Luke 1:46-55
Mary’s Praise
The Christmas story begins with a young girl named Mary. Today we would call her just a teen, an adolescent. Back then, in ancient Israel, she was of marrying age, blooming into a young woman. Who was this Mary? Why was she full of song? And why has every generation since called her blessed?
A lot of very special events led up to today’s passage. The angel Gabriel showed up unexpectedly and told Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Perhaps Gabriel sensed her discomfort so he suggested an ally. He told her, “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age” (Luke 1:36). Elizabeth’s baby would be none other than John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah.
Two supernatural child births involving a woman too old and a woman too young and too unmarried. Beth Moore writes, “How like God! In the middle of news with universal consequences he recognized the personal consequences to one girl!” (“Jesus the One and Only”) God knows every detail of your life. He is never too busy running the universe to pay dear attention to your ever need. That’s the kind of God we have!
At Elizabeth’s, Mary receives confirmation that everything is true, that this angelic visit isn’t just a figment of her imagination. At their initial meet, Elizabeth almost yells in excitement, “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 1:42-45). How good this must have felt to revel in God’s divine mystery with a kindred spirit.
The very next scripture is our passage today, what scholars refer to as “Mary’s song,” or the “Magnificat,” which is the Latin word for “magnify,” the first word in the Latin text. To magnify is to glorify, to make much of God. Out of Mary’s song we see some attributes of this young woman who makes much of God. First, we notice ...
1. Mary’s love of scripture. She quotes some ten different passages of Old Testament scripture in her song. Mary obviously knew and loved the word of God. One of the passages she draws on the most is a similar song by another Jewish woman, recorded in 1 Samuel chapter 2. Hannah was barren for many years, and like many Jewish women, her greatest desire was to have a child. In fact, she prayed so fervently at the Temple that the old priest Eli thought she was drunk. But she explained that she had not had a drop to drink; she was simply desperate for God to answer her prayer. Eli assured her that God had indeed answered it, and sure enough, after years of barrenness, Hannah and her husband Elkanah finally were able to have a child. That child became a famous prophet of Israel and a maker of kings, the wise prophet Samuel. Following his birth, Hannah burst into song, much like Mary’s song.
Mary certainly knows Hannah’s story. And though parts of their stories were different, Mary identifies with Hannah’s joy and her love for God. And that brings us to a second attribute of Mary,
2. Her love of God. Mary doesn’t just love the Word of God; she also loves the God of the Word. Mary is sold out. When the angel Gabriel first brings his shocking news of a baby to be conceived by the Holy Spirit, Mary simply responds, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled” (Luke 1:38). The word “servant” means “bond-servant or slave.” A slave’s only purpose is to fulfill the desire of the master. Kind of like in the military job description, they like to throw in that bottom line, “Other duties as assigned.” Put another way, “whatever the master wants or needs.” Mary says, “My purpose is to serve God, period.”
Mary’s will is caught up in God’s will. In her song, she refers to God as her Lord, her Savior, the Mighty One, holy, merciful, performing mighty deeds, scattering the proud, bringing down rulers and lifting up the humble, filling the hungry, sending the selfish rich away empty-handed, and keeping his promises to Israel, his chosen people.
Mary loves God with all her heart, all her soul, all her mind, and all her strength. She loves God more than anything. And because of such devotion, God chooses her for a great honor.
2 Chronicles 16:9 says, “The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” God looked across the earth and found a woman suitable to be the mother of our Lord. And our third attribute perhaps was essential in God’s choice. Please note ...
3. Mary’s humility. When she says, “From now on all generations will call me blessed” (verse 48), she’s not bragging. She’s marveling at God’s choice of her. In the very next phrase she explains, “For the Mighty One has done great things for me” (verse 49). Mary understands grace. Grace is the basis of our faith. Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve. None of us deserves salvation. All of us deserve death. All of us need rescuing, even Mary who refers to God as “my Savior” (vv. 46-47).
Perhaps you’re thinking, “Well, it’s easy to serve God when he gives you good news, like, ‘You’re going to be the mother of the Savior of the world.’” Yes, it is good news, but from the beginning it will bring huge repercussions. Can you imagine how it went down when she told her parents? Yesterday I toured San Antonio’s Pregnancy Care Center in the Medical Center. They have helped young men and women this year to save over 400 babies who might otherwise be given up. They provide free sonograms, parenting classes, Bible studies, baby clothes, diapers, and counseling. The sonogram becomes a pivotal point for many as they see this young life within. And a crucial time for the young mothers who come in is that first conversation with their parents.
What would Mary’s parents have had to say? And how the town folk must have whispered. And then there would later be that baby dedication, when the elderly prophet Simeon would whisper into Mary’s ear, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:34-35). I’m sure these words echoed in Mary’s head 33 years later, as she sat collapsed at the foot of a cross.
There is a price to pay for following God. Jesus himself promises, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). But even so, it is worth the price. There is nothing more fulfilling than to be exactly in the center of the will of God.
Mary knows the honor of being chosen for God’s work, and she marvels at it. She magnifies God’s name. She glorifies the Lord, recognizing that “the Mighty One has done great things for me--holy is his name” (Luke 1:49).
Remember our definition of godly humility? Not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself ... less. When you magnify God in your life, you take the magnifying lens off of yourself and all your own problems.
The great Catholic writer, G.K. Chesterton, once quipped, “Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.” Mary takes herself lightly, because she magnifies the Lord at work in her life and her world. And because of that, God uses her in a mighty way.
That same God is ready to use us as we magnify his love, his forgiveness, his grace, his mercy in our lives. I’ve told you before about Fred, an older Veteran in our VA who recently accepted Jesus as his Savior. I was delighted to see Fred inviting a passer-by to our Bible study Friday. You could see his exuberance as he talked about what we do in the study and what a great group it is. Fred was magnifying the Lord, and God was using him as a result.
God wants to use each of us as part of his work, and Christmas is a wonderful time for it. Carols are playing everywhere, and if you listen to the words, many point to the birth of a Savior, God in a manger, Immanuel, the God who left heaven to come and live among us, to save us from our sins. The whole culture is talking about Christmas. So why not watch for opportunities to join in, and magnify the Lord? Let us pray:
Lord, thank you for the amazing humility of Mary, the mother of the Savior of the world. We honor her faithful and humble obedience today, and we ask for your help to be like her, to be your sold-out bond-servant, ready to do your will more than anything. Help us to magnify you, to glorify your name in all we do and in all we are, in Jesus’ name, amen.
