BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL!
Luke 1:39-56
Introduction:
This week the news reported…
Two
children were found on the New Jersey-Delaware border after taking their
parents' car for a joyride, police said. The 12-year-old boy and his 7-year-old
cousin are believed to have taken the white Range Rover around 9 a.m. Monday
from… 115th Street in New York City. Police say the incident may have stemmed
from some kind of social media challenge. The two kids were found at the state
border by 2:30 p.m. [after one tried
to use their parents’ credit card!]. They were not injured and there were no
accidents or damage reported to the vehicle. The kids were being brought back
to NYC to talk to police.
That is a pretty shocking story, and it could have
ended very badly, but thankfully no one was hurt. Later in this gospel we’ll
read of Jesus, as a 12-year-old in Jerusalem with his parents for the Passover,
being left behind in the city! How did that
happen? And, to make matters worse, by the time they realized he wasn’t
traveling with their company it took them three days to find Him!
The idea
of children being alone and potentially at risk rightly concerns us. What about
just a few years older, a teenage girl, traveling alone on a three or four day
journey through potentially dangerous country? On her own to find food and shelter
on the way. That is where our story in the Gospel of Luke picks up. We
have precious little detail about Mary’s interaction with Joseph or with her
family in Nazareth, or about her trip to Judea. Luke isn’t telling the story of
Mary. He is telling us God’s story, and he will show us what we need to know
about Mary’s part in this stage of the unfolding plan of God. Later we’ll see how God providentially works to
get Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, were Micah predicted the Messiah would be
born, but we’re not there yet. First, Mary travels alone, filled with joy over the
amazing message from heaven which also included another kind of miraculous
conception, her relative Elizabeth conceiving in her old age. God was working
out His plan for the redemption of His people!
What’s the Big Idea? God is glorified when we take Him at His Word and rejoice in His
gracious work in our lives and in the world.
I. The Joy of fellowship and the blessing of the Spirit (39-41).
39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a
town in Judah, 40 and she
entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the
greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with
the Holy Spirit…
A pre-Christmas family get together! As far as we know the angel didn’t tell Mary to go to Elizabeth, but since she acts so quickly (she went with haste), it seems likely that God put it on her heart to do so. They were both to have an important part in God’s plan to send the promised Messiah into the world! Elizabeth was already in her sixth month, and she would give birth to the one who would announce that the Rescuer of Israel was at hand! He would call the people to repentance, and prepare the way of the Lord. Mary would give to birth the Promised One. Who could these women talk to about what God was doing? At least initially, they could share their joy with each other!
We’re not told anything about the journey of 80-100 miles that young Mary made. She couldn’t call an Uber! It probably took 3-4 days. Luke simply reports this meeting, inviting his readers to consider what it reveals about what God is doing. He is telling us God's story, not writing a movie script! Two things immediately stand out: the reaction of the baby, and the work of the Holy Spirit.
We are told by
Luke that it was at the sound of Mary’s greeting that the baby leapt in the
womb of Elizabeth. In v.44 Elizabeth herself will testify that her baby “leapt
for joy” at the sound of Mary’s greeting. The baby and his mother recognized
the presence of the unborn messiah, and of the young woman who carried him. It
was a confirmation, another miraculous revelation, testifying to what God has
about to do.
Luke also tells us that Elizabeth was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” The person and work of the Holy Spirit is a theme that Luke develops in his two-volume work, Luke and Acts. The climax is the Day of Pentecost, reported in Acts 2, when the glorified Christ pours out the Spirit on the new assembly, the church. John baptized in water, but now all who believe are born-again, and are baptized in the Holy Spirit. That is something new that begins with the church as the Spirit permanently indwells all true believers. But this scene is before Pentecost. And even as we see in some cases in the Old Testament, then and now, at times God fills individuals with the Spirit, almost always with the idea that they are empowered by God for witness and for service. These women meet, in faith, and God is working! God is glorified when we take Him at His Word and rejoice in His gracious work in our lives and in the world.
II. The Joy of seeing God at work in others (42-45).
42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry,
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my
ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a
fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."
