The Gospel of Luke: Righteous Reflections

Transcript

JRNT 64
07/21/2024
The Gospel of Luke: Righteous Reflections
Luke 1:46-56
Jesse Randolph

Well, we’re back in the Gospel of Luke this morning. And because we have a lot to cover today, and on shortened time, let’s get right into our text. If you would, turn with me to Luke 1:46, and we will, ambitiously try to get all the way through verse 56. These are the words of Mary, the mother of our Lord, in response to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. As they greeted each other there in the hill country of Judah. And because they have been included in the cannon of scripture these are the words of the living God.

God’s word reads, “And Mary said: ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has looked upon the humble state of His slave, for behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy Is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him. He has done a mighty deed with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever.’ And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.”

What I’ve just read for you is what has historically been called Mary’s Magnificat. The word “magnificat” is Latin for that word you see there, where Mary says, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

Now, sadly, as with all scripture, through the years there have been those who have absolutely butchered the meaning of Mary’s words in the text we’ll be covering today. For instance, according to Pope John Paul II, Mary’s words here serve as a model for those “who do not passively accept the adverse circumstances of personal and social life.” In other words, Mary was ‘raging against the machine’ before it was cool to do so. And then there’s Courtney Hall Lee, who is a black liberation theologian and author of the book titled the “Black Madonna,” who writes, “Mary’s Magnificat serves as an anthem for Black women, declaring personal blessedness and worth along with intimate knowledge of God’s preference for the oppressed. In the tradition of the spirituals sung by Harriet Tubman as she liberated the enslaved and the freedom songs of the 1960’s that were the backdrop to the civil rights movement, the Magnificat is a freedom song.” Then there’s the feminist theologian named Laura Jean Truman, who in her bio refers to herself as an “amateur mystic” who “lives and writes in the in-between places of queerness [and] loving Jesus.” She says, “Mary sings a song of justice for the whole world, making a way for us to understand ourselves as women who are called to preach and write and pastor and protest and lead. Mary tells us that whatever we’re called to do and be for the world – whether it’s mother, teacher, president, dancer, social worker, CEO, pastor, preacher – we can do and be for all people.” And according to abortion advocate and seminary student, Andrea Corso Johnson, our nation’s current abortion laws, meaning, any governmental declaration which restricts a woman’s so-called “right” to kill the child she’s carrying in her womb, is rooted in what she calls “ironclad, intersectional structure of domination.” And then she goes on to note, “This structure seems set on an end game of restrictive, reproductive conformity. Mary’s Magnificat calls us to break from the confines of these structures and to recreate frameworks where access, agency, and autonomy become cornerstones.” In case you didn’t catch that on that first read there, she’s actually making the argument that Mary, who is context was rejoicing over the child she was carrying in her womb, would be in support of a woman’s so-called right to end the life of the child she’s carrying in her womb.

Well, sorry to say, each of the individuals I’ve just quoted, wasted a lot of time and research and paper and, frankly, air, in taking those positions. Because each of the eleven verses we’re going to be covering today, show us clearly that this passage is not about pushing back on the hand that we’ve been dealt. Or taking the power back. It’s not about race relations in America. Or women’s liberation. Or the so-called right to abortion. This passage isn’t even, ultimately about Mary. Rather, it’s about God.

Now, pronouns in our day, are kind of a big deal. Have you noticed that? The whole kind of cult of pronouns. People identify themselves now… it has to be He/Him. Or She/Her. Or Zee/Zim/Zer. Or Ey/Em. Pur/Purself. I’ll play the pronoun game for just a minute, ok? As we quickly scan our text here, in verses 46-56, note what you see. And if you have an NAS or an LSV, you see it’s all capitalized. Everything here is about “He,” “His,” “His,” “His,” “Him,” “He,” “His.” And then I see about 4 “He’s.” And then I see “His” and “His” and “He.” Where do the pronouns point? They point to God. Yes, historically, it has been called Mary’s Magnificat. But ultimately this section of scripture, which captures this godly, young woman’s rejoicing and praise, is all about God, and giving praise to God.

Back to our text. We’re going to see here, from Mary this Spirit-wrought outburst of praise. And as she does so in this beautiful passage of scripture, she’s going to rattle off -- are you ready for this? --15 truths about the living God. Fifteen truths about the God she worshiped. Who is the very same God that you and I worship, right here and right now.

And one more preliminary. As we work our way through this text. I want us to notice something in particular here. I want you to pay extra notice to something. Notice how familiar with the scriptures, and how committed to the scriptures, Mary was. This woman’s words, these righteous reflections, are totally saturated with scripture. And Old Testament concepts and Old Testament phrases. So, though Mary was young in years and though she was shallow in her experience, it was obvious that even at this young age, she was this deep well of knowledge of scripture. This wasn’t a young woman who choked down a couple of verses each morning, like we choke down a couple of Tylenol with a cup of coffee. No. She was immersed in scripture. This is heart-felt language of praise. That indicate that Mary read her bible. And not just read her bible but soaked herself and marinated herself in God’s Word. So much so, that when it came to this point in her life -- that point of praising God for the great favor He had shown her and granting her that great privilege of carrying the Savior -- what came out of her were not these trite phrases, or stale expressions, or Hallmark greeting card-level words of theology. No. What came out was scripture. And deep awareness and familiarity with scripture.

