Good news! Luke chapter one
Joyce Voysey

What good news the angel Gabriel has for Zacharias – his son is to be someone very special who would ‘make ready a people prepared for the Lord’, the promised Messiah.  No wonder he was blinded by the magnitude of this revelation.  Elisabeth does indeed conceive: she secludes herself for five months, glorying in the honour which has been placed on her, and perhaps avoiding criticism of her conception in her old age, quite a concept to accept!  Oh! Five months, I suppose it was possible to actually hide the physical evidence for that length of time.

 

Meantime, the angel Gabriel is busy in a mightier task.  He is preparing Mary, a cousin of Elisabeth, for the reception of the Christ child.  She is told that “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee.”  And she shall bring forth the Son of God.  (Now, why did the angel come to the father of John rather than to the mother Elisabeth?  Did John’s conception require the authority of the temple and priesthood?)

 

We are privileged in this age to have scientific definitions of Bible terms in the Glossary to Science and Health, so we can check up on the definition of ‘Holy Ghost.’ 

 

Holy Ghost.  Divine Science; the development of eternal Life, Truth, and Love. 

and

‘Son of God.’  Son.  The Son of God, the Messiah or Christ. 

 

Mary visits Elisabeth – what a lot they had to talk about!  And what a spiritually-minded woman Elisabeth was – she recognised Mary’s coming child as the ’mother of my Lord.’  She too was filled with the Holy Ghost; she was an elder – Mary came to her, not vice versa.  Was Mary aware of the wisdom and love Elisabeth had gained in maturity?

 

Mary’s song of praise in verses 46-55 has been called the Magnificat.  This is no weak woman who is to be the mother of Jesus.  She knew God and she knew God’s power.  It makes me think of the wastage of woman-power in all the years that males governed the church.

 

Mary was undoubtedly meek, as we are told in Numbers (12:3) that Moses was meek.  And meek as her son was meek.  ‘Meek as he was mighty’ Science and Health says of him (p. 597, line 6).