Elizabeth was
not reserved in reacting to Mary’s greeting. She responded with a loud cry, a
shout of joy, as the baby in her womb leapt for joy! Was she just happy to see
a distant cousin? The context makes it
clear that her excitement ran much deeper. Grant Osborne suggests,
The baby’s
leap of joy and her exclamation of blessing were both Spirit reactions to the
baby Jesus. All of heaven would be filled with excitement as the deliverance of
fallen humanity drew nigh… (Luke Verse by Verse, Kindle).
The tiny unborn baby in Mary’s womb was the hope of
redemption for fallen humanity, the incarnation of the Son of God, God the Son!
As far as we know, Elizabeth had no knowledge before this very moment that Mary
was to be the mother of the Rescuer, the Messiah, who’s coming her son would announce.
She knew the messiah was coming, but we have no indication that she knew in
advance who his mother would be. It seems she immediately received revelation
from God, along with a joyful kick in the stomach from baby John, that this is
the one chosen to give birth to the Promised One!
Notice the key
to which Elizabeth points, the blessing that Mary had was accompanied by faith,
believing God, taking Him at His word, “And blessed is she who believed
that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."
This is a marked contrast with Zechariah, who, at this point, was still
unable to speak. He had been given a word from God by the angel… and he doubted,
asking, “How will I know this, for I am an old man, and my wife is advanced
in years?” He is gently rebuked, and is given a sign: until the promised
child is born, he would be mute! So, Zechariah couldn’t shout the Good News
that the age of the Messiah was at hand, and that his son would be the one to
prepare the way for the LORD! Mary took God at His word. Elizabeth rejoiced
in Mary’s faith, not boasting about her own. At first Mary didn’t understand how,
still, she trusted God. We don’t have to understand “how” every detail will
work out. Trust and obey. We can trust God, believe that He is good, and that
His plan is good, and that the end of this story is going to be better than we
can possibly imagine!
Elizabeth
recognized that Mary believed God, though she was confronted with a more
miraculous revelation, that she, a virgin, would conceive and bear a Son. She
believed that God would do what he promised, His Word would be fulfilled. Elizabeth
is blessed and rejoiced in seeing the clear evidence of God’s work in Mary.
We can rejoice in seeing God at work in the lives of others, we can be blessed
by their testimonies of His grace and faithfulness. Our tendency too easily is
to get self-centered and prideful, even in our understanding of theology! We
could learn from George Whitefield, one of the great (Calvinistic!) evangelists
from the time of the Great Awakening. One of his followers asked if they would
see John Wesley, an Arminian evangelist from that time, in heaven. Whitefield
answered, “…we won't see him in heaven. He will be so
close to the Throne of God and we will be so
far away, that we won't be able to see him.” Rejoice in
what God is doing in others and seek to keep learning and growing in the faith!
A good reminder
to us. We have the full revelation of the Word, God’s Word written, in our Bible.
In it, God tells us and shows us what He is like. He reveals His character and
His attributes. We learn there of His holiness, His omniscience, and His
omnipotence. He explains what he has done and what He will do in
history, and He reveals His love and grace in the Gospel. He tells us that
there is one way to the Father, by grace through faith in Jesus. He promises
that all who believe, all who entrust themselves to Him, will be set free from
the penalty of sin and are set free to live the abundant life for which we were
created. He also promises that He will return! Do we believe Him? Will we
live like we trust Him? To God be the glory. God is glorified when we take
Him at His Word and rejoice in His gracious work in our lives and in the world.
III. The joy of experiencing God’s work in your own life (46-49/50).
46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies
the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble
estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me
blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and
holy is his name. 50 And his
mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
Mary’s song
begins with an expression of joyful, thankful worship. This is where the word
“Magnificat” comes from, from the Latin word translated “magnify” here. Mary is
not saying she in some way makes God bigger. Rather, her life is focused not on
drawing attention to herself, but on helping others to see and rejoice in the
one who is Great. It’s like what John will later say: “He must increase… I
must decrease.” I want to pause for a minute to look at the parallel
phrases here. Mary is writing in poetic lines that draw on the form of the OT
Psalms, the hymn book of Israel. She knew her Bible! These lines are parallel
expressions like we often see in poetry: My soul magnifies the LORD // my
Spirit rejoices in God my Savior. First consider the titles she uses, “Lord”
and “God my Savior.” We can draw some conclusions from this, about
Mary’s understanding of herself, her understanding of God, and her
understanding of what in the world God was doing.