Charles Spurgeon once famously said about John Bunyan (who I mentioned last week) he says, “Why, this man [speaking of Bunyan] is a living Bible! Prick him anywhere; his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his very soul is full of the Word of God.” Well, long before Spurgeon, and long before Bunyan, there was Mary who evidently delighted in the scripture. The Word of God was coursing through her veins. And it came out in this praise of the God of that Word.

Now, if we, like Mary, are Bible people, if we know our Bibles, we know that Mary’s words here in Luke 1 have certain parallels to the words of praise and prayer offered by another faithful woman, an expectant mother, in fact, whose name was Hannah.
Turn with me, if you would, in your bibles, to 1 Samuel. Back in the Old Testament. After the Pentateuch, ending with Deuteronomy. Of Joshua, Judges, Ruth and then you have 1 Samuel.
1 Samuel, and we’ll pick it up in 1 Samuel 2. The first couple of chapters of 1 Samuel, as you’re turning there, are the account of Hannah. Who would be the mother of Samuel. And after Samuel, Hannah’s long-prayed for child was born, she prayed these words in 1 Samuel 2, starting in verse 1. It says, “Then Hannah prayed and said, My heart exults in Yahweh; My horn is exalted in Yahweh; My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, because I am glad in Your salvation. There is no one holy like Yahweh; indeed, there is no one besides You, nor is there any rock like our God. Do not multiply speaking so very proudly; let arrogance not come out of your mouth; for Yahweh is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are shattered, but those who stumble gird on strength. Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry cease to hunger. Even the barren gives birth to seven, but she who has many children languishes. Yahweh puts to death and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. Yahweh makes poor and rich; He brings low; He also exalts. He raises the poor from the dust; He exalts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with nobles, and inherit a seat of glory; for the pillars of the earth are Yahweh’s, and He set the world on them. He keeps the feet of His holy ones, but the wicked ones are silenced in darkness, For not by power shall a man prevail. Those who contend with Yahweh will be dismayed; against them He will thunder in the heavens; Yahweh will render justice to the ends of the earth, and He will give strength to His king, and He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

It's a beautiful, rich prayer, concerning and containing rich and beautiful truths. About the God who had gifted Hannah and her husband Elkanah with a son. And Hannah’s prayer does have some obvious parallels, as we go back to Luke 1, with Mary’s words. So much so, that certain commentators have called Hannah’s prayer the “Old Testament twin” of Mary’s Magnificat. So what are we to make of that? Was Mary intentionally trying to channel her ‘inner Hannah’ as she prayed? Was Hannah a type of Mary? Or was Samuel a type of Christ? I really don’t think we have to go down those avenues. Instead, I think a more plausible explanation for the connection between these two outbursts of praise between Hannah and Mary. One by Hannah. And then one, several hundred years later, by Mary. Goes back to what I mentioned earlier. Which is that Mary was a student of and was saturated with God’s Word. Her praise rested upon the foundation of God’s perfect Word. She was this devout Jewish girl. She had been taught the sacred writings as Paul would tell Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:15. It was natural for Mary in this special moment of joy, having been taught -- to express her joy, to express her exultation in biblical language, which naturally took her to Hannah’s prayer. Which was this parallel circumstance.

But note, it wasn’t only Hannah’s prayer to which the Spirit of God directed Mary. No. As we’re about to see, as she praised God for who He is and what He has done, she wove in this wide-ranging mosaic of Old Testament quotations and ideas and concepts and allusions. And as she did so, she showed us and showed the whole world who reads this, that she rightly viewed God. Not merely as a pile of assorted attributes. Not as a philosophical construct. Not as some sort of metaphysical abstraction. No. Simple young Jewish girl that she was, she was childlike in her faith. She had the kind of childlike faith that we’re each called to have. She wasn’t “unburdened by what has been.” Rather, she was steered and guided by what actually is. And what actually is true of God. She viewed God rightly, in terms of His everyday actions. And His tangible faithfulness to His promises. As she filtered all of it. All that she had seen. All that she had experienced. Through her understanding of what God had revealed about Himself in His Word.

With that, let’s dive back into our text. It starts in verse 46. Very simply, it says, “And Mary said.” Mary here, is responding to what Elizabeth said, back in verses 42-45, where we were last time. Where Elizabeth says, this is mid-way through verse 42, “Blessed are you.” She’s speaking to Mary there. This is that extended greeting on the front porch of the house there in the hill country. “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”
So, in response to those words -- those triple words of blessing from Elizabeth,
“Blessed are you” and “Blessed is she” and “Blessed is the fruit of your womb” -- that Mary then responded in our text with this outburst of praise. And she begins with these words. You see them there, the beginning of verse 46, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” That’s the first of the fifteen truths we’re going to see here this morning, about God, from these words of praise.
And that is our first truth, that He is, that God is, “He Is Worthy Of Praise.”

