Mary’s Christmas Carol

Lk 1.46-55

Introduction

A.    What is your favorite Christmas carol?

1.         One of my favorites is “Ring Christmas Bells.”

2.         But there are so many beautiful ones, which present such beautiful truth.

B.     Henry Wadworth Longfellow wrote one beautiful well-known one.[1]

1.         He was filled with sorrow at the tragic death of his wife in a fire in 1861. The Civil War broke out that same year, and it seemed this was an additional punishment. Two years later, Longfellow was again saddened to hear the his own son had been seriously wounded as a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac. Sitting down to his desk, one Christmas Day, he heard the church bells ringing, and ringing. It was in this setting he wrote:

a.       I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep,
God is not dead, nor doth he sleep.
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.

b.      Longfellow was under dark circumstances, yet we see his praise to God, recognizing God’s ultimate control.  It is a great testimony of faith in a trustworthy God, even when we have sorrows.

2.         But there is one we rarely look at right in the Bible.  We might call it, “Mary’s Christmas Carol.”

a.       It is found in Luke 1.46-55.

b.      She composed it on the occasion of a visit to her relative, Elizabeth, who miraculously was going to have a baby in her old age.  The father was her husband Zechariah.

c.       Mary, too, had just found out that she was going to have a baby.  But the Father was God through the holy Spirit.  And the child was the long awaited Messiah.

C.    As we look at this Christmas carol,

1.         we will learn three things about Mary, three things about God, and three things about Jesus.

2.         And as we learn these things, I pray we will grow in our sense of wonder at what God has done so that we will use this Christmas season to grow in three ways:

a.       to strengthen our relationship to God,

b.      to remember our need for the Savior,

c.       and to take joy in playing our role in God’s plan, no matter the circumstances we are in.

Body

                                                              I.  First, What do we learn about Mary? (46-48) READ

A.    The first of three things about Mary is that she is in close relationship with her God. (46b-47a)

1.         The fact that she could compose such a hymn of praise reveals that she knew the Bible, for her the OT, and the God who revealed himself in it.

a.       There are many phrases in Mary’s Christmas carol that go back to passages in the OT.

b.      If you have a Bible with cross references in it, you will some idea of hwo many cross references to other passages from the OT that are similar to statements Mary makes.  The NIV Study Bible lists 20 OT cross references for these ten verses.  I have book about 3 inches thick that is nothing but cross references.  It lists well over 100 from the OT.

2.         Mary says that she magnifies the Lord and she rejoices in God.

a.       “Magnifying” means not that she makes God big, but that she recognizes that God is big.  She esteems him as great and highly valuable.  She offers a praise to God by saying that he is great.

b.      The fact that she rejoiced even in uncertain times reveals her love and faith in her God.

B.     The second thing about Mary is that she knows her need of a Savior. (47b)

1.         There are many in the Christian world who say that Mary was sinless.  Some even go farther than that and say that Mary is able to plead our sinful case before God.

2.         But look what Mary easily admits.  She calls God “my Savior.”

a.       Mary knew she was not perfect.

b.      But she did not despair, she had God as her Savior.

C.    The third thing about Mary is that she, though of humble circumstances, takes joy in her role in God’s plan.  (48)

1.         How was Mary humble?  I think in two ways.  She was humble in character and in means.

a.       She was surely humble in means.

1)      When she and Joseph were married, they were not wealthy.

a)      Remember when Herod killed all the babies two and under and God told Joseph to take Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt?

b)      They had to flee friends and family who might help — or who might not, given the mysterious circumstances of this pregnancy.

c)      How would they live?  No house; no business built up; how was Joseph to care for his precious family given to him by God?

2)      When the wisemen from the East came, they brought gold, frankincense and myrrh.

a)      These were costly gifts.  Why did God provide this?

b)      I think it was to finance the journey of the little family to Egypt.

c)      So Mary was humble in means.

b.      But she was also humble in character.

1)      We see this in many ways during her life.  But perhaps we see it most clearly in her obedience to God’s plan for the birth of the Messiah.  With all the difficulties of uncomfortable questions, and sly looks, she humbly obeys God.

