Thus, the passage is highly personal and specific. It is not a rational discourse on how God creates people or whether every fetus should be counted as a person. All this supports his central claim that God is the reason for his existence and the source of his authority to preach as a prophet. Shoemaker's claim that this passage teaches that God causes every pregnancy is a bogus application, for it perverts and distorts the central meaning of the text which deals with calling not conception. Elizabeth, now six months pregnant with the one destined to be the forerunner of Jesus, John the Baptist, hears the voice of Mary, who has just discovered that she is pregnant.
Problems abound with such an interpretation.
The passage makes it clear, for instance, that it is Elizabeth who responds to God's revelation. She did the speaking, declaring the special blessedness of Mary and her child to be. The central point of the passage is theological and practical. It deals with the special role and authority of Jesus. The relation of John to Jesus was a source of considerable confusion during their ministries.