That word “magnifies,” from the Greek verb “megaluno,” means to make great, to praise, to extol. That’s what Mary was doing here. She was praising her God. Glorifying her Lord. Extoling His name. Rather than shining the light on herself. You know, “Look at me, I’m going to be the mother of the Messiah.” Instead, she turned the spotlight on her Heavenly Father. She was making much of Him, not of herself. She was like David, in Psalm 145:3, who said, “Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised.”
She was making sure His great name was proclaimed, not her own. And in doing so, she was drawing from various Old Testament scriptures. We’re going to see this throughout the message this morning. Like Psalm 34:3, “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”
Or Psalm 69:30, “I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving.”
That’s what she was doing here, magnifying the Lord. Because He is worthy of praise.

Continuing on, we see in verse 47, she says, “And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”
Now note, she began by saying “my soul” magnifies the Lord. And the very next thing she says is, “and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” Now, if you’ve done any reading in systematic theology, you get into the topic of biblical anthropology, which is the doctrine of man. And you’ll find those who maintain that we, as human beings, are threefold in our essence. It’s called the trichotomist view. The idea is that we are body and we are soul and we are spirit. That’s in contrast to the dichotomist view which says that we are twofold in our essence. There’s the physical component, the material component, the hair and the fingernails and the toes and those sorts of things. And then there is the non-physical component which could be called either the soul or the spirit.
Those who are in the trichotomist camp, who say that we’re threefold will point to a passage like here, and they’ll say, “Look, Mary is saying that soul and spirit were different components of her essence. Her soul and her spirit were distinct components of who she was.” But is that what Mary, this young Jewish girl, in this context, was actually saying? As she stood there, sat there in stunned and worshipful praise, was she attempting to develop a robust trichotomist theology that the Bavincks and the Berkhofs of the world would debate many centuries later? I don’t think so. Rather, by using these words, soul and spirit, what she’s doing consistent with what she’s doing throughout this text, is drawing on various different Old Testament authors who had gone before her. By using those words soul and spirit interchangeably, to describe the inner man. The core of one’s essence and being. Places like Psalm 77:2, it says, “In the day of my distress I sought the Lord; in the night my hand was stretched out without weariness; my soul refused to be comforted. I remember God and I am disturbed; I muse and my spirit faints.” Words are used interchangeably. Or Isaiah 26:9 says, “At night my soul longs for You, indeed, my spirit within me seeks You earnestly.”

That’s what’s happening here with Mary. She’s saying here that in the depths of her being, she’s magnifying the Lord. In the depths of her being, she’s rejoicing in God her Savior. So, back to our text, verse 47. What I’m saying from here, is that what Mary was doing here, was not trying to split theological hairs over the distinction between soul and spirit. Rather, she was praising, and was rejoicing. She says, “my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”

And that’s our second truth here about God this morning, is that He is the Savior. Note the language. It’s so clear. It’s so unavoidable. Mary referred to God as “my Savior.” She wasn’t sinless. She wasn’t immaculate. She didn’t claim to be sinless. She didn’t claim to be immaculate. No. As her own divinely-inspirited words here reveal, she saw herself as needing deliverance. She felt her own need for divine grace. She understood her need for salvation. And her words are reminiscent of various other Old Testament authors, that she would have been familiar with. Like Psalm 25:5, “Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2 says, “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not dread.” Micah 7:7 says, “But as for me, I will watch expectantly for Yahweh; I will wait for the God of my salvation.”
It was passages just like these that young Mary had in mind, when she said here in verse 47, “my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”

She knew that God, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, the God of heaven and earth, was her Savior. And we know that to be true in our day too, do we not? It’s what we heard in the waters of baptism just now. We know that this very God is the God of salvation today, in the Church Age. It’s found in places like 1 Timothy 2:3, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.”
Or Titus 3:4 says, “But when the kindness and affection of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

The point is Mary clearly didn’t view herself as one who was worthy of adoration or praise. And certainly not worship. No. She knew that she needed a Savior. And she knew the true God, the living God, as her Savior. And that caused her, we see here, verse 47, to rejoice, “my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” In her soul. In her spirit. In her innermost being. Mary was praising and magnifying the Lord. And rejoicing in Him as her Savior. We think about David, back in his Psalm of repentance, Psalm 51. And he prays to God, “restore to me,” of what? “the joy of Your salvation.” Mary here, didn’t need to have her joy in her salvation restored. Her joy, we see it on the page there, was already there.

And that joy was only amplified by the fact that the Child that she was now carrying in her womb, we saw back in verse 31, would be named Jesus, Joshua, which means Yahweh is salvation. And this Child that she was carrying in her womb, would be the Savior of the world. He would save His people from their sins. That’s exactly, by the way, what the angel Gabriel said to her betrothed, Joseph over in the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew 1:21, Gabriel makes this separate appearance to Joseph, and talks about the type of salvation that Mary’s Son, Jesus, would bring. He says, “she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Think about that. Mary’s sin. Like your sin. And my sin. And AJ’s sin. And Greg’s sin. Would ultimately be forgiven by God. Through the very infant that was then being formed by the Holy Spirit in her own virgin womb. The sheer thought of it all led Mary to say that her spirit, there verse 47, was now rejoicing “in God [her] Savior.”

