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.
Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” (Matt 16:16)
She ends this shout of praise with another blessing:
“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her.” (Luke 1:45)
Mary didn’t just believe it in her head but she trusted with all her heart. God is a promise-keeping God. She can trust Him to bring it about in His timing, for His glory and her good.
At this, Mary, completely overwhelmed by it all, breaks out into song.
There’s something about Mary
Before we dive into the lyrics of her song, I need to make a few comments.
We need to avoid overemphasizing or underestimating Mary.
I was on a mission trip to Costa Rica and we toured a large cathedral. At the front stood a very large, probably 20 feet high, statue of Mary. The statue seemed to be the center of attention and worship.
I almost started crying when I realized there was a coffin off to the side with a glass top. In it was a statue of Jesus. I was overwhelmed by the blasphemy of it all.
Mary is not the “Queen of Heaven” or the “mediator of all graces” or the “advocate of all peoples,” or the ultimate blasphemy, “The Co-Redeemer.”
We have a Savior that gave His life on the cross to be our “mediator and advocate” and His name is Jesus as Paul tells us in I Timothy 2:5.
Also, Mary was not sinless. In fact, we will see in a minute that she needed a Savior just like us.
Mary was not a perpetual virgin. Matthew 1:25 states that Mary did not have sexual relations with Joseph until she gave birth. We know from Matthew 13 that they had other children, at least four boys and two girls. James and Jude, half brothers of Jesus, wrote two of our books in the Bible.
Scripture doesn’t teach that Mary was born sinless, “The Immaculate Conception”, and it doesn’t tell us she was taken up into heaven.
Jesus was teaching one day and a woman in the crowd yelled:
“Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you. ?He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:27-28)
Listen to me carefully. I’m not bashing anyone. I am simply affirming what Scripture says plainly. Only the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross can pay for your sins.
On the other side of the coin, we can miss the boat on Mary as well. We often relegate her to manger scenes at Christmas and little else. We talk about her now but put her away until the next Christmas season.
I don’t want to overestimate her or underestimate her. But I do want us to understand Mary’s heart and song. She plays a very important part in the rescue mission of the Messiah.
Mary - Peasant Girl Theologian
Dr. Robert Rayburn makes three observations about Mary.
Mary interpreted her circumstances Biblically. In fact, her song is a theological masterpiece. She was a 14-15 year old, illiterate, poor peasant but she knows her Scriptures. She quotes or makes allusions to at least 15 Old Testament Scriptures - I Samuel, Deuteronomy, Job, Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah.
This is one of the reasons I didn’t like the song, “Mary, Did you Know?” Whenever I hear it, I want to shout, “Yes, she did know!”
She knew her Scriptures by heart and it flowed out of her.
Mary saw everything in terms of God reaching out to His people through His Son. Nine times she sings about what God has down, not what she has done.
Mary was in awe of God’s greatness, not her own goodness. She calls herself a humble servant.
Let’s turn our attention to Mary’s song of praise.
Mary Worships
“And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” (Luke 1:46-47)
This song of Mary’s has been called the “Magnificat” because the first word in the sentence is “magnify.” This can be translated as “exalts” or “praises.” The word means to make or declare to be great.
Mary’s heart burst forth with a worship song to magnify the Lord. She had so much to worry about but decided to replace worry with worship?
Doesn’t that sound like something we could do this Christmas season?
John MacArthur gives us three ways Mary worshipped:
It was internal.
Notice that her “soul magnifies” and her “spirit rejoices.” This encompasses all of who she is. This worship rises from deep within her.
It is intense.
Magnify means to cause something to grow. Obviously, she can’t make God bigger but she can engage her, and our, view of His majesty.
She didn’t whisper these words. I think she shouted because she was overcome with unspeakable joy.
It was habitual.
Mary is a great example for us. She heard God’s message, believed it, submitted to it, and then praised God for it. This didn’t just start with Gabriel’s visit. She had been immersed in the Scripture and a love affair with God from a very early age.
Notice that she rejoices in “God my Savior.” This word is like a diamond and has many different meanings - rescuer, deliverer, preserver, protector, and Savior.
Mary is affirming that she is sinful and needs a Savior just like the rest of us.
Mary Sings of God’s Mighty Works
Mary begins her praise song by magnifying God with all of who she is, with all her heart. She then praises Him for what He has done for her:
“…for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.” (Luke 1:48-51)
Mary lists seventeen different attributes of God in this song. Let’s look at three of them:
Mindful
Mary is a humble servant but she rejoices in spite of her humble state. Mary was blown away that out of all the women who ever lived she was chosen to carry the Messiah.
She is poor. She is a “nobody.” Yes, she was in the line of David, but so were a lot of people.
But God had been “mindful of her.” This is a great word that means “to gaze as with a disposition to show favor.”
Can’t you hear her asking, “Why me?”
Mary then starts listing the ways that God has been good to her. She understands that people from that time on will recognize the blessing that God did in her and through her.
David expressed the same awe:
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalms 8:3-4)
Point to Ponder: Do you understand that God is mindful of you? That He thinks about you with great affection and joy?
Zephaniah the prophet wrote
“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
Worship leader Dennis Jernigan in his book, “A Mystery of Majesty” translates this verse from the Hebrew. Listen carefully. Some of you really need to hear this.
