Luke 1:36 Commentary and Bible Study

This is said as further encouragement for Mary to believe. It is important that she believes, for the incarnation is among the great works that God has done, and his works are intended to not only achieve wonderful things, but to be appreciated by his people and a source of praise to his holy name. How can we praise him if we do not know what he has done? How can we know what he has done without believing the explanation he gives us? God’s people are not simply chess pieces, moved unknowingly around the board; they are willing actors who cooperate with his purposes and admire what he is doing in their lives. This is the first that Mary has heard about Elizabeth’s pregnancy; they live some distance apart. It is a divine revelation to her of news she would not have received in an age when everything was conveyed by word of mouth. Elizabeth has been hiding for five months, and is now in her sixth month and has come back into circulation. Only then has her condition become public knowledge. Mary knows Elizabeth is elderly, and it must have been an accepted fact in the family that Elizabeth was barren and would not be able to have children, but God has done something wonderful in her life. Although she is not without a husband like Mary, she and Zacharias are so far beyond the possibility of natural childbirth, that God’s hand must be in this also.Elizabeth is called her ‘cousin’, but the Greek says ‘relative’ or ‘kinsman’ (feminine). Although Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron who was of the tribe of Levi, and Mary was of the tribe of Judah, some intermarriage had taken place in the past to link the two families, and they apparently knew each other well.‘For with God nothing shall be impossible.’ When God chooses to work, there is no limit to what he can do. He can do anything that is consistent with his glorious attributes. This truth is set before Mary to encourage her to believe. God is going to do something unheard of in her life. She must not doubt this just because it seems a hard thing to do. She must set the almighty power of God against all difficulties, and be assured that what he has said he will do, he is certainly able to do.