Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Historical Setting

Encounter with an Angel (Luke 1:26-38)

Angel is sent from God to give a message to Mary.

Luke 1:26–27 (ESV)

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.

And the virgin’s name was Mary.

Angel tells Mary that she will be the mother of Jesus.

Luke 1:30–33 (ESV)

30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Mary visits Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-45)

Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth and she proclaims.

Luke 1:41–45 (ESV)

41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.

And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 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.”

Mary’s Prayer of Praise (Luke 1:46-56)

After hearing what Elizabeth proclaimed, Mary goes into a prayer of Praise.

Her prayer becomes known as “The Magnificat”

“The Magnificat reflects the Hebrew poetry in the book of Psalms, both in form and content (Koontz, “Magnificat,” 336).

Mary’s words parallel a number of Old Testament passages, especially Hannah’s song in 1 Sam 2:1–10 and Psa 136 (Koontz, “Magnificat,” 339; Brown, Birth of the Messiah, 358–60).”

(Tresham, Aaron K. “Magnificat.”

Ed.

John D. Barry et al.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary 2016: n. pag.

Print.)

Mary prays a prayer of praise focusing on 4 main Ideas addressing her and her understanding of God.

We can learn a lot about the understanding of Mary about the baby she is going to have.

Outline adapted from: Tresham, Aaron K. “Magnificat.”

Ed.

John D. Barry et al.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary 2016: n. pag.

Print.

Mary’s Amazement

Mary rejoices that she has the privilege of giving birth to the promised Messiah (Luke 1:46–48).

Luke 1:46–48 (ESV)

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;

Mary rejoices (46-47)

Hebrew parallelism (The second line emphasizes the same point of the first line)

Magnifies - to praise a person in terms of that individual’s greatness—‘to praise the greatness of.’

(Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida.

Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 429.

Print.)

Rejoice - to experience a state of great joy and gladness, often involving verbal expression and appropriate body movement—‘to be extremely joyful, to be overjoyed, to rejoice greatly.’

(Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida.

Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 302.

Print.)

The object of her praise and joy is the Lord.

Mary’s humble state (48a)

Luke 1:48 “for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;”

Reason for her praise and joy is that the Lord would choose her to bring the Messiah into the world.

Humble estate - the state of low status, with the probable implication of humility—‘low status, low estate, humility.’

(Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida.

Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 739.

Print.)

“God has chosen a person of no social importance as the means of his saving work.

As Paul later put it, God’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor.

12:9).”

(France, R. T. Luke.

Ed.

Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton.

Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013.

Print.

Teach the Text Commentary Series.)

Mary is blessed (48b)

Luke 1:48 “for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;”

to regard someone as happy or fortunate in view of favorable circumstances—‘to regard as happy, to regard as fortunate.’

(Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida.

Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 301.

Print.)

Mary is a role model and example who is worthy of our respect and honor

“If you come from a tradition that shies away from special doctrines about her, take a moment to acknowledge the ways in which it is appropriate to respect and honor her as a sister in faith and as a role model for ordinary people who would be used by God.” (France, R. T. Luke.

Ed.

Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton.

Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013.

Print.

Teach the Text Commentary Series.)

Submissiveness - to the will of God told her by the Angel.

Humility - Seeing herself as fortunate to be called by God and not arrogant.

“So the theme of God’s fulfillment of his Old Testament promises remains central to this passage.

Mary’s joyful exultation celebrates the entire scope of his saving work.

But it is focused on his choice of an obscure and socially insignificant girl to be his servant and so to be advanced to the highest honor.”

(France, R. T. Luke.

Ed.

Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton.

Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013.

Print.

Teach the Text Commentary Series.)

Mary’s Praise

She glorifies God for His power, holiness, and mercy (Luke 1:49–50).

Luke 1:49–50 (ESV)

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.

Mighty (49)

Luke 1:49 “for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

(derivative of δυνατόςb ‘able, can,’ 74.2; a title for God, literally ‘the one who is able’) one who is capable of doing anything—‘the Mighty One, Mighty God, the Almighty.’