Introduction
This Christmas we’re working our way through the first two chapters of Luke’s gospel which contain Luke’s account of the events surrounding the Saviour’s birth. Two Sundays ago we spent our time thinking about the two announcements: the angel Gabriel was sent first to Zechariah to announce to him that his elderly wife would bear a son who should be called John. And the angel made clear that John — or John the Baptist as we know him — was going to prepare the people for the coming of the Lord by calling them to repent. Since the Lord is coming, turn from your life of sin and unbelief and turn to him for salvation.
That was the angel’s announcement to Zechariah. Then the same angel announced to Mary that she was going to conceive a son, not in the normal way, but by means of the Holy Spirit. And so, her son will be holy. Whereas everyone else who is born is born a sinner, her son will be holy from the moment of his conception. And he will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. And I explained that he is Son of God in two senses. Firstly, all the kings of Israel were regarded as sons of God; and so, the angel was saying that Mary’s son would be king. He said that God will give Mary’s son the throne of David and his kingdom will never end. Whereas the Old Testament kings like David and Solomon reigned for a time and then they died and were succeeded, Mary’s son will reign forever.
Being Son of God means he’s a king. But then he’s Son of God in another way, isn’t he? He’s God’s Eternally Begotten Son, the second Person of the Trinity, of one substance with the Father and the Spirit. He is true God from true God. And so, this is who her son will be: he’s the great king and he’s our God.
That was the angel’s announcement to Mary. This evening we’ll think about John the Baptist’s birth; and tomorrow morning, Christmas morning, we’ll think about the Saviour’s birth. But this morning we’re going to spend our time on the passage we read a moment ago in which Mary visited Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John; and Mary responded to Elizabeth’s greeting by saying the words of what is known as the Magnificat in which Mary praised God for his kindness to her and for his mercy to all his people. And so, today’s sermon is in two parts: there’s the visit in verses 39 to 45 followed by Mary’s song in verses 46 to 56.
Verses 39 to 45
At the end of Gabriel’s announcement to Mary, he told her that Elizabeth, her relative, was expecting a child. This, of course, was a miracle, because Elizabeth was elderly and therefore well beyond the age for having children. Furthermore, she had been barren up to that point in the life. But God had now enabled her to conceive a child. And the angel mentioned Elizabeth’s pregnancy to reassure Mary that nothing is impossible with God. He is the omnipotent, all-powerful God, the only one who is able to do all things according to his will. And so, old age is not a barrier to him. Barrenness is not a barrier to him. And Mary’s virginity is not a barrier to him. Nothing is impossible with God.
And since the angel mentioned Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Mary decided to go and see Elizabeth, because no doubt they had much to talk about, because of what God was doing for them and through them. So, Luke tells us that she hurried to see Elizabeth, who lived in an unnamed town in the hill country of Judea. And when she arrived, she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted her. And according to verse 41, when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb.
Babies will often move in their mother’s womb and from time to time the mother will say that she feels her baby kicking her. So, there’s nothing unusual about a baby moving around in its mother’s womb. That’s normal. However, what Luke is reporting here is not normal. It’s not normal, because the baby leaped for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice. How do we know that’s the case and it’s not just a coincidence and that the baby just happened to move whenever Mary arrived? We know the baby leapt for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice, because Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth and enabled her to explain what had happened. The explanation is found from verse 42 on. So, just as the Holy Spirit used to come on people in Old Testament times and he would fill them and enable them to prophesies in the name of the Lord, so the Holy Spirit came on Elizabeth to enable her to proclaim the word of the Lord and to explain why her baby moved in her womb.
And so, Elizabeth, speaking by the Holy Spirit, said to Mary: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear.’ By these words she was acknowledging that Mary had already been blessed by God. God had blessed her, or he had been gracious and kind and good to her, by choosing her to bear a son who will be the Saviour of the world. What an honour and privilege the Lord has bestowed on Mary. And so, she is already blessed. And her child is blessed as well, because he’s no ordinary child, but is destined to do great things for the Lord and for his people.
And Elizabeth felt that she herself had been honoured by God. She asks why has she been so favoured that the mother of her Lord should come to see her. She’s responding the way we might respond if King Charles or some other important person visited us. What an honour, we might think. What a privilege! Why did he come to my home? And Elizabeth is thinking the same kind of thing: What an honour! What a privilege! Why did the mother of my Lord come to see me? These words convey to us her humility.
But her words are very significant, because look how she refers to Mary’s son. She refers to Mary’s son as ‘my Lord’. Do you see that in verse 43? She’s calling Mary’s son her Lord. And that’s significant, because up until this point in Luke’s gospel, the word ‘Lord’ has appeared ten times. And in each of those ten appearances, it refers to Israel’s God. So, Luke told us that Zechariah and Elizabeth walked in the commandments of the Lord. And Zechariah was chosen to enter the temple of the Lord. An angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah. The angel said that John will be great before the Lord. And the angel said that he will turn may of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And John will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. Elizabeth spoke about what the Lord had done for her by giving her a child of her own. The angel told Mary that the Lord is with her. He told her that the Lord God will give her son the throne of David. And Mary referred to herself as the servant of the Lord. And if you asked Zechariah and Elizabeth and Mary who the Lord is, they would tell you that he’s the God of Israel: the God who made the heavens and the earth in the beginning; and the God who revealed himself to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses; and the God who rescued his people from Egypt; and who brought them through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. He’s the God of David and Solomon and all the kings of Israel. That’s who the Lord is. He’s the God of Israel.
