Monday Meditation
January 30, 2012
My Lord
” …the babe leaped in her womb … the mother of My Lord … the babe leaped in my womb for joy … There shall be a performance of those things that were told her by the Lord.”
Luke 2:41-45
Subsequent to Gabriel’s announcement of her virgin conception, Mary arose and journeyed from Nazareth in Galilee, to a hill country in Judah. She went to be with Elizabeth. One cannot help but find great comfort in the ways of the Spirit of God. She would be there for three months. She was with a couple who were beyond reproach. While there, it is likely that the conception occurred. No one could question the purity of the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth. Joseph would have been back in Nazareth. The Spirit of God was preserving, as much as possible, the reputation of this young handmaid.
Mary’s arrival, however, in the home of Elizabeth, became the occasion for two remarkable events: the reaction of the babe in Elizabeth’s womb, and the response from Elizabeth’s heart.
The still, unborn John leapt in his mother’s womb. We are further told that it was out of joy. Was it the joy of John or the joy of Elizabeth? If the former, it is remarkable that joy is mentioned twice in connection with John and Christ: at His advent (Luke 1:44) and at His ascendancy (John 3:29). How admirable that a man found his joy fulfilled in Christ having His place.
But the remarkable account of the babe leaping in Elizabeth’s womb is paralleled by the equally significant confession of her heart. She calls the yet to be born babe, “My Lord.” A godly, mature woman owns that the young teenage girl standing before her, sharing her joy, is the special vessel who is the mother of “my Lord.” She links herself with a line of individuals who own Him as “my Lord.” David did prior to His coming into the world (Ps 110:1). Mary spoke of the Christ she assumed dead as “my Lord” (John 20:13). Thomas looked on the mortal wounds displayed in a living Man, and made the same confession (John 20:28). Lastly, Paul confessed Him as “my Lord” (Phil 3:8).
Consider:
1. Look at all the ways God confirmed His dealings to Mary. Verse 45 affords one such example. Chapter 2 will provide others as well as incidents in the Matthew account of His birth.
2. Look at when the various confessions as to Christ as Lord occurred. Which would have required the greatest faith?
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