Moving on, the next truth that we see about God in this outburst of praise, number three, is He is meticulously sovereign. Verse 48 says, “For He has looked upon the humble state of His slave.” The verbal idea there, that “He has looked upon” - that’s referring to God’s loving care of all that He’s seeing. Of all that’s in His sight. He is meticulously sovereign over it all. And He was meticulously sovereign in selecting Mary to be the bearer of the Son of God in her womb. Hannah used a very similar expression in 1 Samuel 1:11 where she spoke of Yahweh of hosts looking on the affliction, her affliction, as she anticipated the son she was praying for. Here in Luke, with God as the reference, those words “He has looked upon”, verse 48, are referring to that event of Jesus’ conception in Mary’s womb.

Now, we might look at the next few words, where it says, “For He has looked upon the humble state of His slave.” We might see those words “humble state” and think that what Mary is doing there is a bit of Spirit-approved humble bragging. You know, kind of like the old Moses, the sanctified statements of Moses. That he’s the most humble man on earth. Like maybe that’s what she’s doing here. That’s not though what humble state means there. Humble state there means lowly. That’s referring to her low estate. Meaning, she was one of the little people. She was on one of the lower rungs of society. She was of modest means. She would have been what we call a have-not. A nobody. Just a young, ordinary, Jewish girl from Nazareth.

But we do know that Mary was, in fact, humble. Not just lowly, but humble in terms of her posture before God. And we get that, not from the words humble state, but rather what comes next. Where she refers to herself as His slave, “For He has looked upon the humble state of His slave.” Note that Mary, there doesn’t identify herself as the Queen of Heaven. She doesn’t call herself the Blessed Mother. The Blessed Virgin. Or the co-mediator between God and man. No. She refers to herself, exactly as she thought of herself. A “doule.” A slave. Not exactly the type of person you and I might think of if we were running the world. To take on such a significant responsibility as carrying the Christ, the Messiah, in her womb. But that is precisely the plan that God had for her. Though she was in this lowly position, she was loved by God. And though she was a slave, she was a saved slave. And God was going to use her mightily to advance His purposes. The whole thought of it reminds me of the words Paul would later write, many years later, in 2 Corinthians 1:28-29, when he says, that God uses “the base things of the world.” It’s “the despised [things] God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may abolish the things that are, so that no flesh may boast before God.”

God had “looked upon” her. That’s the idea here. God had chosen Mary, this otherwise obscure, young Jewish girl who was betrothed to this carpenter named Joseph, to be the One who would bear the Messiah in her womb. And so now, deeply conscious of the favor she’d been shown, very aware of the goodness of God’s surprising grace, Mary was now rejoicingly praising God her Savior.

The next thing we glean about God here in this passage. Is that He is the provider of blessing.
That’s number four. He’s the provider of blessing. Look at the second half of verse 48. He says,
“For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed.” Now, the first half of what she says there, “for behold, from this time on,” that’s a pretty simple expression saying that change is coming. That things will never be the same. This pivotal point in history, human history, salvation history, has arrived with the coming of the Savior, through her virgin womb.
Jesus used very similar language, by the way, that idea of ‘from this time on’ language, in Luke 5:10. He calls James and John, the fishermen, to follow Him. And He says, “from now on you will be catching men.” Before, you were catching fish. From now on, you’re going to catching men. Paul uses a similar expression in Acts 18, when he’s ministering in Corinth and eventually shakes out his garments as he’s dealing with the Jewish people there. And he says, “Your blood be on your own heads!” This is Acts 18:6. “I am clean. From now on [from this point on] I will go to the Gentiles.” That’s the idea here in verse 48. Mary is saying that “from this time on” starting with the conception of her Son, the Messiah, things would be different. They would never be the same.

And specifically, from this time on she says, “all generations will count me blessed.”
Now note what’s not said there. Note that nothing is said there about Mary being the one who would confer blessings. Or give blessings. Or grant blessings. Rather, she would be the one who would be blessed. God had been gracious to look upon her, His lowly servant. She recognized herself as this grateful recipient of His grace. She was a model of faith. Not an object of faith that she’s made out to be in many circles today.

