39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 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: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. 46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. 54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; 55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. 56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.
The saying ‘a joy shared is a joy doubled’ was certainly true for Mary and Elizabeth. They were first cousins, and therefore John the Baptist and Jesus Christ would be related as second cousins. Mary travelled seventy or eighty miles south to the city of Judah where Elizabeth lived. On arriving, sensing the proximity of the unborn Christ in Mary’s womb, Elizabeth’s son leaped within her. At that point Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit (vv. 41, 44). There is no sense of competition between the women as to whose son was the greatest. Instead, Elizabeth bursts forth in spontaneous praise of the Lord Jesus, her Messiah (vv. 42, 43).
Mary’s hymn (1:46–56) praises the faithfulness of God to His promise and His blessing of those who are humble before Him, setting up a major Lukan theme. Her praise is personal in tone. Zechariah reiterated the hope in national, Davidic terms and set forth the superior relationship of Jesus to John (1:67–79). In doing so, Zechariah links spiritual promises and national promises to Davidic hope, another theme Luke would develop in the Gospel. The goal of salvation is to free God’s people to serve Him without fear and to enable them to walk in God’s path of peace. In these accounts Mary pictures the one who trusts God (1:36–38), Elizabeth is the one who rejoices in God (1:39–45), while Zechariah learns to trust God
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