Silence Broken: Mary's Magnificat

a) Last week we wrapped up our series on Malachi, which was also the end of the OT. Although God’s people were back in the promised land, there was no Davidic King. But as Malachi came to an end, there was hope. The messenger of the covenant, God Himself, promised to come.

b) But what followed was over 400 years of silence. Now to put that in perspective, our country is almost 250 years old. But for 400 years people were born & died, but there was no Savior. There were no prophets in those 400+ years. No inspired Scripture. No visions, dreams, or theophanies.

c) Part of the reason I wanted us to walk through Malachi before we came to this Advent season was to help us, those who live on the other side of Jesus’ 1st coming, enter the longing & aching of the OT saints. See, to practice Advent is to lean into a cosmic ache to see all things made right.

d) Advent is a season on the church calendar where we prepare our hearts for Christmas & remember the reason why we celebrate Christmas. Advent comes from the Latin adventus, which means coming or arrival. It’s a time where we as Christians look back to Christ’s 1st coming.

e) We remind ourselves of the great mystery at the heart of our faith. That God became man for us & for our salvation in the person of Jesus Christ. To prepare our hearts this season, I want us to see how those 400+ years of silence were finally broken in the gospel of Luke.

f) Today we’re going to see the 1st response to that silence being broken: Mary’s Magnificat. As always, let’s begin by hearing the word of the Lord in Lk 1:39-56. READ & PRAY

I’ve titled today’s sermon: “Mary Magnifies the Lord”. Let’s 1st look at the silence broken.

a) Matthew’s gospel narrates Jesus’ birth through the eyes of Mary’s husband, Joseph. But Luke’s gospel tells the story of Jesus' birth through the eyes of several different people: a priest named Zechariah, his wife Elizabeth, Mary, the angels, as well as Simeon & Anna.

b) And in Luke’s gospel, his emphasis is on the hymns or songs expressed by these individuals as the silence was broken & God’s promises were fulfilled. In this 1st song, Mary wants us to look where she’s looking & to taste the grace she tasted. She wants us to join w/ her in singing.

c) Now the context for Mary’s song is tied to a visit to her cousin Elizabeth. We know from the verses before our passage Elizabeth was married to a priest named Zechariah, but she was barren. But 1 day when Zechariah was in the temple, the angel Gabriel appeared to him.

d) The angel declared in Lk. 1:13, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, & your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son & you shall call his name John.” The angel told Zechariah John (John the Baptist) would be filled w/ the HS even in his mother’s womb.

e) The angel declared in v16-17 that John would “turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.” The angel declared John would “go before the Lord in the spirit & power of Elijah.”The angel declared John would “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.”

f) Now much of that should sound very familiar to you based on the promises & prophecies we saw in Malachi. But then v26 says 6 mos. later the angel Gabriel was sent from God to Nazareth.

g) Gabriel came to Mary, a virgin to be married to Joseph of the house of David. The angel told Mary she would conceive a son by the power of the HS & He should be called Jesus. He would be great & called the Son of the Most High & would be given the throne of His father David.

h) The angel declared He would reign forever & His kingdom would have no end. But Mary was also told in v36-37, “And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, & this is the 6th month w/ her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible w/ God.”

i) And that leads us to our passage in v39-56. Notice, Mary didn’t know her barren cousin Elizabeth was pregnant. In those days, news traveled slowly. They didn’t have mail, emails, cell phones, text messages, FaceTime or social media platforms to share news.

j) Mary didn’t know Elizabeth was pregnant until the angel Gabriel announced it to her. And when Mary heard this news, we read in v39 she arose & went w/ haste to see Elizabeth in a hill country town of Judah. Now from Nazareth that would’ve been a 60-100 mile trip, or a 3-5 day journey.

k) But look at what happened in v40 when she entered Elizabeth & Zechariah’s home & greeted her cousin. v40 says the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leapt. Elizabeth adds in v44 that the baby in her womb leapt for joy. Now we live centuries later in a more advanced scientific & technological age.

l) We now know that around 25 weeks, babies in the womb can respond to noises & voices. In the 3rdtrimester, babies can actually recognize voices. Here, Elizabeth is around 25 weeks into her pregnancy & the baby in her womb responds to hearing Mary’s voice by leaping for joy.