Moving right along. The next thing Mary reveals about God here was His power. His omnipotence. His might. That’s our fifth heading, if you’re tracking and keeping notes, He is mighty. Look at the first part of verse 49. She says, “For the Mighty One has done great things for me.” Now, in the context here of Luke’s Gospel, the fact that God is mighty, “dunatos,” powerful, the Mighty One, that would have immediately recalled what the angel Gabriel revealed to Mary, just a few verses up the page earlier in this account, about God’s power and might. We think of right where it says in verse 35 here, the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” And then, just a couple of verses later, verse 37, he says, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

These are indicators of God’s power. God’s omnipotence. What God had promised would happen, even if it seemed impossible to human eyes. Even if it sounded impossible or irreconcilable with human biology. Was always possible for almighty God. This is the God who was described in these ways… Psalm 89:6, “For who in the sky is comparable to Yahweh? Who among the sons of the mighty is like Yahweh, a God greatly dreaded in the council of the holy ones?” Or Zephaniah 3:17 says, “Yahweh your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save.” God, then, is mighty. He is powerful. But note, He isn’t passive in His power. Or passive in His might. He’s not this inert cauldron that’s sort of bubbling over of power that never does anything. Or ever does anything with it. No. He acts upon His power. He acts upon His might. He acts upon His strength.

Which we see in verse 49. She says, “For the Mighty One has done great things for me.”
And that word “great” there, “megala,” is in the plural. Meaning, it wasn’t just the visit of this angel. And it wasn’t just the conception in her virgin womb. Which made up the catalog of the “great things” that Mary was praising God for. Also, on that list would have been her birth. And her lineage. And her nationality. And her life and breath and movement. And her betrothal to Joseph. Those were all “great things” that the Lord had done for her.
And of course, the cherry on top of it all would have been the great privilege which God had bestowed upon her by selecting her to become the mother of the Savior.

And note this. Though I think we’re only a third of the way through these words of praise. This is actually the last time we’ll hear Mary refer to herself, like in the first verse. This is the last, first-person reference by Mary, from here on out. Which points to the fact that Mary really was a humble woman of God. She really did grasp the reality of Who it is and Who it was who was at center stage in all of these events. Certainly, by now, she recognized the significance of her role. But ultimately, she realized that it was what God had done and who God is that truly matters. That’s what was filling her mind. And informing her praise. As she laid out all these righteous reflections.

Now, the next observation she made, about the nature and the character of the God who had so supremely blessed her, was this, that He is holy. That’s number six. You see it there at the end of verse 49. Very simply, one sentence there, “And holy is His name.” It’s connected to the previous sentence. She says, He has done great things for me,” and holy is His name.”
And note that having recognized herself as this undeserving recipient of God’s favor and blessing. Having received this highest honor conceivable of women. An honor that would be forever remembered from generation to generation. There was with Mary not even this shadow of this attitude of self-righteousness in her words. There was no hint or indication here that she felt like she really deserved this high distinction that had come her way. No. She gave all praise and glory to God.

She recognized, as had been consistently testified to throughout the Old Testament scriptures, that God is holy. That He is the absolute definition and standard of moral perfection. And to say that God is holy is also to say that He is set apart from His creation. He is separate. He is exalted. He is the sovereign and authoritative ruler over His entire creation. Mary recognized that. Mary also recognized that there’s this impassable gulf between the holy God of heaven and sinful creatures like you and I. And she also recognized that, not only is God holy, but His very name, as it says here, is holy. Meaning, He is in His essence, holy and perfect within Himself. And therefore, He is to be treated with reverence and awe. This calls to mind a whole other catalog of Old Testament scripture. Psalm 111:9 says, “Holy and fearsome is His name.”
The one you’re probably more familiar with is Isaiah 57:15, which says, “For thus says the One high and lifted up who dwells forever, whose name is Holy, ‘I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the crushed.” So, while Mary did recognize that creatures like her, from generation to generation would call her blessed, she also did recognize, rightly, that she herself was just the creature. And to her, and to all other creatures, including you and me today, as we gaze at God as how He has revealed Himself about who He is in His word -- all we can say, all we should say, is “holy is His name.”

Well, God is not only holy. The next thing we learn about God from Mary here. Is that He is merciful. That’s number seven, God is merciful. Look at verse 50, as we read on. This is her drawing from Psalm 103:17. She says, “And His mercy Is upon generation after generation.”
With those words, Mary was turning from praising God for His holiness to praising Him for His mercy. Though God, in His holiness, would be well within His rights to have long ago destroyed all that is not holy - everyone and everything that has ever existed on planet earth. Though He could have long ago incinerated this planet overrun by rebels many centuries ago. Though He could have wiped out every past generation of ungrateful sinners, like you and I, and our ancestors. The reality is, He’s not only holy, He’s also merciful.

And Mary knew that. And she knew that not only from experience. She knew that as a student of God’s Word. She knew that from scripture. She knew that God had repeatedly declared in His word that His was a love that was loyal, and steadfast, and patient and faithful. She certainly would have known the words of Exodus 34, where God reveals Himself as being one who is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin.” We all like that part, by the way, but what comes next is “yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” But Mary knew that truth. She knew the words of Psalm 103:8-10 which are encapsulated here, where the Psalmist says, “Yahweh is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always contend with us, and He will not keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, and He has not rewarded us according to our iniquities.” So, she knew those biblical truths. She also knew that there were many generations between her generation and the days of Moses in the Exodus. And there were many generations between hers and the generation of King David, and King Solomon, and the divided kingdom after that. And she knew that in those intervening generations, countless Israelites like her, had experienced the goodness of God’s patient and merciful hand. And she knew that there was no reason to boast in God’s mercy, but only praise Him for His mercy. Which is what she did.

