“Mary’s
Song”
[Luke
1:46-55]
Decemeber
17, 2017 Second Reformed Church
On
this third Sunday of Advent, we are looking at Mary’s song. This song is Mary’s
response to the angel after she hears what God has planned for her: She was chosen
to be the mother of the Savior of Israel, Who is none other than God Himself.
In
the verses preceding this morning’s reading, we are told that the angel,
Gabriel, visits Mary’s cousin Elizabeth. We are told that Elizabeth was old and
that she was barren – she and her husband, Zechariah, did not have any
children. Yet, Gabriel came to her with the news that she would conceive, and,
in fact, she did. And in the sixth month of her conception, we are told that
the angel visits Mary.
We are not told what form the angel,
Gabriel, visited in. Mary’s response was to be afraid and troubled, which could
have come from his appearance or his message or both. We remember that angels in their natural form
are awesome and startling – possibly, fearsome – looking creatures.
So, Gabriel appears to Mary and tells
her that she is favored by the Lord – the God of Israel – that she has been
chosen to bear the Savior of Israel, Who is the Son of God, and reigns
eternally on the throne of David.
Being
a righteous Jewish woman, she knew and believed the promise that was given
amidst the cursing of Adam, Eve, the serpent, and the Creation, “I will put
enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15, ESV).
It is understood that this is the Promise of God that He would send a Savior,
born of a woman, Who would deliver God’s people from slavery to sin and Satan.
Mary was not surprised that she could be the one to bear the Savior. She does
not seem particularly surprised that she is favored of the Lord or that the
Savior would be the Son of God. What surprises her is that the angel tells her
that she will be with child when she has never had physical relations with a
man – she was a virgin in the true biological sense.
Mary understood biology, and she
didn’t understand how this could happen without a physical relationship with a
man. (That’s why many people today say that this is mythology, or she was
young, but not really a virgin.)
Gabriel
was ready for this objection and told Mary that God, the Holy Spirit, would
cause her to conceive by His Power, and the child within her would be holy, the
Son of God. And as a sign that these things would come to pass, Gabriel told Mary
to go and visit her cousin, Elizabeth – the old woman whom was always known to
be barren – because she was now in the sixth month of her conception – because
nothing will be impossible with God.
Mary
humbled herself and received the Will of God, “Behold, I am the servant of the
Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And Gabriel left. And Mary went
off to see Elizabeth, and she found everything Gabriel had told her to be true.
Elizabeth and the child within her recognized – by the Holy Spirit – what had
happened and Who the Child was that Mary now carried. Elizabeth blessed Mary
and her Child, and she asked why the mother of God had come to her – the word
“Lord” in this text refers to God. Elizabeth told Mary that the child within
her recognized Mary’s Child and leapt for joy. (The sixth month old in
Elizabeth’s womb recognized the, perhaps, weeks old Child in Mary’s womb. A
child exists from the moment of conception.) And Elizabeth again blessed Mary
for believing the Word of the Lord.
And Mary, having understood her
theology – having understood God and His Word and what He was accomplishing in
her – broke out in doxology – in praise to God, as we heard this morning:
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his
servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;”
Do you think Mary was being a little
arrogant? “All generations will call her blessed”? How humble was it for her to
think that she would be remembered and blessed? Wasn’t it her Son Who was the
Center of what was occurring in her?
There
is a fine line to be walked. Let us understand: God says that Mary is humble
and that she is blessed, and as the mother of God, it is right for her to
believe that she would be remembered as such. That is not arrogance – this is
believing in God and His Word. The Roman Catholic Church goes to an unbiblical
extreme and worships Mary along with Jesus. That is wrong – it is sinful. Mary
was merely a human being like us. She is not to be worshiped. Yet, some
Protestant Churches almost seem to despise Mary and not want to mention her at
all. That is wrong – that is sinful. Mary was the chosen and blessed mother of
God, someone we ought to emulate in her humility and obedience.
We ought also recognize that it was
right for her to rejoice in her being blessed, because she rejoiced in being
blessed as part of what God had done for her. Every one of us who has believed
in Jesus Alone for salvation is blessed. We should rejoice and give thanks that
God has blessed us in choosing us and saving us from our sin and the Wrath of
God. I am blessed; you are blessed. We should acknowledge that and give thanks
and rejoice in it. We have every reason to be joy-filled and to spread that joy
to others. We have no excuse to look and act like we have been sucking on
lemons. Look at what you are compared with what you could be – especially as a
son or daughter of God – a brother and sister of Jesus Christ – how can we not
magnify the Lord with Mary? How can we not rejoice in God our Savior?
“For
he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his
mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown
strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their
hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of
humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has
sent empty away.”
Our
God – the God of Mary – is the Mighty God – He is the Holy God. He is the God
Who has done great things for us. Has God every done anything for you? In times
of personal and national tragedy, we hear people cry out, “Where was God? Where
was God?” Have we forgotten the Garden of Eden? Have we forgotten that every
evil that occurs on the earth has been brought to us by ourselves? Before Adam
and Eve sinned, there was no sin in the world. We brought it into the world.
And yet – we have life. We have love. We have joy. And even if we find a way to
strike down everything we could possibly think of as a great thing that God has
done for us, we have the Greatest Thing – that Little Baby that Mary carried –
that Greatest of All Things – sent for us and our salvation. When everything
else is wrong, is not Jesus Great?
Our God is a God Who delights in
showing His Strength – in showing that He is the God of all things. He is not
some god who set the earth in motion and walked away. No, ours is the God Who
is intimately involved with every person and every moment of history, working
all things according to His Plan, and for the good of those who love Him (cf.
Romans 8:28). Our God shows His Mercy to us from generation to generation.