First of all, by
using the phrase “my Savior” it is clear that Mary sees herself as a
sinner in need of rescue. She is also using biblical language to describe who
God is and what He alone could do. Seven centuries earlier, the Lord said
through Isaiah,
“I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior…” (Isa 43:11).
Notice in that verse God is identified by His covenantal
name, “Yahweh,” the God who is, the God who spoke to Moses from the
burning bush and who passed by Him on the mountain, partially revealing His
glory as He put Moses in the cleft of a rock. Notice what the one true God says
about the title, “Savior,” “…besides me there is no savior…”
That is an absolute statement! And God never contradicts himself. The Jewish hope
of that time may not have envisioned a savior from sin, but rather focused more
on a political or military deliverer. On the first Christmas morning, as the
angel spoke to the shepherds on the hillside outside of Bethlehem, they said…
For unto
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the
Lord… (Luke 2:11).
Put those verses
together. Isaiah wrote that Yahweh, God, the only savior, right? And yet the
angels announced, Christ, the Anointed One, Meshiach, is the
Savior! The Rescuer for whom the nation was waiting, and who the world desperately
needed… God incarnate? That is the message of the gospels, the babe in manger
is God the Son! The humility of the incarnation is related beautifully by Paul
in his letter to the Philippians,
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus, 6 who, being in the
form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no
reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of
men. 8 And being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death,
even the death of the cross (Philippians
2:5-8).
Verse 50 is a general statement, “His
mercy is for those who fear Him…” Mercy and grace are related ideas. Grace
is receiving blessings that we don’t deserve; He has done great things
for us! Mercy is not receiving what we do deserve. Our God
is an awesome God! What does it mean to fear Him? The author of Hebrews reflects
the biblical idea:
“Therefore, let us be
grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer
to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe…” (Heb 12:28).
If we believe Him, we will be grateful, and respond with worship. God is glorified when we take Him at His Word
and rejoice in His gracious work in our lives and in the world.
IV. The joy of trusting in God to fulfill His promises in the
world (50-56).
50 And his mercy is for those who fear
him from generation to generation. 51
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their
hearts; 52 he has brought
down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry
with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. 54 He has helped his servant
Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55
as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” 56 And Mary remained with her
about three months and returned to her home.
This second part
of Mary’s song focuses more on the big picture of what God will do and is doing
in the world. We won’t go into many of the details here, we’ll see them further
on in Gospel as well. Note for now that Mary uses past tense verbs to
describe God’s future work. Indeed, God’s promises in the past to Abraham and
the fathers are to be fulfilled in the coming of the promised Seed, the Messiah.
Yet the complete fulfillment will be realized with His return. This language
can be used because though the final fulfillment justice and judgement is
future, it is a certainty: God will do it.
We know how this
story of redemption ends: Jesus wins! And so, God’s plan to redeem a people for
himself will come to pass, every prophecy will be fulfilled, every promise
kept. And Jesus is building His church. In every age, God has a remnant who will
hear and believe, receiving Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. We are
saved by grace through faith, and the just shall live by faith. To God
be the glory!
What is God saying to me in this passage? God is glorified when we believe,
when we take Him at His Word and rejoice in His gracious work in our lives, and
in the world!
What would God have me to do in response to this
passage? Celebrating
is appropriate at Christmas, but what are we celebrating? I saw a devotional
this week that used a clip from A Charlie Brown Christmas, the scene where
Linus quotes from Luke 2 as he explains to Charlie what Christmas is all about.
As Linus recites the words of the angel, the moment he says “Fear not…” he
drops his famous security blanket… The writer of that devotional suggested
Charles Schultz was intentional about that. He was saying that the Good News of
Christmas means we need not be afraid. There is much that could scare us
these days. The evil and sickness and suffering and death that are a part of
life in this fallen world are all too visible every day. But God sent His
Son.
So, sin and
death have been defeated, the curse has been undone for all who will believe,
because of Jesus. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His only
Son into the world that we might live through Him… Or, as Linus quoted the
angel, “To you is born a Savior… Christ the Lord…” Think about that this
week. AMEN.
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