Godly Mothers and Women
In response to this wonderful greeting by Elizabeth, Mary now breaks out into poetry (vv. 46–55). In this magnificent piece we read about her humble gratitude for what God has done in choosing her for the task of carrying and giving birth to the Messiah (vv. 46–49).
Mary’s faith displayed itself in praise. In a song resembling Hannah’s in
“The Magnificat,” as the song is called, consists almost entirely of Old Testament allusions and quotations.
Mary’s song has similarities to Hannah’s song (
Mary’s poetic reply is known as the ‘Magnificat’ (the Latin verb for ‘glorifies’).
It is built on Hannah’s song in
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
She knew herself to be a sinner who needed a Saviour, and that she could no otherwise rejoice in God than as interested in his salvation through the promised Messiah.
Great care was taken in the selection of wives for the Jewish priests, so that the line of priests might be kept in every respect unsullied. One authority states: “It was lawful for a priest to marry a Levitess, or, indeed, a daughter of Israel; but it was most commendable of all to marry one of the priest’s line.” Zechariah was especially honored in having for his wife one of the descendants of Aaron (Leviticus, chapters 8 and 9).
commandments and ordinances—The one expressing their moral—the other their ceremonial—obedience [CALVIN and BENGEL], (Compare Ez 11:20;
The father and mother of John the Baptist were sinners as all are, and were justified and saved in the same way as others; but they were eminent for piety and integrity
God continually looks among his people not for the rich and famous but for the righteous and holy to join him in his work of salvation. He saves you with imputed righteousness and uses you through realized righteousness.
δίκαιος, just; especially, just in the eyes of God,
Here were two among those righteous few who looked for God’s Messiah in saving faith, rather than trusting in their own self-righteousness (cf.
The term “righteous” refers both to spiritual and ethical righteousness. They were right with God in both their lives and their behavior
ἄμεμπτος, blameless.
The expression blamelessly does not mean that they were perfect (sinless), but that when they sinned, they carefully followed the Old Testament method for dealing with sins.
βρέφος. infant, babe, bantling, child in arms: ἀπὸ βρέφους, from babyhood (cf. a pueris).
σκιρτάω, I leap, bound, jump.
πίμπλημι, I fill.
it is plain that this maternal sensation was something extraordinary—a sympathetic emotion of the unconscious babe, at the presence of the mother of his Lord.
Mary’s visit provided further confirmation of the message in that she was greeted by Elizabeth apparently spontaneously with a blessing. She realized that Mary was to be the mother of the Messiah, and she was overjoyed that she should visit her. She praised Mary for accepting the angel’s word. Even the movements of the foetus in her womb were seen as a response to Mary’s arrival.
By the filling of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth gets loud and blesses Mary as well as her baby Jesus in the womb. Apparently Elizabeth receives a revelation from God. Once Mary walks into the room, Elizabeth announces without prior communication that Mary carries her Lord. Elizabeth knows that Mary has believed the word she received from the Lord. Even the fetus John leaps for joy in his mother’s womb when Mary, carrying Jesus, enters.
It’s customary for us to think the first to confess that Jesus is the Christ was Peter. Actually, the first to make this confession is the older woman, Elizabeth, who confesses Jesus is Lord even before Jesus is born.
How did she know this? “Jesus is Lord” is the earliest of the Christian confessions. Paul tells us that no one can truly call Jesus “Lord” unless the Spirit gives him the ability (
44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ESV
leaped - σκιρτάω, I leap, bound, jump.
joy - ἀγαλλίασις, wild joy, ecstatic delight, exultation, exhilaration.
If the parable of the Good Samaritan exposes racism and ethnic prejudice as anti-Christian, then this story exposes sexism as anti-Christian. Our Lord, from the beginning, loves and includes women among his disciples and in his fellowship.
John 11:1
The placement of this story after the parable of the good Samaritan may remind the reader that hearing is directly tied to obedience. Like the good Samaritan, right hearing of the word results in the right practice of it.
The story of Martha and Mary is unique to Luke and once again reveals the Lukan evangelist’s interest in the role women played in the ministry of Jesus (cf.
Received (ὐπεδέξατο). From ὕπο, under, and δέχομαι, to receive. Received him under her roof. Martha is marked as the head of the household. It was her house. She received the guest, and was chiefly busy with the preparations for his entertainment (ver. 40).
