December 26th: The Magnificat, Luke 1:39-56

This Sunday we traveled backwards chronologically from Luke 2 back into Luke 1, but in many ways we traveled forward theologically as we studied Mary’s song of praise in response to the incredible news brought to her by the angel Gabriel.  Mary had been somewhat bewildered by the revelation given to her by God through the angel, but despite the lack of understanding about how this would all play out and the human fear that accompanied this experience, her response is stunning in both its simplicity and its faith.  In verse 38 Mary boldly states: “I am the Lord’s servant.  May everything you have said about me come true.”  We must keep in mind this was a poor, teenage, unmarried girl – four components of life that in New Testament times made things exponentially more challenging for someone in Mary’s position.  She had every reason to fear, and yet faith overcame fear.  When she submissively refers to herself as God’s servant, the original Greek word used there is ‘doulos’ – literally meaning bondslave.  This idea reaches back into the Old Testament – in certain situations, when a servant had served out their allotted time and worked off their debt, they had two choices.  One, they could be free to go and do whatever they so chose;  or two, they could remain in the employ of their master.  The latter happened more than we may expect, and even had a precedent set by God, as specified in Exodus 21:5-6:  “… if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children;  I shall not go free,’ then his master shall bring him into God… and he shall be his slave forever.”  The point being, some slaves recognized their master was fair and loving and cared deeply for them, and that their life was better in their employ than even having the opportunity to do whatever they wanted – spiritually speaking, this is precisely what Mary is declaring in her response to Gabriel.  For a believer, the only real road to freedom is through slavery to Christ.

We considered Mary’s statement at the beginning of her praise song to the Lord, in verses 46-47 of Luke 1:  “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”  The Greek word used there for ‘soul’ is ‘psache’ – conveying a sense of the very breath of one’s life:  Mary is proclaiming “the entirety of my being declares the holiness of the Lord, and I exalt Him with the very depths of my soul…”  We may ask ‘why’ in response to this statement on the part of Jesus’ mother, and she immediately answers in verse 48:  “For He has looked upon the humble state of His servant, and behold, all generations will call me blessed…”   In other words, “the Lord has seen fit to care for even a humble teenage girl because of His unsurpassed goodness” – Mary recognized that this was a choice on the part of a holy God – He ‘looked upon’ and took care of her;  He tended to her situation and to her soul.  And notice that she doesn’t declare that all generations will call her “great”, or “praiseworthy”, or “venerated” – she says all generations will call her “blessed“.  What does it mean to be blessed?  It means to be in God’s favor, based on His grace, enacted by His mercy.  What a state to be in!

We drew 4 main points from our study of this passage…  (noting that Point 2 builds on Point 1, and in the same manner Point 4 builds on Point 3)