m) Now remember what the angel told Zechariah. He said John the Baptist would be filled w/ the HS even in his mothers’ womb. See, it’s interesting that the 1st person to recognize Jesus is John the Baptist, who was called to announce the Lord’s coming & to prepare the way for Him.

n) But John leaping in His mother’s womb also led Elizabeth to praise God in v42-45. She praises God w/ insight only God could have given her by the power of the HS. Notice, Mary has not shared anything w/ Elizabeth about what the angel Gabriel told her. But Elizabeth declares:

o) “Blessed are you among women, & blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

p) Notice Elizabeth refers to the baby in Mary’s womb as my Lord. When she confesses the unborn Jesus as her Lord, she’s declaring Him to be Israel’s God who has finally come. And in v46-55 Mary praises God. Why? B/c Elizabeth’s words confirmed what she had been told by the angel.

q) The child born to her would be the Lord. The Savior of the world. So in v46 Mary bursts into a song of praise.

Let’s now look at Mary Magnificat. 1st, she praises God for the upside-down nature of His Kingdom

a) She says in v46-47, “My soul magnifies the Lord & my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

b) To magnify something is to make something great. It’s to extol or exalt or enlarge something. Now the soul & spirit are not different parts of Mary, but both refer to her inner or whole being. And here’s the 1st reason Mary magnifies the Lord. Look at v48:

c) “for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.” Now notice, God has looked upon Mary. God has seen her. He has regarded her in her lowly condition & b/c of that - her heart overflows w/ joy. Despite the vast gulf that exists between her & her Creator, God has looked upon her.

d) Not w/ eyes of scorn or condemnation, but w/ mercy. W/ redeeming love. God has looked upon her to bless her. She will be the 1 to bear the promised offspring & Savior of the world. The God-Man, Jesus Christ. The messenger of the covenant. And notice, Mary sees herself in light of who God is.

e) She says, “He has looked on the humble estate of his servant.” She sees herself w/ humility in comparison to God & His glory. She sees herself as God’s servant. And despite her lowly status, b/c of what the Lord will do, she will be called blessed.

f) Mary is so moved by this vision of God, that He loves the lowly, that she breaks out in song. See, that’s the nature of God’s Kingdom. God uses people who are not great in the world’s eyes to work His great purposes in the world. It’s what we call the upside-down nature of God’s kingdom.

g) 1 Cor. 1:27-28 says, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low & despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.” That’s what we see in Mary’s song.

h) God had looked upon a forgotten town like Nazareth. God had looked upon an unwed virgin. What fills Mary's heart w/ joy is that God loves to use the humble & lowly to accomplish His purposes.  We see more of the upside-down nature of God’s kingdom in v51-53.

i) v51:“He’s shown strength (to Mary) w/ His arm; but He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.” v52:“He has brought down the mighty from their thrones &exalted those of humble estate.” v53: “He has filled the hungry w/ good things, & the rich He has sent away empty.”

j) Do you see the upside-down nature of God’s kingdom? God didn’t bring forth His Son by a woman of prestige or nobility, but a lowly, humble virgin. He did mighty things by His arm for 1 who knew she wasn’t mighty. He had mercy on 1 who feared & believed Him & His promises.

k) He exalted & blessed this lowly, humble woman. But the rich & proud & mighty Mary says He has scattered & brought down & sent away empty. Do you see the upside-down nature of God’s Kingdom? We see this same upside-down nature in the person & work of Jesus Himself.

l) According to the world’s wisdom, you welcome, honor & value those who can do the same for you. But in the wisdom of God’s Kingdom, Jesus welcomed people who didn’t deserve it & could not reciprocate it. He welcomed the poor, needy, marginalized, broken & even little children.

m) God’s Kingdom & gospel are made visible when we welcome people as Jesus did & love people as Jesus did. It’s this upside-down nature of God’s Kingdom that Mary praises God for. And it’s when we live out this upside-down nature of God’s Kingdom that we turn the world upside-down.

n) That’s why the cross was so confusing for the religious people of Jesus’ day. How Jesus be the promised Christ or Messiah? As Isa. 53:2-3 tells us, He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him. He had no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised & rejected by men.

o) As 1 from whom men hide their faces, He was despised & we esteemed Him not. He was hung on a tree, cursed & crushed by God. But don’t miss the upside-down nature of God’s Kingdom. Isa. 53:4-6 testifies Jesus took up our pain & bore the suffering we deserved b/c of our sin.

p) He was punished by God for us. He was stricken by God for us. He was afflicted by God for us. He was pierced & crushed for us & our sin. Jesus took our sin upon Himself, so our sin might be taken away. Jesus was forsaken by God the Father so we would never have to be.

q) He was crushed by God so we could be healed by God. He was brought low so we could be exalted. He was cursed, so might be blessed.