And now, here’s Elizabeth, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and she’s referring to Mary’s son as Lord! So, Mary’s son is the Lord who made the heavens and the earth; and who revealed himself to their forefathers; and who saved his people from Egypt; and who gave them the Promised Land. Mary’s son is that Lord. He’s God. The Holy Spirit filled her and enabled her to bear witness to the truth that God the Son was coming into the world as one of us.
And by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, she went on to say that John leapt in her womb for joy. So, what happened was not a normal case of a baby moving around in her womb and kicking her. No, the Holy Spirit, who was with John in the womb, enabled him to leap for joy whenever Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting. John was doing, in the womb, what God made him to do, which was to prepare the way for the coming of Christ and to announce that the Saviour of the world was coming. That’s what the angel said he would do. And that’s what John did when he was an adult and the people came out to hear him in the wilderness. And when they came, he told them about the one who was coming after him, who would be the Saviour of the world. So, that’s what John did when he was an adult. And that’s what he was doing in his mother’s womb as well: the Holy Spirit enabled him by leap for joy and thereby to bear witness to the coming of the Saviour.
And Elizabeth describes Mary in verse 45 as the one who believed that what the Lord had said to her will be accomplished. Whereas Zechariah doubted the word of the Lord which came to him through the angel, Mary believed the word of the Lord. And we’re all to believe the word of the Lord, because it is God’s word and it’s true. We’re to believe the word of the Lord and everything he tells us about Christ the Saviour, who gave up his life on the cross to pay for all that we have done wrong; and who was raised from the dead to give us eternal life. We’re to believe the word of the Lord and everything he tells us about Christ the Saviour, because whoever believes receives forgiveness and the free gift of eternal life.
And Elizabeth’s words in verse 45 point us to the mystery of the Trinity. So, she’s already borne witness to the mystery of the incarnation and to how God the Son was coming into the world as one of us. But now she bears witness to the mystery of the Trinity. So, take a look at verse 45 where she says that Mary believed what the Lord said to her. That is to say: Mary received a prophecy from the Lord. And what was that prophecy about? It was about how she would conceive and give birth to the Lord. So, think about what is happening here: the Lord spoke to Mary about the Lord. The Lord told Mary that she would give birth to the Lord. Or to put it in trinitarian terms: God the Father spoke to her through his angel about God the Son. And Elizabeth was able to bear witness to these things, because God the Spirit revealed it to her. And so, we see here that God the Father and God the Son and God the Spirit were working together to accomplish our salvation.
Verses 46 to 56
And in response to all of this, Mary began to praise God. And that’s the way to respond, isn’t it? When we read a passage from the Bible, we wonder what difference it should make to us. We ask ourselves: How does this passage apply to my life? What difference should it make? What should I do as a result of what I’ve read? Well, when Mary heard what Elizabeth said to her, she responded with praise. She said in verses 46 and 47: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.’
There’s no difference between her soul and her spirit. All she means is that her praise comes from deep inside her. And the reason she praises God is because she knows that the Lord her God and Saviour has been mindful of her humble state. That is to say, he’s shown her special favour. He’s been especially kind to her. She’s not one of the world’s high and mighty people. She’s not rich or powerful or influential. She’s a nobody. She’s nothing in the eyes of the world. She was probably only a teenager and she grew up in an obscure town. But the Lord has shown her great favour and kindness by choosing her to be the mother of the Saviour of the world.
And she knows that from now on, and because of God’s kindness to her, all generations will call her blessed. When she refers to ‘all generations’, she means all future generations. So, people in every generation to come will call her blessed. Elizabeth has already called her blessed, but Elizabeth was only the first of millions of other people who will call Mary blessed. And they will call her blessed because they will recognise what great things God the Mighty One has done for her.
Mary also says that God’s name is holy. When we say that God is holy, we mean that he’s set apart. That’s what holiness means. To be holy means to be set apart. And God is holy or set apart in two senses. He’s set apart from all that is evil, because he alone is morally pure. He is morally perfect. But then he’s also set apart from all that he has made, because he alone is God and we are not. He’s the Creator and he’s above and beyond his creation. And so, God’s holiness refers in this sense to God’s majestic transcendence and to his greatness. And that’s what Mary is referring to when she refers to God’s holiness in verse 49. She’s amazed that this great God, who dwells in a high and holy place, far above all that he has made, has graciously and freely chosen her, a young woman from an obscure town, to be the mother of the Lord Jesus.