2)      Right here we see it in how she refers to herself, as God’s servant girl.

3)      As we saw, she recognized the greatness of her God, but she rightly perceived her status before him, his servant.

2.         So, Mary is God’s humble servant, willing to do whatever God asks of her.

a.       But notice her joy in this.

b.      How many of you have children, who when you tell them and tell then to do a chore, they still don’t do it until you get serious?

1)      Then they may do it, but they grumble about it.  So maybe you get on to them about grumbling.

2)      How many remember themselves grumbling about schoolwork or chores?

3)      How many grumble about tasks at work?

c.       Mary shows us the proper attitude in serving God.  She joyfully obeys his will and is glad to be a part in his will.

1)      She knew her God and his word well enough to know that God was planning to bring the Messiah into the world.

2)      She didn’t know when.  God had made so many promises and predictions over so many centuries — when would it happen?  Many had begun to doubt that God was even at work.

3)      But Mary knew that God had a plan.

4)      She knew enough of God’s plan to understand something of its importance.  She took great joy in the fact that God had chosen her to be a part of it.  It wouldn’t be easy all the time, but it gave her great peaceful joy to know that she was in God’s plan, right where he wanted her to be.

3.         What about us?

a.       Some of us here are humble in means.  This can make us feel badly if we tie up our self-concept in terms of how much we can buy for Christmas.  It is not bad to be humble in means.

b.      But rich or poor, how many of us are humble in character?

1)      Let’s define humble character as we see it here in Mary’s reference to herself:  a servant happy to do the Master’s will and play our role in His plan.

2)      This Christmas let us see ourselves as humble servants of God, willing to obey him however he calls us.

About Mary we learn that she was in close relationship with God, she knew her need of a Savior, and she humbly took joy at her role in God’s plan.

                                                         II.  What do we learn about God?  We learn three things.

A.    First, God is the Mighty One, the Powerful One, Who does great things.  (49a) READ

1.         Mary lived in a time when Jews didn’t pronounce the name of God, so that they wouldn’t take the name of the Lord in vain.  So she calls him the Mighty One.

2.         But as various parts in our service have done recalled different names of Jesus, we see that this was done in the OT, too.  Names were given to point out characteristics of people.  Here are two passages where the Lord is called “Mighty.”

a.       In Ps 89.8 we read, “O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.”

b.      Again, in Zeph 3.17, we read, “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

c.       Zephaniah is especially appropriate because here he is predicting the presence of God among his people and the victory God will celebrate over his enemies and on behalf of those who repent and trust him.[2]

3.         God is mighty because he is able to save.  Truly God’s saving us from our biggest enemy, Sin, is one of the great things he does.

B.     Second, God is not only mighty, God is Holy.  (49b, 55a) READ 49b

1.         Holy is a word that means set apart for something sacred.[3]  But what does it mean for us to know that God is holy?

2.         When it refers to God, this being set apart refers to ethical perfection, God’s absolutely sinless character.  This means two things for us.

a.       First, God proves his holiness in judging sin.  Listen to Lev 10.1-3:

1 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. 3 Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: “‘Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’” Aaron remained silent.

1)      Apparently this “unauthorized fire” was offering in a manner that other nations worshiped their false gods.  But the Lord is holy, set apart.  To keep himself “set apart” among the people, he meted out judgment on Nadab and Abihu.

2)      God’s holiness may seem scary, and it is something we need to keep in mind.

b.      But God’s holiness also demonstrates that he keeps his promises.

1)      Listen to Ezek 28.25, written to Israelites exiled to a foreign land, hundreds of miles from their homeland, as their own country was being overrun by a foreign nation:

25 ”‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I gather the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered, I will show myself holy among them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob.

2)      God had long ago made promises that his people would live in the promised land.  But when God allowed the Babylonians to conquer the land, the Israelites wondered if God was going to keep his promise.