But 2nd, Mary’s magnifies God for who He is, what He has done & what He is doing.

a) Look at v48-49. Mary’s words here were an outpouring of praise to God. She honors God for caring for her, for looking upon her & blessing her in v48. She praises God for His power, the mighty things He has done in v49. She glories in God being holy. She exalts God for His mercy.

b) And notice what she says in v50 about God’s mercy. It “is for those who fear Him from generation to generation.”God’s mercy reaches down in every generation including our own. He is the same yesterday, today & forever. She is praising God for who He is.

c) Have you ever wondered why we gather as a church & sing songs of worship?  B/c the good news of the gospel isn’t something just to be announced & shared w/ others, it’s something to be sung about & rejoiced in. When we sing, we are magnifying God for who He is.

d) And there’s tremendous power in combining words w/ music. The words stick in our memories. Think about this. Why do you remember words to songs that you haven’t even heard or sang in years? B/c set to music, those words & go deep into your soul, not just into your mind.

e) Mary praises God for who He is. But she also praises God for what He’s done. In v54-55 Mary worships God for His faithfulness to His promises. She sings, “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham & to his offspring forever.”

f) Mary is declaring that God’s action in the coming of Jesus is not something new, but a continuation of His mercy & promises. The coming of Jesus was not something completely unexpected, but completely in line w/ God’s great promises to His people like we saw in Malachi.

g) It’s in line w/ God’s promises to Abraham. God promised that in Abraham’s seed or offspring all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Paul, in Gal. 3:16 says this seed of Abraham isn’t a reference to many offspring, but to 1 person in particular - Jesus.

h) He is the seed of Abraham & the focus of the covenant promises. And it’s this covenant, made thousands of years earlier that Mary is remembering & praising God for. From Abraham to Isaac.

i) From Isaac to Jacob. From Jacob to the patriarchs. From the patriarchs to their offspring in Egypt. To Moses & those who came through Exodus. To Joshua & those who entered the promised land. To those who lived during the period of the Judges. To those who lived under King David’s reign.

j) To those who lived during the exile. To those who lived during the time of the prophets. Finally, the promised offspring had come. The promised offspring of Gen. 3:15, the seed of the woman, who would crush the serpent’s head had come. So Mary sings for joy.

k) She’s declaring: “I’m carrying that child! God has kept His promise to His people.” And notice, Mary has confidence God has fulfilled His plans & kept His promises before the child was even born. She could sing before the child was born b/c she served a God who can be trusted.

l) Mary is no 2nd-hand source or distant observer. She was an eyewitness of what really transpired in time & space when God came into the world. More than an eyewitness, she carried our Lord in her womb, gave birth to Him, wrapped Him in swaddling clothes & laid Him in a manger.

Mary’s song gives us a window into God’s own heart.

a) Why can we have hope on this 1stSunday of Advent? B/c God does indeed look upon us. He sees you this morning. He is indeed merciful to the humble & those who fear Him. He will indeed exalt those of a lowly estate. He invites the weak & heavy laden & burdened to come to Him.

b) And for those of us who are burdened this Christmas season or feel the weight of the brokenness around us, Mary’s song is marvelous in our eyes & music to our ears. It should cause us to sing & to rejoice. Mary says God isn’t magnified through pride & confidence, nor wealth & strength.

c) God is magnified & glorified through a humble heart that looks to Him & trusts Him & rejoices in who God is & what He has done & will do. If you need hope this Christmas season, remember who God is. Join Mary this Christmas season in praising God for His power, holiness & mercy.

d) Join Mary this Christmas season in praising God for looking on our humble estate & sending us a Savior who has now exalted us & blessed us. Join Mary this Christmas season in praising God for sending His Son who came the 1st time to reconcile us to our Creator.

e) But we can also rejoice this Christmas season b/c our Lord has promised to come again. In this 1st week of Advent, let’s not just focus on shopping or going through the motions of preparing for family…let’s join Mary in magnifying a God worthy of our praise. In this 1st week of Advent, may hope abound in us & through us so God might use us to bring hope to the hopeless.