And from this point on in her song she moves from talking about what God has done for her personally to talking about what God does for all his people. What does God do for all his people? Look at verse 50: his mercy extends to those who fear him. When she refers to those who fear God, she means people who worship him. She’s referring to believers, who trust God and who worship him. God extends his mercy to them. He is merciful to them. He helps them. He provides for them. He rescues them.
And, according to Mary in verse 50, he does this for his people from generation to generation. So, this is what he does for his people in every generation. And so, if you open the Bible at the beginning, what you read there about God and about the things he does for his people is repeated all the way through the Bible. And if you open the Bible at the end, and read what he will do for his people in the future, it’s the same kind of thing, because God is always merciful towards his people and he is always willing to help them.
And Mary tells us that he has performed mighty deeds with his arm and he’s scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. Her words here recall what the Lord said when he was getting ready to rescue his people from Egypt in the days of Moses. At that time, in Exodus 6, he said that he will rescue his people with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. And by sending the plagues on the Egyptians, God scattered those who were proud in their inmost thoughts. That is to say, God humbled them. And on behalf of his people, God brought down rulers from their thrones. But he also lifted up the humble. That is, he lifted up his people who humbly confessed their need to him and who cried out to him for his help. Think of the Israelites when they were slaves in Egypt. They could not save themselves. They knew there was nothing they could do against the mighty Egyptians. They groaned in their bondage and their cry came up to the Lord, who humbled the Egyptians and who saved his people. This is what God does for his people. He did it in the days of Moses. And he did it throughout the Old Testament, because there were many times when his people were being oppressed by mighty enemies. And they cried out to him; and the Lord delivered them from their enemies.
And he’s the God who fills the hungry with good things. He did this for his people when they were in the wilderness and he fed them with manna and quail. And he gave his people the Promised Land to live in, a land flowing with milk and honey, where they had all that they needed. God filled the hungry, but he sent the rich away empty. That is to say, he sent away those who trusted in their wealth instead of trusting in the Lord their God. Think of the time when the king of Assyria sent his commander to threaten Jerusalem in the days of King Hezekiah. But God sent him away empty-handed. Though he boasted that no-one could stop him, the Lord stopped him and the king of Assyria had to retreat and later he was assassinated by his own sons. God lifts up the humble and he fills the hungry who trust in him; but he scatters the proud and he sends away the unbelieving rich.
This is what God does. He extends mercy to his people. He helps them. He rescues them from their proud enemies. And so, as Mary says, he has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever. Throughout the period of the Old Testament, he helped the people of Israel, who were descended from Abraham.
And, of course, when Mary’s son grew up, that’s what he did for the people he met. And this should not surprise us, because Mary’s son is the Lord, the God of Israel. The God who extended mercy to his people and who scattered the proud in Old Testament times did the same thing when he was on the earth. And so, when the proud Pharisees and Sadducees came to argue with him and to trap him in his words, he sent them away with nothing. He sent them away, because they did not believe. But when anyone else came to him, humbly, confessing their need and seeking his help, he helped them. Blind Bartimaeus called out for mercy; and the Lord enabled him to see. The sick came to him; and he healed him. He fed the 5,000 with a few loaves of bread and some fish. And when his disciples were afraid because of the storm, he stilled the wind and the waves and saved them. He even raised the dead and gave them back to their loved ones. And when the criminal on the cross confessed his guilt and asked the Lord to remember him, the Lord reassured that dying man that he will live with Christ forever. And by dying on the cross for our sins, before rising again, he has provided salvation for all his people, so that we can be lifted from the grave to receive eternal life in his presence.
Conclusion
Mary praised the Lord, her God and Saviour for his mercy towards his people. And by describing what God does, she was announcing what her son would do when he was on the earth, because her son is the Lord, her God and Saviour. Her son is God, God the Son, who was coming into the world as one of us. And when he was on the earth, he extended mercy to the humble who came to him. And from his throne in heaven, he continues to extend his mercy to his people around the world, because he gives salvation and help to all who humble themselves before him and who confess their need of a Saviour and who look to him.
This is what God does from generation to generation. And so, this is what he does in our generation. And so, you too can count on him to do the same for you. Have you sinned? Well, of course you’ve sinned, because all of us are sinners. But when you go to God in prayer through his Son to confess your sins and to ask for forgiveness, you can count on him to do what he has always done for his people and to show you mercy by forgiving you. And are you anxious or upset? Well, there are lots of things which make us anxious and which upset us. But when you go to God in prayer through his Son to make it known to him, you can count on him to do what he has always done for his people and to show you mercy by helping you. Have you lost your way? You can go to God in prayer through Christ and count on him to show you mercy by putting you back on the right track.
The proud, the unbelieving, those who believe the lie that they don’t need God, he will send away. But if you humble yourself before the Lord, he will help you. This is what he has always done for his people. He will help you in this life. And then, he will bring you into his presence in the life to come. And there, all of God’s people will glorify the Lord and we’ll rejoice in Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour.
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