Until the day that He returns, there will be people chosen out of all the world
to be His sons and daughters. He will save from each generation as it pleases
Him to save.
Our God is the God Who knows the
thoughts of every human being. God is not ignorant – He knows everything. God
shows His strength in His time by scattering the proud in heart. The proud will
not always stand and put down the poor and the needy – the humble and the
godly. And understand, we can be rich and proud and poor and proud. God is not
talking about how much money we have, but the attitude of our hearts. Although,
in this country, it seems that we do easily become prideful about what we have
– “he who dies with the most toys wins,” so they say. Or, we become proud
because we’re not one of the “fat cats.” Pride is insidious and can affect
anyone. And God will knock us down if we become prideful.
In
this country we fight fierce and disgusting battles to get our candidates in
power, but Mary understood that it is God Who puts kings in power and removes
them from power. As Daniel said, “[God] changes times and seasons; he removes
kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who
have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the
darkness, and the light dwells with him” (Daniel 2:21-22, ESV). And Paul
reminds us of the same thing: “Let every person be subject to the governing
authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist
have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists
what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement” (Romans
13:1-2, ESV). Politicians come and go, but our God Who sovereignly installs and
uses each of them rules forever.
Our
God exalts the humble. Mary is a wonderful example of this – a young girl,
engaged to marry a carpenter – God exalts her by causing her to become the
mother of God. God could have chosen to have the Savior born in the king’s
palace – that’s what the magi expected when they came looking for Him. But God
chose a young, unknown girl, someone who knew the Word of God and submitted to
it – receiving and accepting whatever came from God’s Hand.
Remember this account: “Then the
mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to [Jesus] with her sons, and keeling
before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, ‘What do you want?’
She said to him, ‘Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one on your right
hand and one on your left, in your kingdom.’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know
what you are asking. Are you able to drink from the cup that I am to drink?’
They said to him, ‘We are able.’ He said to them, ‘You will drink my cup, but
to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for
those whom it has been prepared by my Father.’ And when the ten heard it, they
were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You
know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones
exercise authority over them. It shall not be among you. But whoever would be
great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must
be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and
to give his life a ransom for many’” (Matthew 20:20-28, ESV).
It is this type of passage that
caused the philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, to say that Christianity is the
religion of the weak and women. He didn’t get it. Jesus’ cousin, the son of
Elizabeth, did understand. When he was questioned he answered, “‘A person
cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You
yourselves bear me witness, that I said, “I am not the Christ, but I have been
sent before him.” The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of
the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s
voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must
decrease’” (John 3:27-30, ESV). The followers of Christ are exalted in Him as
we humbled ourselves and exalt Him – just as Mary did.
Mary said that God fills the hungry
and sends the rich away empty. Let us be careful. Mary is not merely talking
about money. God has blessed some Christians with money. Money itself is not
evil. What Mary is saying is that those who come to God knowing that they are
in need, whether it be for daily bread or other needs, God will fill those
needs. But those who come to God believing that they don’t need anything, God
sends away with what they want – nothing. Remember that Jesus was criticized by
the Pharisees for eating with the tax collectors and other sinners, and Jesus
said, ‘”Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I came not
to call the righteous, but sinners’” (Matthew 9:12b-13, ESV). God bids us come,
knowing that we are in need of Him. If we deny we need Him, what should we
expect from Him?
Mary ends her song, “He has helped
his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to
Abraham and to his offspring forever.” God promised the elderly Abraham and
Sarah a child, and “God said, ‘No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son,
and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my kingdom with him as an
everlasting covenant for his offspring after him’” (Genesis 17:19, ESV). God
had promised Abraham that God would make a people of him and through him all
the nations of the world would be blessed. What Abraham did not understand is
that God’s blessing of Israel was not merely to a landmass or a biological
people, as Paul explained, “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to
Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring,
but, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ This means that it is not
the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise
are counted as offspring” (Romans 9:6b-8, ESV). In other words, those to whom
God is merciful and helps are those who believe in Him and His Savior by faith
– no matter what their biology.
In
Mary’s song, the Magnificat, as it is known, we learn:
God has blessed all those who
believe in Jesus Alone for salvation, and we are right to consider ourselves
blessed by God and to give Him all the glory for our salvation.
Everything we have and are that is
good is given to us by God, especially our salvation, so we always have reason
to give God thanks and praise.
God has called us to a life a
humility and service – a life that shows how great He is. In the end, it is
those who sincerely, truthfully, live that type of life, that God will exalt in
His Kingdom.
God wants us to understand that He
is the Source of all good things, and if we have needs, He will fill them day
by day. But if we come to Him believing that we have all that we need, He will
send us away empty.
And we learn that God has called a
people for Himself, and all those whom He has called will believe in Him.
People from every tribe and nation and language will come to faith in Jesus
Christ Alone through the Mercy and Eternal Plan of God – and by no other means.
Let
us rejoice. Let us give thanks. Let us bow down before our Lord and God.
As we receive the bread and the cup
of the Sacrament, let us come to it believing that we are called to receive the
elements by Jesus, as His brothers and sisters. Let us come believing that we
need to receive these elements – to commune with Jesus – to receive His Grace –
to receive strength to accomplish all that He has set before us. And let us
come desiring that He would receive all the glory – in this supper, in this
worship, in all that we do as we leave this place, and throughout all of
eternity.
Let
us pray:
Almighty
God, we thank You for the teaching in the song of Mary. We thank You for
choosing her and giving her as an example of righteous and humble living for
us. We ask that You would make us more like Mary in the ways that she is like
Your Son, Jesus. Let our joy be service to You for Your Glory. For it is in
Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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