Luke 1:39-45 - Zacharias’s Bouncing Baby Boy

ZACHARIAS:

Zacharias’s Bouncing Baby Boy

Luke 1:39-45

Luke 1:39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.

Susan: Mary may have fled Nazareth to avoid prying eyes and whispering lips as her own pregnancy developed.

Susie: But I believe she wanted to see the miracle of Elisabeth’s pregnancy in person as well. That would give her further confirmation of the angel’s prophesy concerning her own son.

Luke 1:41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

Susie: When Mary spoke a greeting to her relative Elisabeth, the unborn baby John, filled with the Holy Spirit, jumped for joy!

Susan: Elisabeth was overjoyed as she was overcome by the Spirit of the Lord. Then Elisabeth began to prophesy over Mary.

Luke 1:42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

Susie: John, who Gabriel foretold would be filled with the Spirit in the womb, leapt when Mary greeted His mother. 

Susan: An UNBORN baby was the first to recognize the Savior while HE was yet UNBORN. This is a strong argument for the fact that an embryo or fetus is already the person God is forming inside their mother.

  

Susie: The fetus John’s reaction, caused Elizabeth who was also filled with the Holy Spirit at the moment he moved within her to rejoice as well.

Susan: Elizabeth questioned her worthiness to be visited by the mother of the Son of God, but she boldly prophesied concerning Mary because the Holy Spirit empowered and anointed her.

Susie: Elizabeth called Mary “the mother of my Lord,” which says that she already believed Jesus would be the Messiah. No human had told her this. Mary had just arrived, so they had not had time to even discuss the fact that Mary was pregnant and all that Gabriel had told her (Remember: Mary could not phone ahead or send Elizabeth a Facebook message or Tweet about her pregnancy).

Susan: The Holy Spirit prompted Elizabeth to honor Mary’s faith in believing the Lord.

Susie: Somehow, in the moment that baby John moved excitedly in her womb, the Lord caused Elizabeth to know exactly what was going on with her relative, Mary. For this moment in time, the Lord was using Elizabeth as His prophetess.

Susan: The baby boy promised to Zacharias was already fulfilling the angel’s prophesy by preparing his own mother’s heart to be fertile ground for the good news of the Messiah.

QUESTIONS

1.         What happened the moment Mary greeted Elizabeth?

2.         What prophesy given to Zacharias does the baby’s reaction fulfill?

3.         Who empowered Elizabeth to prophesy concerning Mary’s baby?

4.         Could reading about the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth change a person’s perspective on abortion? Why or why not?

PONDER THIS: Things that assure us that a baby inside the womb is already a human soul even before they take their first gulp of air when born.

1.         John was filled with the Spirit even while in his mother’s womb.

2.         John jumped for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice because he recognized by the power of the Spirit that she was carrying the Messiah.

3.         Jesus was recognized by John even though Mary was probably not even showing yet, even though by today’s modern medical standards He would not be “viable.”