Here’s the next of her insights, as it relates to the living God. This is number 8. He is to be feared. Verse 50, after saying, “His mercy is upon generation after generation,” she continues quoting Psalm 103:17 by saying, “toward those who fear Him.” God’s favor, His mercy, which had proceeded before Mary from generation to generation. Which has proceeded since Mary, even to our day, from generation to generation. Was and always has been directed “toward those who fear Him.” As the Spirit moved her to declare these words, she again had Psalm 103:17 in mind which says, “But the lovingkindness of Yahweh is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him.” To those who truly fear Him. Fear God. Meaning, to revere Him. And honor Him. And respect Him. To those who seek to avoid that which is contrary to His will. And to strive to do that which pleases Him. In other words, to those who are truly His own, and have truly believed upon His name, God is merciful. He is graciously faithful toward those who acknowledge Him. And His favor is specifically directed to those who seek Him. Meaning, those who fear Him. To those He shows mercy. Mary was such a person. She was such a worshipper. She was a God-fearer. Now, she wasn’t trembling in slavish fear. Rather, hers was a reverent, child-like fear. She acknowledged the holy, exalted position of her God. She understood that she was an undeserving recipient of His mercy, and here we see very clearly, praising Him.

Now, for the rest of what Mary says here, starting in verse 51. We’re going to see her rattle off, with the Spirit’s direction, a string of verbs that are all in the past tense. You see them there, starting in verse 51. “He has done a mighty deed.” “He has scattered those who were proud.” “He has brought down rulers.” “He has filled the hungry.” “He has given help to Israel.”
And I bring that up, because each of those verbs, in Greek, is in what is known as the aorist tense. Which is usually used to point backwards to a specific point in history. An act that was performed or done at a specific point in time. Now, some have taken these verbs to be pointing forward somehow, prophetically. As though Mary is saying here in verses 51 and following, that its not so much about what God had done historically in Israel. But rather, what God would do in the future in Israel. And I have to say, contextually, and grammatically, I don’t really see the futuristic take on those few verses. I don’t think that’s what she’s saying here. I don’t think this is an instance, in other words, of Mary prophesying. Rather, this is her recounting and remembering certain historical facts that she had read about God, in His word, about things He had done in Israel.
Now, of course, we know, sitting this side of the cross, that because God is always perfectly consistent with His character. That because He has done certain things consistent with His character, historically. He will be consistent with that character into the future. And will bring about certain promises that He showed faithfulness to in the past, yet again in the future. But I don’t think that specific text can be stretched to say that Mary here was futuristically prophesying about things to come. I think this is a past tense reference here.

But with that, here’s the next characteristic of God that she highlights beginning in verse 51 here. This would be our heading, God is beyond human description. That’s number… I’m losing count, that is number nine. He is beyond human description. These are the perils of preaching a fifteen-point message. He is beyond human description. Look what it says, verse 51, “He has done a mighty deed with His arm.” This is yet another one of those expressions that reveals how deeply familiar Mary was with the Old Testament scriptures. Through her study of scripture,largely the Psalms here, Mary would have seen God continually being described as having various human attributes. Hands. And eyes. And ears. And a finger. And a face. And a nose. And nostrils. And of course, here an arm. Psalm 89:10 says, “You scattered Your enemies with Your strong arm.” Psalm 89:13 says, “You have a mighty arm; Your hand is strong, Your right hand is exalted.” All speaking of God. Isaiah 53:1says, “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?”

Now, does God have literal arms, like you and I do? No. John 4:24 says God is Spirit. These are what are known as anthropomorphic expressions. Meaning, God has revealed Himself, as the eternal, infinite God, to us humans in human language. Accommodating language. Limiting language. So that we can understand who He actually is to some degree. So, what Mary was doing here then, as the Lord prompted her and moved her to give us these words, is what we all ultimately have to do in describing the infinite. She was using human language to describe the God of all. And by referring here to His arm, she was referring to His power. Which can be used to deliver, to support, to uphold. His arm of power can be used to scatter, drag down, and drive out. And His arm can bring about salvation as it did in Mary’s time. As it does in our time, even as we heard this morning in the waters of baptism.

Here's our next one. He punishes the proud. Look at the next part of verse 51, it says, “He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. The heart, we know, is the core of our inner being. And according to scripture, it’s the control center, which drives our emotions, our thoughts, our words, our deeds. And that’s why Proverbs 4:23 says it so clearly, “Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.”
The sin of pride, then, is not always just an act we commit. It’s who we are. At the heart level. That’s what Proverbs 4 is getting after. And what Mary was rightly remembering here, is that in the course of history God had in His might, in His power, with His strong arm, repeatedly punished those who were proud in heart. Those who made much of themselves, while making little of God.

