MOTHERS’ GREETINGS . There was a woman who greeted a pregnant woman; and the moment she greeted the pregnant woman, the child in the pregnant woman jumped up and the pregnant woman became filled with the Holy Spirit. Thus in the past, someone has caused another person to be filled with the Holy Spirit just by greeting the person. As it is written, “Mary entered into the house of Zachariah, and greeted Elizabeth. And it came to pass, that, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spoke out with a loud voice (shouted), and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:40-45) . Who told you there is no power in greeting? Who told you there is no miracle in greeting? . The baby in her womb did not jump when Mary entered into the house; rather the babe only jumped when Mary greeted. When you enter into the house, greet it: If the household is worthy, then peace will come upon the house - It is not your entrance that brings peace into the house; rather it is your greeting that brings peace into the house – This is what was written (Matthew 10:12-13). The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ prevail over this house; Peace of God be with you; Shalom; Salam. . I realized that greeting was part of the gospel which he brought. Yes, greetings are part of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. If the gospel is about goodnews, greetings are also about goodnews and honour. Somehow, greeting is connected to both gospel and prayer. . Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit while she greeted Elizabeth, and Elizabeth became filled with the Holy Spirit and greeted Mary back and also proclaimed the gospel to her again. Women used greetings to fill one another both with the Holy Spirit and with Joy: Mary’s greeting filled the babe in the womb with Joy and filled the mother of the babe with the Holy Spirit; while Elizabeth’s greeting filled Mary with great joy in return, causing Mary’s soul and spirit to rejoice in the Lord. As it is written, “And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour” (Luke 1:46-47) . For purpose of understanding, Elizabeth mentioned, ‘My Lord’ and also mentioned ‘The Lord.’ My Lord simply means Sir; but the LORD simply means Yahweh or Jehovah. She did not say, Mother of God; rather she said, mother of my Lord. Then later towards the end of Elizabeth’s speech, she said the LORD shall perform what He said to she that believed. Thus, there was ‘my Lord’ and there was ‘the LORD’ in her speech. Be very sensitive about this: she did not call Mary mother of the LORD or mother of God – for that would have being idolatry; rather she only called her mother of my Lord, just as Sarah used to call Abraham, ‘My Lord.’ Even a prophet, Zechariah, called an angel ‘my Lord’ (Zechariah 1:9) - Thus we can call angels ‘my Lords’ (Zechariah 4:4-5, 13); but we cannot call an angel my God or call any angel ‘The Lord.’ . Points I must establish in concluding this update: . The two babies in the different wombs greeted each other using the two mothers as their mouth piece. The greeting did not just affect the two mothers, but affected the two babies in their wombs. When Mary greeted Elizabeth, the first person that responded or received that greeting was the baby in Elizabeth’s womb (John the Baptist). And when Elizabeth greeted Mary back, she was also greeting her Lord in Mary’s womb, for she called Mary, ‘mother of my Lord.’ I submit to you that it was Jesus who first greeted John the Baptist through Mary’s mouth, and John the Baptist responded by jumping up; and so the baby in Elizabeth whom hear the voice of the Word of God in the sound of the greeting that entered into the ears of Elizabeth and responded by jumping in the womb – remember it was the word that was made flesh in the womb of Mary. In returning the greeting back to Jesus, John leaped up and transferred the Holy Spirit, which he had to his mother Elizabeth, and then spoke through Elizabeth to call Jesus my Lord. The person who was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb was John according to what is written: He shall be filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb (Luke 1:15). So it was John’s Holy Spirit that he sent to his mother in order to use her voice to speak in response to Mary. I am sure it was not only Elizabeth that Mary greeted in those days, but it was only Elizabeth that became filled with the Holy Spirit as soon as she heard Mary’s greeting, which is because the child in her womb was the one who was possessed with the Holy Spirit. As it is written, “Verily I say to you, “Among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matthew 11:11-12) . To understand more about how John jumped in his mother’s womb in response to another baby (Jesus) in Mary’s womb, let me compare this with similar occurrence in the past. Jacob and Esau wrestled in their mother’s womb, and the movement they made in the womb caused their mother sorrow and she enquired of the Lord (Genesis 25:22-24). . How do I compare or contrast between the pregnancy of Rebecca, mother of Jacob/Esau and the pregnancy of Elizabeth mother of John the Baptist? Here it is: 1. Rebecca was carrying two nations or two manners of people in her womb; Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:23). Elizabeth also was carrying two persons in her womb; John the Baptist and the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:15). 2. The two children in Rebecca’s womb made unusual movements in her womb, causing her sorrow (Genesis 25:22). On the other hand, the two persons in Elizabeth’s womb made unusual movement in her womb, causing her joy (Luke 1:41). 3. The two children in Rebecca’s womb did not agree with each other and they had to be separated; but the two persons in Elizabeth’s womb agreed with each other and they remained together as one. 4. The two children in Rebecca’s womb were struggling for lordship; however, the elder served the younger while the younger called the elder, my Lord, especially when Jacob wanted to reconcile with Esau while returning from exile. On the other hand, the two persons in Elizabeth’s womb did not need to struggle for lordship, for John knew who the LORD was and the Spirit made his mother to call Jesus my Lord. . However, I must establish that Jesus first greeted John, in as much as Mary first greeted Elizabeth. He is the LORD and He is God, yet He always greets His people. If you know Jesus, you can tell that He always greet people, even though we are all lesser than He is. Jesus greets people, not minding their size or age: He greets people according to favour, not according to their age. . What do I mean He greets people according to favour, according how much He loves them, not according to age? Look at how the same angel, Gabriel, greeted Mary according to Favour; he did not greet Zechariah like that, even though Zechariah was far older than Mary (Luke 1). . Look at how the angel honoured or greeted Gideon who was just a peasant farmer. The angel greeted him according to favour saying, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valour” (Judges 6:12). The angel greeted him according to favour. . God called the two babies in the womb of Rebecca, ‘Two nations or two manners of people.” He did not call them two babies, but called them two nations. That is another way of greeting people according to favour – giving people a name that is above what they appear to be presently. So God saw a child and called him, a nation. . My mother in flesh did this so much to me when I was a baby in her arm, and I remember it. Then she usually held me, smilingly called me by great names and titles while petting me or boosting my morale. She used to smilingly call me in my dialect: ‘My daddy, my hero, my great conqueror, champion of two different worlds…” She called me her daddy or her father, while she held me in her arm and even though she gave birth to me: That had nothing to do with age, but just love and favour and joy she always had while beholding me. This she did usually as if it was a song or poem she recited to me. May God bless mothers like her forever. . Honour all men, whether great or small (1 Peter 2:17). . Shabath Shalom.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 07:56:51 +0000
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