And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
Luke gives the early history of the mission of Jesus more largely than the other evangelists, and this verse stands within that extended telling which includes the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus, the angelic vision to the shepherds and their worship of the child Jesus, the presentation in the temple, the preaching of John the Baptist, the genealogy of Jesus as Saviour of all nations traced back to Adam, the temptation of Jesus, and His ministry in Nazareth about six months later. It belongs to the visit of Mary to Elizabeth, one of the incidents connected with the birth of John the Baptist following the angel's annunciation, occurring about B.C. 5. Elizabeth spoke the blessing at her house before Mary responded with praise to God.
Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, filled with the Holy Spirit, loudly blessed Mary among women and blessed the child she carried. That child is Jesus, the promised Son of God. In this she testified to the coming Messiah. The word rendered among is the same word rendered among in Luke 17:21, supporting the sense in the midst of rather than within.
The chapter is one of the accounts of angels intervening in human affairs under God's direction, showing that its events are supernatural and are not merely influences or impulses. The verse belongs to the account of the birth of Jesus that fulfills the prediction that a child is born and proves that Jesus was a real human being. He was begotten by the power of the Highest and was born of Mary in Bethlehem of Judea in the reign of Augustus Caesar. That birth is a landmark in the fulfillment of the gospel promises of the Old Testament.
Mary was blessed among women, but her blessing did not give her divine power or make her able to save others. She was the human mother of Jesus, not the mother of His divinity, and she needed a Saviour just as others do, naming God as her Saviour in her own words. Mary the mother of the Lord was greatly blessed, but her blessing came through Jesus the fruit of her womb, and people are blessed through Jesus alone. Her standing as most blessed among women has been invoked as a reason to argue that adoration of her has at least as much warrant as celebrating her Son's birth as a religious holiday.
Luke gives the early history of the mission of Jesus more largely than the other evangelists, and this verse stands within that extended telling which includes the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus, the angelic vision to the shepherds and their worship of the child Jesus, the presentation in the temple, the preaching of John the Baptist, the genealogy of Jesus as Saviour of all nations traced back to Adam, the temptation of Jesus, and His ministry in Nazareth about six months later. It belongs to the visit of Mary to Elizabeth, one of the incidents connected with the birth of John the Baptist following the angel's annunciation, occurring about B.C. 5. Elizabeth spoke the blessing at her house before Mary responded with praise to God.
Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, filled with the Holy Spirit, loudly blessed Mary among women and blessed the child she carried. That child is Jesus, the promised Son of God. In this she testified to the coming Messiah. The word rendered among is the same word rendered among in Luke 17:21, supporting the sense in the midst of rather than within.
The chapter is one of the accounts of angels intervening in human affairs under God's direction, showing that its events are supernatural and are not merely influences or impulses. The verse belongs to the account of the birth of Jesus that fulfills the prediction that a child is born and proves that Jesus was a real human being. He was begotten by the power of the Highest and was born of Mary in Bethlehem of Judea in the reign of Augustus Caesar. That birth is a landmark in the fulfillment of the gospel promises of the Old Testament.
Mary was blessed among women, but her blessing did not give her divine power or make her able to save others. She was the human mother of Jesus, not the mother of His divinity, and she needed a Saviour just as others do, naming God as her Saviour in her own words. Mary the mother of the Lord was greatly blessed, but her blessing came through Jesus the fruit of her womb, and people are blessed through Jesus alone. Her standing as most blessed among women has been invoked as a reason to argue that adoration of her has at least as much warrant as celebrating her Son's birth as a religious holiday.