Sermon Tone Analysis

When you open the gospel of Luke, you discover that it is filled with mucic, especially in the first two chapters.

There you will find five hymns: the Hymn of Elizabeth (Luke 1:42-45); the Hymn of Mary (Luke 1:46-55); the Hymn of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79); the Hymn of the Angels (Luke 2:14); and the Hymn of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32).

These songs reverberate with the salvation history of ancient Israel.

They are a medley of Biblical melodies re-composed into a new expression of exultant thanksgiving.

Over this season of Advent I want us to look at a number of these hymns so that we may discover their message to us.

We won’t be able to study all five, but we will look at the songs of Mary, Zechariah, and Simeon.

This morning I want us to look at the song that Mary sings.

It is a Psalm of Praise.”

It proceeded from her heart and lips when she visited Elizabeth.

Its popular title, The Magnificat, is derived from the first word of the hymn in the Latin translation of the Bible: Magnificat anima mea Dominum, meaning, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

What kind of woman was Mary?

From the birth narrative passages we can discover five characteristics about her life: 1) She had kept herself sexually pure; 2) She thought of herself as the Lord’s servant; 3) She was a woman of faith who believed that what God had said to her would be accomplished; 4) She was a woman of praise whose life and lips magnified the Lord; and 5) She was well-versed in the Word of God.

She knew the Scriptures and had evidently memorized many passages from the Old Testament.

Mary sings her Magnificat while she is visiting her Aunt Elizabeth.

The Angel of the Lord has come to Mary and revealed God’s plan to her.

She is perplexed, but willingly submits to God’s will.

After the angel leaves, Mary decides to travel to Judea to visit with Elizabeth, who was already six months pregnant with the Forerunner – better known to us as John the Baptist.

When Elizabeth sees Mary, an amazing thing happens: Through the Spirit of the Living God, she recognizes Mary as “the mother of my Lord,” and begins to prophesy.

When that happened, Mary also began to sing in the Spirit, exalting and worshiping God.

It is that song that is recorded in this passage.

Elizabeth begins with her song:

/" ... Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! “And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? “For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.

“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”/

(Luke 1:42-45, NASB95)

Mary then responds with her own psalm of praise:

/" ... My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

“For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.

“For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name.

“And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him.

“He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.

“He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble.

“He has filled the hungry with good things; And sent away the rich empty-handed.

“He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”/

(Luke 1:46-55, NASB95)

The song itself is composed of four stanzas (vv.

46–48, 49–50, 51–53, 54–55).

Through her Psalm, Mary pours forth an anthem of adoration to God for His favor bestowed on herself, for His mercies to Israel, and for the fulfillment of the promises made to the patriarchs.

!

I. FIRST STANZA—THE DELIGHT OF GOD’S HANDMAIDEN (vv.

46–48 )

* /"And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;"/ (Luke 1:46-48, ESV)

!! A. SHE MAGNIFIES THE LORD

#. this first stanza ascribes praise, and glory, and adoration to God

#. she begins her song saying: My soul doth magnify the Lord

#. what does it mean to magnify the Lord?

#. /“magnify”/ is used in the literal sense of /“to enlarge”/ and it describes the large place Mary gave the Lord in her heart

* ILLUS.

It is like looking at the moon through binoculars.

We focus on it, making it large in our vision, drinking it its beauty, and becoming so overwhelmed with it that we want to grab someone else and show it to them as well.

#. when we magnify the Lord we focus our hearts and minds on him, making him large in our lives, gazing upon him until his beauty and power overwhelm us and we just want to share his glory and his story with another

#.

everyone today is looking for joy—looking for something to make them feel better

* ILLUS.

Some of you may remember a few years ago when Ted Turner announced that he was going to give a billion dollars to the United Nations.

The question on everyone’s mind was, /“Why did he do it?”/

Did he do it because children around the world are hungry?

Did he do it because the world is torn apart by war?

Did he do it because people are oppressed by poverty?

No.

He did it for none of those reasons.

In an interview with Larry King, he said, “I gave away the billion dollars because it made me feel good, and I like feeling good.”/

He went on to say how his whole life has been a search for something to make him feel good, and he has discovered that giving away money makes him feel good.

#. people want to feel good

#.

they want to have joy in their lives

#. but there is no short cut to genuine joy

#. it comes when we magnify and glorify the Lord, Jesus as our Christ

#.

He must become the focus of our lives and of our worship

#. like looking at the moon through binoculars, Jesus must become larger and larger in our eyes to the point that we are overwhelmed by His glory and His grace

#. Mary has the order right: We magnify him, and as a result, we are filled with joy

!! B. HER SOUL REJOICES IN GOD HER SAVIOR

#.

Mary’s spirit rejoices in the Lord because of God’s condescending grace

#. she proclaims he has looked on the humble estate of his servant

#. she is a maiden of lowly birth in a community of such unimportance that it is never mentioned in the Jewish Scriptures or by the Jewish historians of her era

* ILLUS.

You might remember the story in John’s gospel.

Philip has, by faith, concluded that Jesus is the Anointed One promised by the Prophets.

He’s so excited about this that he goes looking for his brother Nathanael.

When he finds his brother he announces, /“We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote–Jesus of Nazareth ... “/ Upon hearing the news Nathanael responds derisively, /“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”/

You can hear the sarcasm in those words.

#.

Nathanael’s implication is that Nazareth is an unsophisticated town full of unsophisticated people, and Philip is seriously deluded if he thinks God would use anyone from that community in His redemptive plan for Israel

#. but God knows where Nazareth is and He is aware of a young peasant girl named Mary who lives there

#. the God of the universe took notice of her

#. in Luke 1:26 we find the angel Gabriel appearing to her and saying, /“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”/

#. no matter how small or insignificant you may feel or appear to be in the eyes of men, the faithful child of God has a large place in the Lord’s heart

* /"For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

30And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,"/ (1 Corinthians 1:26-30, ESV)

!

II.

SECOND STANZA—THE DISPLAY OF GOD’S ATTRIBUTES (vv.

49–50 )

* /"for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

50And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation."/ (Luke 1:49-50, ESV)

#. in this stanza the character of God as revealed in the gift of His Son

#. three great attributes of God are extolled

!! A. FIRST, HIS POWER IS CELEBRATED

#. our God is a powerful God

* /"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

4He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.

5Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

6The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground."/

(Psalm 147:3-6, ESV)

* ILLUS.

Charles Spurgeon said, /“Compel your contemplation to this thought, that the same mighty hand which rolls the stars along, puts liniments around the wounded heart; that the same being who spoke the worlds into existence and now impels those ponderous globes through their orbits, does in his mercy cheer the wounded and heal the broken heart.”/

#. Mary believes that the “power of the Most High” (v.