verses: 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.’” (ESV)
“Afflicted with a terminal illness, the godly king
Hezekiah ‘prayed to the Lord, saying, ‘Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You,
how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what
is good in Your sight’’ (2 Kings 20:2-3).
In answer to Hezekiah’s prayer, God sent Isaiah the prophet to him
with the good news that his prayer had been answered, ‘Hezekiah said to
Isaiah, ‘What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go
up to the house of the Lord the third day?’’ (V-8). As He had with Moses and Gideon, God
granted Hezekiah a sign that what He had promised would come to pass:
“9 And Isaiah said, "This shall be the sign
to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has promised:
shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?" 10 And Hezekiah answered, "It is an easy
thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten
steps." 11 And Isaiah the prophet
called to the LORD, and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had
gone down on the steps of Ahaz.” (2 Kings 20:9-11) (ESV)
“Even John
the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah and the greatest man who had ever
lived up to that time (Matt. 11:11), struggled with doubt:
“2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds
of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to
come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell
John what you hear and see: 5 the blind
receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear,
and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by
me.’” (Matt. 11:2-6) (ESV)
MacArthur goes on to write: “As this passage opens, Mary had just
received from the angel Gabriel the most astonishing, unimaginable,
incomprehensible announcement any human has ever heard. Incredibly, his message to her was that she
was to be the mother of the Messiah; the Son of God incarnate, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Mary had responded in humble,
obedient, submissive faith (1:38), trusting that God would do as He had said.
“Although Mary did not ask for a
sign, God, knowing how startling and unsetting His message to her was, gave her
one anyway. The sign, involving her
older relative, Elizabeth. Luke’s gospel record opens with the stories of these
two miracles, one involving a barren, older woman past childbearing age, and
the other a young, unmarried virgin in her early teens. The child of the first would be the forerunner
of the Messiah, John the Baptist; the second would be the Messiah Himself, the
Lord Jesus Christ.
“Until this point, the two narratives
had been separate. Elizabeth lived in the hill country of Judah, in the
vicinity of Jerusalem, while Mary lived in the small Galilean village of
Nazareth, approximately sixty miles to the north. But in this passage the two stories come
together, as Mary visits Elizabeth. The
two incidents, though separate in time and location, nonetheless contain many
striking parallels.
“For example, both accounts began by
introducing the parents, or in Mary’s case, parent (1:5-6, 26-27). Second, both accounts stated the obstacles to
childbearing (Elizabeth’s barrenness [1:7]; Mary’s virginity [1:34]). Third, Gabriel arrived (1:11, 26), and his
appearing frightened the one to whom he appeared (1:12, 29). Fourth, Gabriel reassured the one to whom he
appeared (1:13, 30). Fifth, Gabriel
promised a son (1:13, 31). Sixth Gabriel
gave the son’s name (1:13, 31), and described his greatness (1:15-17,
32-33). Seventh, there was an objection
(Zachariahs’s unbelief [1:18]; Mary’ lack of understanding [1:34]). Finally, Gabriel gave a sign that what he had
spoken would come true (1:19-20, 35-36).
“Luke’s brief description of Mary’s
meeting with Elizbeth emphasizes God’s confirmation of His promise to Mary that
she would conceive a Son while still a virgin.
The account reveals three aspects of that confirmation: personal confirmation, physical confirmation, and prophetic
confirmation.”
3/9/2026 7:51 PM
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