Hath left (κατέλιπεν). The aorist, as Rev., did leave, indicating that she had been assisting before she was drawn off by Jesus’ presence.
Was cumbered (περιεσπᾶτο). Only here in New Testament. The Rev. might better have inserted in the text the marginal rendering, was distracted. The verb means, literally, to draw from around (περί). Martha’s attention, instead of centring round Jesus, was drawn hither and thither. The περί, around, in composition with the verb, is followed immediately by another περί, “about much serving.”
περισπάω, I distract, trouble greatly.
Those who have no sympathy for Martha have not had the experience of trying to prepare a special meal for a large number of people. Martha’s exasperation is perfectly understandable. She believes (and rightly so, according to custom and culture in her day) that her sister should not leave all the serving to Martha alone. She wants Jesus, the Master, to send Mary to the kitchen to help her sister.
The double use of her name (“Martha, Martha”) is not rebuke but affection as he corrects her.
μεριμνάω, I am over-anxious;
The rebuke that Jesus gave Martha was gentle; her heart was right; it was her priorities that were wrong. And, too, she was focusing on herself.
θορυβάζω, I disturb greatly.
Troubled (θορυβάζῃ). From θόρυβος, tumult. Anxious denotes the inward uneasiness: troubled, the outward confusion and bustle
It is interesting that Martha does all the talking in this section, and Mary never says a word, just centering on Jesus and his teaching. This is highly unusual, for there was debate in rabbinic circles as to whether women should be allowed to learn Torah (most felt they could), and Mary has the posture of a disciple. Martha is the proper woman, Mary somewhat of an aberration. Jesus is redefining the place of women.
Sat (παρακαθέσθεισα). Only here in New Testament. Lit., sat beside (παρά).
Mary’s posture and eagerness to absorb Jesus’ teaching at the expense of a more traditional womanly role (10:40) would have shocked most Jewish men.
The rabbis had taught people to listen to wise men or teachers but not to talk much with women. Jesus, the wisest of men, welcomed Mary to his audience of learners.
sat—“seated herself.” From the custom of sitting beneath an instructor, the phrase “sitting at one’s feet” came to mean being a disciple of any one (
Sitting at Christ’s feet, signifies readiness to receive his word, and submission to the guidance of it
According to the rabbis, learning Torah is better than any other activity (cf. m. ’Abot 2:8; 3:2).
A Church full of Marys would perhaps be as great an evil as a Church full of Marthas. Both are needed, each to be the complement of the other.
Jesus says that “only one thing is needed,” meaning that only one dish is needed. But this one thing also stands for the better part which Mary has chosen, namely, listening to the Word of God. The implication is that Martha, if she kept the preparations simple, could also listen to Jesus. The story is significant because Jesus, in contrast to most Jewish teachers of the day, encouraged learning among women. Sitting at a teacher’s feet (v. 39) is the usual posture of a student, indicating that Mary was one of his pupils.
🔹 Could Joanna Have Been Related to Theophilus?
Joanna's Background:
Theophilus:
Connecting Joanna to Theophilus:
🔹 Could Theophilus Have Been a High Priest?
Who was Theophilus ben Ananus?
Why Some Think He’s Luke’s Theophilus:
The women suddenly remember Jesus’ earlier statements and report the resurrection to the Eleven. Just as the shepherds were the first witnesses to Jesus’ birth, these women (who are marginalized in first-century Jewish culture) are the first witnesses to the resurrection.
In that day a woman’s word would not be accepted in a court of law, for example. Women were regarded, as they sometimes are by prejudiced men in our day, as emotional, given to hysteria, and intellectually untrustworthy. This, by the way, is a proof that these things happened. In that day if you wanted your report to be credible, you would not have had a woman be the main witness to the story. If you were making it up, you would have used a male to first report the incident because of prejudice against women.
Joanna appears elsewhere only in
Joanna was apparently a woman of some status since her husband, Chuza, managed Herod’s house.
Joanna was the wife of an important official in Herod’s service, his “steward” or manager of his extensive estate (epitropos). So she would have been a rich aristocrat by marriage and quite able to help. She too was a witness of Jesus’ resurrection (24:10). As a Herodian she probably faced some rejection from many Jewish believers, and we don’t know how she and her husband worked out her time away from home and duties. In every way she sacrificed greatly for Jesus.
