Daily Bible Reading 11th March 2026 // Luke 1:39-45
39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
We will need to say a word or two about the significance of the virgin Mary and the place she should have in our thinking. The facts of the situation are these: the sovereign Lord approached His creature, and bestowed upon this unknown, insignificant, peasant woman the unique privilege and dignity of becoming the mother of the Saviour of the world. This unique happening does not, however, stand in isolation from the rest of history; it stands at the close of the Old Testament era, and is its culmination. The whole history of the old economy is summed up and finds fulfilment in this encounter. This is the marvel and the mystery of godliness. It was indeed a moment of destiny, planned before the foundation of the world. Through all the primal work of creation, as recorded in Genesis, God Almighty had this encounter in mind; through all the experiences of Abraham, the wanderings of the children of Israel, the backslidings and declensions of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel and the turmoil and travail of the captivity, God had His eyes steadily fixed on this, and everything was leading to this moment. It was the one far-off divine event to which the whole creation moved, as the poets have put it. True, this sovereign outworking of the divine purposes must be seen to enclose within it the responsible choice and submission of the human instrument of it. Mary said, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy word'. It is this that sets Mary's significance in a true perspective. As one of the commentators puts it, 'Mary's blessedness (28) consisted simply in this, that, having been chosen for special service and having received an amazing promise, she believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord'. And that is a blessedness which we all may share by showing a like faith and submission (45).