A passage would be Numbers 10:35. It says the words of Moses, but its also speaking of Moses. It says, “Then it happened when the ark set out that Moses said, ‘Rise up, O Yahweh! And let Your enemies,” those would be the proud of heart, “be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You.” Or we think of the words of Hannah’s prayer, which we read earlier. 1 Samuel 2:7 says, “Yahweh makes poor and rich; He brings low,” brings low would be those who were proud in heart, He brings them low, “He also exalts.” And then, of course, there would be passages that Mary wouldn’t be familiar with, because they weren’t written yet. Christian scripture, like James 4:6, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
God has always judged pride. He has always been opposed to the prideful. Those who are proud. Because pride fundamentally is the idolatrous worship of self. Which obviously competes with where our affections and our worship are to go, namely God. So, Mary here was praising God simply for being who He had always been, a God who exalts the humble of heart, and who brings down the prideful.

While we’re on that topic, she continues the thought into verse 52, saying, “He has brought down rulers from their thrones.” Our next observation is that He humbles the exalted.
That goes with verse 52 here. He humbles the exalted. Namely, He humbles those who exercise authority as though they are the ultimate authority. He brings down those who wield power as though they have ultimate power. He brings them down. Their oppression, their tyranny, their lack of compassion, will eventually be dealt with by the mighty arm of God. And again, Mary doesn’t have American politics in mind. She doesn’t have Russian/Ukrainian politics in mind. She’s thinking historically of the past rulers who had been brought down before her.
She’s thinking of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4 who ate grass like an ox as a punishment for his pride. She’s thinking of Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2:7, where “Yahweh makes poor and rich; He brings low; He also exalts.” There are the words of Job in Job 12:21, “He pours contempt on nobles.” As of Mary’s day, in other words, there was this regular record of God bringing down mighty rulers who rejected Him. And exalting humble God-fearers who worshiped Him. And for that reason, she praises Him.

She also praises Him for the opposite truth. And this is number twelve, He exalts the humble.
Look at the last half of verse 52, it says it that way. “He has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humble.” Not only had Mary, by the way, experienced this personally… Look back at verse 48, “He has looked upon the humble state of His slave.” She called herself a slave. She was humble. But the exaltation of the humble is a key theme throughout those Old Testament scriptures that Mary was much familiar with. Like Proverbs 3:34 says, “Though He scoffs at the scoffers, yet He gives grace to the humble.” Or Proverbs 18:12 says, “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty [prideful], but humility goes before glory.”
And of course, the familiar words to many of us of Micah 6:8 says, “And what does God require of you but to do justice, to love lovingkindness [compassion] and to walk humbly with your God.”

Going to verse 53. The next thing Mary praised God for, this is number thirteen, is that He is the sustainer of life. Look at the first half of this verse, which comes from Psalm 107:9, it says, “He has filled the hungry with good things.” I don’t think this needs to be hyper-spiritualized. Or romanticized. Or allegorized. Rather, when we consider this in its context, she is simply here, Mary is, repeating another Old Testament truth with which she was familiar. Which is that God is the sustainer of life. And as the sustainer of life, He has promised to, and does, fill the hungry with good things. Hannah said something similar in 1 Samuel 2:5. She said “Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry cease to hunger.” David said in Psalm 34:10, “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who inquire of Yahweh,” the humble God-fearer, “shall not be in want of any good thing.” Now, of course there are instances where the scriptures refer to spiritual hunger, and spiritual feeding. Think of the book of Amos. In Amos 8, he speaks of this famine in the land. And there, he’s not talking about physical famine. He’s talking about spiritual famine. He even says this. Amos 8:11, it’s “not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of Yahweh.” We think of the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5:6 where He commends those “who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” But here, in Mary’s context. As she ran through this familiar catalogue of Old Testament scripture. She’s referring to God’s provision for righteous souls who were experiencing physical hunger. Just as God clothes the lilies of the field, He feeds the hungry. He satisfies their thirst. He provides for their most basic needs, As He has always done.

Here’s the next one, number fourteen, which we find at the end of verse 53. This is our next heading. He emphasizes the eternal. Look at the next few words there, where it says God has
“sent away the rich empty-handed.” And note the build-up there. From where we’ve been to where that verse gives us some truth. God brings down rulers. He exalts the lowly and the humble. He fills the hungry with good things. And now, it says, He sends away the rich.
One might take that whole section and be tempted to think that the Magnificat really is about social justice. And Mary might have been a Marxist, right? Wrong. That’s not the point here. We don’t need to go back on the quotes that I read at the beginning and show where they’re right. They’re wrong. That’s not what’s being said here. All that’s being said here rather, is a truth that any true worshiper of God has to recognize. It’s the eternal truth. That those who are rich and privileged in this world, they are ultimately going to gain nothing eternally simply by being rich in this world. It’s true of the Old Testament. There are passages that Mary might have had in mind.
One of them is Jeremiah 17:11. I’m sure many of us have not really spent much time in our devotions on this one. But it says, Jeremiah 17:11, “As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid, so is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly; in the midst of his days it will forsake him, and in the end he will be a wicked fool.” In other words, don’t trust (in this context) ill-gotten earthly gains, as what’s going to get you right with God. To borrow another expression from the book of Jeremiah, it’s all an empty cistern. It’s a barrel without a bottom. You throw things in, and they all pour out. The whole idea though, is that if anybody thinks they could curry favor with God with their cash, He’s ultimately going to send them into the eternal fires of hell. For putting their faith in the wrong thing. God is not impressed with your bucks. Or your gold. Or your line of credit. He rewards faith. He rewards faithfulness. He rewards not the rich. But He rewards the righteous. James 2:5 puts the exclamation point on that one. He says that God has chosen the “poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him.” God emphasizes the eternal.