1. 1. Regardless of how it may look in the emotions of the moment, God’s plans are always better than our plans...  Again, consider the lowly state of Mary’s lot in life at this point – particularly in context of her immediate situation with Joseph.  Her soon-to-be-husband had every right not only to effectively divorce her and leave her on her own, but he could have actually had her stoned to death.  In fact, that’s what many men would have done in these circumstances – if a betrothed woman was found to be pregnant, the social expectation was they would be put to death.  But when we consider Matthew 1:19, we see that Joseph was a man of integrity that wasn’t willing to put his hurt feelings above the well-being and safety of Mary:  “… and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.”  Joseph’s actions were credited to him as righteous, and this account reinforces the precarious position that Mary was truly in – but the Lord was looking out for her well-being in both spiritual and physical ways.
      1. We considered Proverbs 16 verse 9, which says “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”  The scenario before Mary certainly wasn’t the way she envisioned her life going before this experience, and yet her response is trust and submission.  It isn’t difficult to see the words of her Son echo this same statement some 33 years later, in Matthew 26:39 – as our Lord is near the point of being overcome with the unimaginable stress of what He is about to face, sweating blood as He faces the task before Him, on the verge of being crushed under the avalanche of pain He is about to experience, He makes this eternally, hauntingly beautiful statement:  “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;  nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”  Our Savior had every power at His disposal to call down angels to crush His enemies and avoid experiencing the wrath of God, but He did not.  He submitted to the Father, displaying trust beyond our understanding.  What a Savior…  what a Friend.   Just as Jesus did later, Mary declares a vow of beautiful submission to God the Father:  “I am but a humble servant, do with me what You choose.”  Much like so many believers on the mission field that have that specific calling on their lives, our attitude to holy God must be:  the answer is yes, now Lord just tell me the question.
   2. … because His plans are rooted in His perfect holiness and glorify Him above all.  Building on point #1 above, we recognize that only God is perfectly holy and wholly perfect, therefore only He will have perfectly laid plans laid out no matter what.  Consider the words of Psalm 18:1-5, then verses 30-31 which culminate in “His way is perfect…”  The original word used for ‘way‘ here refers to ‘inner character‘, i.e. His very being is ‘perfect’, specifically meaning ‘complete’, or ‘whole’.  In other words, His very being – His inner character – is perfectly rooted in that which is in accord with truth and fact.  Only a Being who understands truth perfectly can have perfect plans…   How often are our plans motivated by our own selfish desires and self-centered wishes?
      1. God is also called “a shield for all those who take refuge in Him” (vs 30) – related to Genesis 15, when He tells Abram “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you…”  What comes to mind when we hear ‘shield’?  Protection, safety…  a lack of fear.  The message from God the Father to Abram here, and to us by extension from Psalm 18, is that even though the world gives us myriad reasons to have fear, we have a God infinitely more powerful than anything this earth can throw at us – and more than that, a God that actively takes care of His children.  Think again on Mary, who had every reason to cower in fear and drown in the sea of anxiety before her, but did not – she resolutely trusted in God even though she couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of her.
   3. Our response to His plans should always be submission, rooted in trust, manifested in worship, and displayed in joy...  Notice the structure at work here:  much like a garden must be planted properly and tended in specific ways for it to grow and be healthy, such is the same with our spiritual life.  Taken in reverse, we won’t experience true joy if we don’t first have deep roots of trust and submission.  Relatedly, we won’t display real joy to the world around us if our lives are not actively worshiping our God regardless of what we may be facing.  Furthermore, the garden metaphor works from the other side also – sin is like a weed, and must be ripped out by the root.  So often when one weeds their garden, they pull the weed at the surface but don’t get the whole thing – which means they may not be able to see it for a while, but it’s still there and will appear again in time.  Spiritually, we must ask, trust, and allow the Holy Spirit to rip those sinful tendencies out by the root – too often we are content to halfway address it and be satisfied with the misleading assumption that it’s gone just because we don’t see it for a while.  We must seek the Spirit to rip it out root and all, and replace it with the good soil of Scripture.  Truth is the only way to destroy darkness.
      1.  We considered those 4 attributes of the point above individually – submission, trust, worship, and joy, as follows:
         1. Submission – another word would be malleability.  Consider Isaiah 64:8, which states “…we are the clay, You are the potter;  all of us are the work of Your hand.”  Living in submission means our inner selves, and therefore our entire lives, are clay in the hands of our Father – to mold and use as He sees fit.
         2. Trust – another word would be confidence.  We looked at Hebrews 11:1 to drive this home:  “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the proof of things not seen…”  We hope for a lot of things in life, but so often those ‘hopes’ are really just wishes – I hope this situation at work goes a certain way;  I hope my team wins this game, etc…  but the hope mentioned in Hebrews is built on nothing less than God’s promises, and is therefore foundational for our life and our faith.  The things unseen are the reality of what is waiting on us in the next life.  To the glory of God!
         3. Worship – another word we can and should use more regularly is adoration.  Consider for a moment John 4:23-24, when Jesus is conversing with the woman at the well.  She had tunnel vision regarding how her family had always practiced worship of God, and Jesus told her “Those who worship God must worship in spirit and in truth…”   The correct spirit, led by the Spirit, rooted in truth, is foundational to real, authentic worship.  Do our lives reflect that?  Do we see worship as a way of life, or do we simply see ‘worship’ as something we do during a few songs on Sunday morning, and nothing more?
         4. Joy – another word here would be elation, or even wonder…  for the fact is, through the blood of Christ we have been saved from the darkness of our sin into the glorious light of God’s favor – what could our reaction properly be other than pure elation?  In Nehemiah chapter 8, the prophet is encouraging the people in various ways and sums his statement up thusly:  “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”  The backbone of our lives is joy in the Lord, given by the Lord, derived from being in the presence of the Lord.  May we not miss this incredible tenet of our faith!
   4. … because we recognize the truth of Point #2, and that His plans always have in mind the best interests of both ourselves individually and the world as a whole.  This doesn’t mean, of course, that His plan is always what we would choose for ourselves.  Ponder Hebrews chapter 11, what is known as the “by faith” passage – example after example of people following the calling of the Lord, living obediently and doing things they never would have chosen to do on their own.  Noah called to build ark when he had likely never even heard the word before;  Abram and the call to leave his home and travel to an unfamiliar land;  Abraham called to sacrifice his son Isaac on the altar;  Joseph being called to Egypt through incredible circumstances;  and so on.  One could easily make the case that the circumstances each of them faced made their lives exponentially more difficult…  yet God orchestrated each of these events with a bigger picture in mind.  The clear application of this in our focus passage of Luke 1 is found in verse 50:  “and His mercy is for those who fear Him...”  There is an important qualification there – His mercy isn’t just a blanket statement that applies to every human being;  it is specifically bounded for “those who fear Him”.  What does it mean to fear God?  I think a good encapsulation is this:  A life-altering, action-prompting reverence founded on a crystal-clear recognition of who He is, and therefore, who we are.
      1. Friends, may our lives make the same declaration as Mary’s did:  “I am but a humble servant, do with me what You so choose.”   William Gurnall once wrote, “The Christian’s armor will rust except it be refurbished with the oil of prayer.”  I think that is a good place to end on, and a good statement to for us all to ponder.

To God be the glory, now and forevermore.