And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
And blessed is'she that believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord.
Happy will she be who had faith that the things which the Lord has said to her will be done.
And blessed is she that believed that there will be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!"
And blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord.
Blessed is she that believed; for there shall be, etc. - Or, Blessed is she who hath believed that there shall be, etc. This I believe to be the proper arrangement of the passage, and is thus noticed in the marginal reading. Faith is here represented as the foundation of true happiness, because it receives the fulfillment of God's promises. Whatever God has promised, he intends to perform. We should believe whatever he has spoken - his own authority is a sufficient reason why we should believe. Let us only be convinced that God has given the promise, and then implicit faith becomes an indispensable duty: in this case not to believe implicitly would be absurd and unreasonable - God will perform his promise, for He cannot lie.
Blessed is she that believed - That is, "Mary" who believed what the angel spoke to her. She was blessed not only in the act of believing, but because the thing promised would certainly be fulfilled.
From these expressions of Elizabeth we may learn:
1. That the spirit of prophecy had not entirely ceased among the Jews.
2. That the Holy Spirit is the source of light, comfort, and joy.
3. That everything about the birth of Jesus was remarkable, and that he must have been more than a mere man.
4. That the prospect of the coming of the Messiah was one of great joy and rejoicing to ancient saints; and,
5. That it was a high honor to be "the mother" of him that should redeem mankind.
It is from "that honor" that the Roman Catholics have determined that it is right to worship the Virgin Mary and to offer prayers to her - an act of worship as idolatrous as any that could be offered to a creature. Because:
1. It is not anywhere commanded in the Bible.
2. It is expressly forbidden to worship any being but God, Exodus 34:14; Exodus 20:4-5; Deuteronomy 6:13-14; Isaiah 45:20.
3. It is idolatry to worship or pray to a creature.
4. It is absurd to suppose that the Virgin Mary can be in all places at the same time to hear the prayers of thousands at once, or to aid them. There is no idolatry more gross, and of course more wicked, than to worship the creature more than the Creator, Romans 1:25.
1:45 Happy is she that believed - Probably she had in her mind the unbelief of Zacharias.