Here’s our last point, point number fifteen about God, from this section of praise from Mary. And it’s pretty simple. He is faithful. Number fifteen is He is faithful. Look at verses 54-55, “He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever.” You see there, that verse 54, Mary first praised God for helping Israel. “He has given help,” it says, “to Israel His servant, in remembrance of [His] mercy.”
This is a reference to the protective care that God had always shown Israel. We know from reading the Old Testament. That you marvel when you read the Old Testament. How at every turn, God protects Israel. It’s almost like He’s set His favor on them. It’s almost like they are the apple of His eye. And that He has a plan and a future for them. But over and over in the past. God repeatedly took sides with Israel, against its enemies. That’s what’s meant here, by “He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy.”

And then, bringing it back full circle. To the ultimate and overall reasons for her words of praise. Look at verse 55, it says, “as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever.”
Again, Mary knew her bible. She knew the story. She was familiar with the account of God calling out Abraham, or Abram at the time, from Ur of the Chaldees. And she was familiar with His, God’s, formation of a nation, her nation, through that man, through Abram. She knew about God’s great covenant promises made to Abraham. She knew about the marvelous promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, where He says, “In you all the families of the earth will [shall] be blessed.” She knew how the story progressed into Genesis 22, where God then said, “I will greatly bless you.” Now He says this to Isaac, “and I will [greatly] multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” She knew, Mary did, that God had honored His covenant promises in the past, to Israel, consistently and historically.
She knew, as it says in Psalm 98:3, that God “has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel.” And she trusted that He would continue to do so, not only in her time, in her day, in the first century. But forever. Look at the last few words of her words here, where she says, “He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever.”

So, when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary, many verses ago, what would be happening to and through her, she already had imprinted on her mind, from her understanding of God’s word, the significance of the angel’s announcement. She knew that the Child she was now carrying in her womb. The One who would be named Jesus. And would save His people from their sins. Not only was an answer to prayer. But a fulfilled promise. He was, and He is the “seed” of Abraham. Galatians 3:16 says that, “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.” He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And to your seed,’ that is, Christ.” And so, she magnified the Lord. She magnified the Lord for His faithfulness. To His people, Israel. To her, Mary. And to all who would eventually come to faith in her Son.

Well, so end Mary’s words, verse 55. But our text ends in verse 56, which reads, “And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.”

Now, recall back in verse 26, Mary arrived there in the hill country, in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Meaning, she stayed three more months, right until the time that it was time for John the Baptist to be born. And then, at that point, after her three-month stay, Mary, it says, “returned to her home.” She was betrothed to Joseph. But clearly from that language we know that she wasn’t yet married. She wasn’t living in his house. Or else it would have said, his home. It says, “her home.” And that’s significant, because it means that she was about to return to Nazareth, unmarried, pregnant. With an expanding waistline. She surely knew that the questions would start coming. And the accusations would start flying. But faithful young woman that she was. Filled with the Spirit. Fluent, as we’ve seen this morning, in the promises of God’s Word. She was ready for whatever faced her next.

Going back to all that we’ve learned so far from this first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. What we’ve seen so far, about Mary is that she heard a word from the Lord. She believed in that word. She submitted to that word. And she rejoiced in what that word had revealed. Sometimes (I think I’ve said this before) we tend to just… because Mary is so often associated with the Roman Catholic Church we tend to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And really forget about the faithful example that’s modeled for us, in Mary. A young woman, who heard a word from the Lord. Who believed in that word. Who submitted to that word. And rejoiced in that word. May that be the testimony and the trajectory of each and everyone of our lives here this morning.

Let’s pray. God, thank You, for the time spent together in Your word. Thank You for these words of praise that You moved Mary to say and to speak in her heart. And ultimately, that You caused Your Spirit to record in the pages of Your word. Thank You, that we can read these words, from the lips of this young girl. This young faithful girl. Who certainly was privileged. But ultimately, demonstrated her faith, over and over and over. God, we praise You for the faithful example of young Mary. God, we thank You for what comes, as we continue on in the account of Luke’s Gospel, culminating in the birth of Your Son, the Lord Jesus. That really is where our hope lies. That He came. He came as God Incarnate. He came as the perfect God-Man. He died and was a perfect substitutionary sacrifice. He rose from the grave. He proved to be who He claimed to be, as the victorious Savior of the world. And God, we know He’s coming again. And for that, we give You thanks and praise. May we be found faithful in the meantime. In Jesus Name. Amen