Topic: Virgin Mother Mary
What if your friend visits you with great news? Your friend would have news about her/his marriage, new baby, or new job promotion. Whatever is, your friend wants to tell you about the news. Does your friend tell you good news of his/her life? Do you love your friend when he/she has great report? What if your friend has bad report, do you still have that same love in your friendship? In Proverbs 17:17 says, "A friend loves you all the time…"
You can love your friend even though your friend can’t agree with you for some of the time. You can love your boy- or girlfriend even though your relationship isn’t working out. Jesus gave us a command: Love each other (John 15:17). Even though, your family is like your friend, love each other. In I Corinthians 13, Paul announced that the greatest gift of all is love. Why do you think Mary visited to see Elizabeth to announce the birth of the Messiah?
In Luke 1:39-45, we will see how Mary and Elizabeth welcome each other. Also, we will discover why God gave these women the blessing among of all women. Please, read with me Luke 1:39-45.
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" (Luke 1:39-45.)
In Luke 1:39-40, we see that Mary went to Zechariah’s house to greet her relative, Elizabeth (1:36). Mary was spent to travel to Judea for many days, because it was the great distance to Judea from Nazareth. Of course, we know that there was no car or electronic transportation. They only have farm animals, such as donkey. But Mary took the risk to go and meet Elizabeth with the great news.
What if you receive the great news of your life, would you decide to go and visit your friend and tell about it? Nowadays, we have many technologies are available to us to touch with our friends from the great distance. We might use the Online Messenger to chat with our friends or e-mail or telephone. If you like to visit your friend, there are many ways to visit your friends. Why Mary decided to go to Elizabeth by donkey or other animal to meet her relative? In a few moments, we will see the dramatic action when Mary went to see her relative.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, there was something miraculous appeared from her. As we read in Luke 1:41, Elizabeth received an unborn baby as soon as she heard Mary’s arrival. The Authorize Version of the Bible said, "And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb…" This unborn child will be called John the Baptist and he will be prepared the road for the Messiah. We will see this person’s duty and his faith as we go through the baptism of Jesus. Also, notice that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit in that same verse. John 14:17 said that anybody cannot receive the Holy Spirit unless the Counselor lives in that person through Jesus Christ.
How? You must believe in Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord. You may go to Sunday worship or mass service and listen to what the preacher is saying; and go to your regular schedule. God didn’t call us only for the Sunday event, but He called us to have the personal loving relationship with Him through our daily schedules. In Luke 1:5-38, the angel called Zechariah and Mary to explain what God would about to do’ through their lives. Exodus 34:6-7 explains that God is a compassionate and merciful God and wants to have the relationship with you. That is why Jesus left us a gift of the Holy Spirit with us, so we can communicate with Him daily. In a case of Elizabeth, the Holy Spirit will lead her to God’s promise.
In Luke 1:42-45 (NLT), we see that Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary. "You are blessed by God above all other women, and your child is blessed. What an honor this is, that the mother of my Lord should visit me! When you came in and greeted me, my baby jumped for joy the instant I heard your voice! You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what he said."
Why Elizabeth thinks that God blesses Mary among all other women? Before I take you this question, let’s look back to women in the Book of Genesis. Even though God only gave Adam to have dominion over Garden of Eden, He also created Eve to accompany the man (Genesis 2:20b-25), so he didn’t had to be lonely. Yet, throughout the Book of Genesis, God gave women the blessings among the nation. For example, God gave Sarah Isaac in her old age. Then He gave her and her family the blessing among the nation. Although God didn’t gave women the same rule as men received, He used women for His purpose for the family. No wonder why Paul said that there are two different rules among the husband and wife in I Timothy 2.
Why God blessed Mary? Even though Mary was born from the sin nature (Rom 3:23), why He blessed her? Although the Bible does not show about Mary’s childhood, God even can use the foolish things of the world to accomplish His plan and His prophecy. (See I Corinthians 1:26-29.) Because God loved Mary as His child, He gave Mary an assignment to take care His Son, Jesus, while He was on the mission for His Father. In Luke 1:45 says, "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished."
Do you believe God is working in your life? Being Christian, it doesn’t mean that we need to find certain denominational group to believe that God is real in our lives. There are so many different ways to learn about the Christianity of the world, but we only need to know the true basic of the Word and Character of God—the gospel of Jesus Christ and His characters toward to the other people and us—and have fellowship with Him in our daily schedules.
Are you saved? Are your love ones and friends saved in the grace of God through Jesus Christ? The purpose of this ministry is to share with you how much God loves you and me and wants to come in our own life to take us through any obstacles in our daily life. As Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:1-3.)
If you are lukewarm in your relationship with Jesus Christ and want to know Him as your personal Savior and Lord of your life, please consider asking Him to forgive your sins and invite Him into your life. Paul says, "That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believed and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." (Romans 10:9-10.) If you have done in your private room or workplace, then you need to tell to your friends or love ones about what you have done, so they may rejoice with you and want to have that relationship with Christ in their own life. There are many occultisms in the world, which do not know the love of God and His great plan for those who believe in Him. As it is written in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