3)      God tells them through Ezekiel the prophet that God is indeed going to keep his promise, and keep it in such a way that all the nations will see that it is kept because the Lord is holy.

c.       Mary makes this exact point of God’s promise keeping in v 55, when she says, “even as he said to our fathers.”  The thrust of this statement is that God keeps his promises without fail.

3.         So, for us, God’s holiness might be a scary thing when we consider our sinfulness.

4.         But when we consider that God’s holiness means that he keeps his promises, that he never fails, that he will do what he says, then we can take comfort and have confidence in the God who has done, still does, and will do great things.

C.    God is not only mighty and holy, God is Merciful.  (50)  READ

1.         We learn two things about God’s mercy:  how far it extends and who receives the benefits.

2.         One thing is that it says his mercy extends from generation to generation.  This means all generations.  Not only of the Jews, but of the gentiles.  No period in history is excluded from the opportunity of receiving God’s mercy.

3.         But the other thing is a limitation.  Mary says God’s mercy extends “to those who fear him.”

a.       There is a healthy fear we need to have of God, but God does not intend for us to live in terror.

b.      A better way to understand this fear is reverent awe.  We need to remember who God is.

So far we have seen that:

1.         Mary was close to God, in need of a Savior, and humbly took joy at her part in God’s plan;

2.         and God is mighty, holy and merciful.

                                        III.  What do we learn about Jesus, the Messiah?  Again, three things.

A.    First, Jesus’ entry into the world is a great deed. (51a)  READ

1.         Mary says that God has already done a great deed.  She is viewing this deed as begun and in process and so sure of being completed that she can speak of it as in the past already.

2.         The deed was really begun with all the prophecies of restoration through a Messiah.  But mainly she refers tot he fact that she is now pregnant with the Messiah, not through a man, but through the Holy Spirit.

3.         She only knows he is the Messiah; I doubt she understands the way God is going to bring about the fulfillment of all of his will.  But she knows this Messiah will accomplish all of God’s promises throughout the OT.

4.         What can we see from our vantage point?

a.       We see that the baby was born, of humble means, in a tiny town, with only a few knowing what it meant.

b.      We see that he was born to die, the victory over our sin.

c.       We see Jesus raised from the dead, the victory over death.

d.      And we see Jesus coming back.

B.     Second, Jesus brings a reversal of the world order.  (51b-53) READ

1.         What does this mean?  Is it evil to be rich or a ruler?  No, not necessarily.

2.         The point is that all who are oppressed and who suffer will be uplifted, and their suffering ended.  All the wrongs of society will be righted.

3.         If we want to we can point out three stages in which all these things will be accomplished.

a.       First, the wheels of this reversal were set up when he came as a baby and were put in motion with his teaching.

b.      But next, they really got to rolling with his triumph over death and the new life he gives to those who put their trust in him.  But do we see it completed yet?  Any glance at the news will tell you no.  Remember Longfellow’s loss of a wife in a fire, the suffering of a horrible Civil War, and the serious wounding of his son.  But that is not the end.

c.       The final stage is that Jesus is coming back, not as a baby, but as king and Lord of all.

C.    The third thing we learn about Jesus is that he completes Israel’s purpose as a blessing to all nations.  (54-55) READ

1.         In Mary’s day, the Jews had their own kingdom, ruled by Herod.

a.       But Herod, as powerful as he was, could not do whatever he wished.  He was subject to Rome.

b.      The Jews had been under foreign domination for 480 out of the past 580 years.

c.       They were looking for help.

2.         Israel is here called God’s servant. 

a.       Another way to put it is that is to say Israel is his “boy.”

1)      This could be “boy” in the sense of a servant, who does the bidding of the master,

2)      or “boy” in the sense that I call Brian my “boy.”  He is my son, who obeys me (most of the time) and whom I love.

b.      Israel is the Lord’s beloved son, who does his Father’s will.

c.       God helps Israel, his boy, by being merciful.

