Mary's Song Of Praise Series

Mary’s Song of Praise

Luke 1:46-51

Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

12-01-2024

I’m Dreaming

Let’s start this Christmas season with a trivia question. What’s the number selling Christmas song of all time?

“White Christmas” by Bing Crosby is not only the best selling Christmas song of all time but it is the best selling single of all time, selling over 50 million copies!

What’s the number one most recorded Christmas carol of all time?

733 artists, including Bing, have recorded “Silent Night since 1978!

In the last twenty years, what has been the most digitally downloaded song?

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” is number one by a landslide.

Maxine and I were on a beach in Michigan when a family set up right behind us. They had a young daughter who kept singing Wham’s song, “Last Christmas.” But she only knew the first two lines: “Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away”.

She sang these two lines, loudly, over and over and over until every person on the beach nearly lost their minds. Finally, the parents told her to stop or else.

My favorite Christmas carol is “O Come O Come Emmanuel.” What’s yours?

This morning, we are going to look at a Christmas song that was composed by a teenage peasant girl in the Middle East 2,000 years ago. But the words of this song echo through history right up until today.

This morning, we begin the season known as Advent. It’s a time of waiting, of Holy preparation, for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Please turn with me to Luke 1.

Prayer.

Two Pregnant Women Rejoice

Let’s set the stage for this solo. Mary had experienced a visit from the angel Gabriel, (only Luke records this) who had a very strange message for her:

“Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:30-33)

Mary responds with confusion. She was a virgin. How could she become pregnant? Gabriel gives her an answer that overwhelms her:

Gabriel informs her that her cousin Elizabeth, who is 80 years old, is six months pregnant.

Mary responds:

 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:38)

This is a great example of how we are to respond to God!

Mary traveled about 80 miles to visit Elizabeth. She was pregnant and tired. She was worried about how Joseph would react. Would he call for her to be stoned? She was also overwhelmed with the thought of being the mom of the Messiah.

When she entered Elizabeth’s house, the greeting she received put everything into perspective.

Leaping for Joy

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:41-45)

Elizabeth believed Mary’s story because she had her own angel story and miraculous pregnancy.

The baby in her womb leapt for joy. This word means “skipping like a calf” or “jumping for joy when you reach the summit of a high mountain.”

When we were first married, we had a waterbed. When Maxine was very pregnant, we could lay very still and could feel the baby kick and it would actually make the bed sway.

Who was this baby who leapt in Elizabeth’s womb? It was John the Baptist. He was already doing his ministry - pointing people to the Messiah.

So who was the first person to acknowledge Jesus? An unborn baby still in the womb!

Elizabeth startles her with a loud proclamation:

“Blessed are you among women, and blessed will be the child that you bear.”

Notice that she doesn’t say “above” women but among women. And she says that people will speak well of the child she carries. That is what the word “blessed” means. It’s where we get our word “eulogy.”

She calls the baby in Mary’s womb “her Lord.” Luke was writing to a primarily Gentile audience. That’s why he didn’t use the word for Messiah. He uses “kurios,” Greek for “Lord.”

Elizabeth is affirming this baby’s divinity. It’s similar to when Jesus asked Peter who he thinks He is.