Mighty
The Mighty One who is powerful, able, and strong, has done great things for her. The Second Person of the Trinity has been implanted in her womb. This is a mind-blowing miracle gut should not have taken anyone by surprise.
Writing nearly 700 years before Mary, Isaiah prophesied,
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (which means God with us.)” (Isaiah 7:14)
Many liberal theologians and preachers teach that this is a myth and cannot possibly be true.
Did you know the only woman mentioned in the Koran is Mary and it says that she was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus?
Larry King, a secular Jewish man, was asked what historical figure would he like to interview. Without hesitation he said, ?“Jesus. And I would ask Him if He really was virgin born. If He was, it would change everything for me.”
She praises His holy name. Her prayer is that God’s name would be revered and worshipped because of what has happened to her.
God has performed mighty deeds with His arm. We know that God is Spirit and doesn’t have arms. When she sings about God’s arm she is praising Him for His power and His scattering those who are proud.
This is another great word picture. It means to “shine above.” These people are haughty, arrogant, and puffed up with self-righteousness.
Point to Ponder: Are you quick to remind others of the mighty things God has done in your life?
David wrote that we have a responsibility to praise the mighty works of God in our lives to the next generation:
“My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long— though I know not how to relate them all. I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone. Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.” (Psalm 71:15-18)
Mercy
Do you remember the difference between mercy and grace? Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
Mary praises God for His mercy toward her but also anyone who fears Him. This is not a cowering in terror kind of fear. It is a holy reverential awe. From generation to generation, God’s steadfast love and mercy will be seen among those who love Him.
Mercy and forgiveness go hand and hand.
‘On December 7th, 1941, Mitsuo Fuchida was the lead bomber for the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. Even though his plane was hit twenty-one times, miraculously he made it back to base.
After the war, he was ordered to testify but he didn’t trust Americans. His former flight engineer told him that not all Americans were bad.
He told him the story of Peggy Covell, a missionary to Japan, who had ministered to Japanese POWs.
Her parents were missionaries and were captured and beheaded by the Japanese. They asked for 30 minutes to pray for the forgiveness of their killers.
Fuchiida couldn’t believe that anyone could pray for those who were about to kill them.
In 1948, he was standing at a train station when he was handed a pamphlet entitled, “I was a prisoner in Japan.” Jacob Deshazzer wrote it. He was one of Doolitte’s raiders that bombed Tokyo in retaliation for Pear Harbor.
He hated the Japanese and made it his mission to find the leader of the Pearl Harbor raid and slit his throat.
He was shot down over China and for 40 months was tortured and starved. But one day, inexplicably, one of the guards gave him an English bible. After reading it, he surrendered his life to Christ.
After the war, he trained as a missionary and went back to Japan. It is estimated that that over 30,000 people came to Christ because of Jacob DeShazzer’s mission.
One of those who were converted was Mitsuo Fuchida! He was handed one of those pamphlets which led him to buy a Bible. He had never heard about Jesus or the Gospel and when he read that Jesus prayed on the cross for those who were killing him, he surrendered his heart to Christ. He spent the rest of his days as a preacher of the Gospel.
Mitsuo and Jacob met in 1950, not as enemies but as brothers in Christ. And they traveled together, teaching others the power of mercy and forgiveness.
Point to Ponder: Titus wrote,
“…He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.” (Titus 3:5)
God has had mercy on us. Who do you need to extend that mercy to today?
Mary Praises God Actions
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
Who does God work on behalf of?
the Humble
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
Mary sings of God’s complete destruction and dismantling of prideful rulers and the “lifting up” of the humble. This is a great reversal of fortune. The prideful are brought down and the humble are lifted to a place of honor and position.
Remember what one of Mary’s other sons, James wrote:
“Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up.” (James 4:10)
Peter said it this way:
“Humble yourselves, therefore under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (I Peter 5:6)
Point to Ponder: Is your life all about you? Have you bowed the knee to God?
The Hungry
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
Mary is poor and knows what it’s like to be hungry. But she still sings of God’s provision. He will not only provide for those who follow Him but He will fully satisfy them. But the rich He dismisses and sends them away with nothing.
We know that this is true of food but also a hunger for righteousness:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will the filled.” (Matt 5:6)
Point to Ponder: Has the commercialization of Christmas crowded out your love for Christ?
The Helpless
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
Mary, a teenage peasant girl, knows good theology.
Does the Bible ever say, “God helps those who help themselves?”
No. God helps the helpless. This word means to support with the hand. It’s the picture of helping someone who has trouble with balance.
Point to Ponder: Do you understand how helpless you are? Do you understand that you can not hop high enough for God’s glory?
The Big Story
Mary recognizes that she was part of a much bigger story. It’s the story of redemption that started with God’s promises to Abraham and his descendants:
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Gen 12:1-3)
And in Gen 22, we see the promise of a Rescuer:
“…and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.” (Gen 22:18)
The word “offspring or seed” is singular not plural. There would be one Person that will come from Abraham’s line and will bring salvation to all people.
That seed was the baby in Mary’s womb, Jesus. Mary was told to name the child Jesus, which means “God’s saves.”
God’s promises to Mary are still true today.
Video: Breath of Heaven
Communion
Ending Song: Joy to the World