3.         We see that Jesus is God’s help for Israel.  But what kind of help or mercy do we see in Mary’s song?

a.       It wasn’t what most of the Jews were expecting.  They were expecting freedom from Rome.

b.      But God’s will for Israel was that they should bring the Messiah into the world to save all people.

c.       This was the promise to Abraham, in Gen 12.2-3: “You [Abram] will be a blessing … and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

4.         It is in this way that Jesus completes Israel’s purpose as a blessing to all nations.

Three things about Jesus are:

1.         his entry into the world is God’s greatest deed;

2.         Jesus has brought about a reversal of the world’s order, and

3.         Jesus completes Israel’s purpose as a blessing to all nations.

4.         Let me share with you a modern Christmas hymn entitled, “In the First Light.”  Please listen closely.

In the First Light of the new day,
No one knew He had arrived.
Things continued as they had been
While the new-born softly cried.
But the heavens, wrapped in wonder
Knew the meaning of his birth.
In the weakness of a baby
They knew God had come to earth.

As his mother held him closely
It was hard to understand
That her baby, not yet speaking,
Was the Word of God to man.
He would tell them of His Kingdom,
But their hearts would not believe.
They would hate Him and in anger
They would nail him to a tree.

But the sadness would be broken
As the song of life arose
And the first-born of creation
Would ascend and take his throne.
He had left it to redeem us
But before His life began
He knew He’d come back, not as a baby
But as the Lord of every man.

Hear the angels as they’re singing
On the morning of his birth.
But how much greater will their song be
When he comes again to earth!
Hear the angels as they’re singing
On the morning of his birth.
But how much greater will their song be
When he comes again to earth!

When He comes to rule the earth.
When he comes back,
When he comes back,
To rule the earth.

Conclusion

A.    This Christmas season, increase your sense of awe and wonder at God and our Savior Jesus Christ.  Make sure you take time to strengthen your relationship with God.

1.         Mary did.  She not only knew about God, she knew God.  She knew what the Bible said about all the things God had done, so she put her faith in Him.

2.         Remember that our God is the Almighty, who does great things.  No matter what our condition, nothing is beyond his power.

3.         Jesus’ entering into the world is the message of Christmas.  It is God’s greatest deed.  Jesus, as God, interrupted the flow of human history to bring the True Light into the world.  Jesus’ presence changed the whole universe and defeated Satan.

B.     This Christmas, recognize your need of a Savior.

1.         Mary did.  She said that she rejoiced over God, the Savior of her life, who was involved in her life.

2.         God is holy; He never does anything wrong.  And he says to his people, “Be holy as I am holy.”

a.       Though we will not be as holy as God this side of heaven, he helps his people to become holy.

b.      And God’s holiness is not necessarily a scary thing.  In fact, it is exactly what we need.  For it means that God is the ultimate Promise Keeper.

3.         Jesus came to reverse the world order.

a.       So don’t try to be among the rich and powerful in the world.  In the end, those who rely on earthly wealth and power lose.

b.      Instead, anticipate the reversal Jesus has started and will complete for all those who accept him as their Savior when he comes back to rule the earth.

C.    This Christmas, take joy in your role in God’s plan.

1.         Mary did. 

a.       It wasn’t always easy, but she had great joy knowing that she was of use in God’s plan.

b.      We are all given different gifts.  We all come from different backgrounds.  We all have different means.  But Whatever our circumstances, we need to see ourselves in God’s plan of reconciling the earth to himself.

2.         Take joy because God is merciful.

a.       God knows who and what we are.

b.      We are people in great need.

c.       Rather than destroying us, he has mercy on us who fear him, granting us forgiveness through Jesus, his son.

3.         Take joy because this baby Jesus is the blessing to all humanity.

a.       God promised blessing to all mankind in the birth of a child, and that blessing has been fulfilled in the birth of Jesus over 2000 years ago.

b.      More than that, those blessings are still being fulfilled in the lives of all who choose to be among God’s people.

D.    Make your choice now.  We invite you to come forward as we sing, if your choice for Jesus needs to be public.

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[1] “Hymn Story — I heard the Bells,” taken from the website, sermons.org, <sermons.org/illustrations.html>; accessed, 12/11/99.

[2] See Smith, Minor Prophets, 379, 433.

[3] TWOT 2:786.