The Hope of Christmas - Part 3 (Luke 1:39-56)

Announcements

Join us for Bible Study & Prayer this Wednesday at 7pm in the Auditorium. We’re currently working through the book of Psalms during our Wednesday evening services, I think it’s been a blessing to those that have been able to join us both in-person and online. If you join us in-person, feel free to come at 6pm to join us for dinner as well. Please note that this is our last Wednesday service until the new year.

Occasionally, I like to offer suggestions for outreach and this is something that anyone who spends any amount of time on social media can help us with:

Our church operates a Facebook page to help get information out to the community as well as to share information concerning sermons and upcoming events. Many of you already like our Facebook page, but let me encourage you to do so if you haven’t yet. In addition, let me encourage you to do two things on Facebook beyond simply liking the page.

Leave a review for the church—Facebook periodically reminds me that pages with reviews look better for people who are looking for businesses and since we are a new church plant, any opportunity we have to tell people about the church is vital.

In addition to that, don’t just like posts and videos by the church page, share it—I know that many people think that if you like something on Facebook, everyone can see that. That’s how Facebook used to work, but now it doesn’t. So, if you like something on Facebook, the only person that sees that is you and the person that you liked. To be able to spread the word about the church, the only thing you can really do is share posts and videos, which is why you see Natalie and I sharing almost everything the church posts.

In addition, tag yourself in church events, posts, and photos.

It is an easy way for those of you that are already on Facebook to utilize your social media presence to help do outreach.

In addition, let me encourage you to go to Google, review the church there as well. Like Facebook, Google periodically reminds me that websites and businesses with reviews tend to show up more in their algorithm, which means more people will be able to find information about us.

And again, since church plants rely on word of mouth for growth, it is five minutes out of your day that can help the get the name of the church out there.

I mentioned that this coming Wednesday is our last Wednesday service of the year. The reason for that is that the last two Wednesday services are cancelled so that we could hold some special events instead:

On Christmas Eve, join us for Carols & Lessons at 7pm here in the Auditorium; followed by a dessert social in the Activity Room.

On New Year’s Eve, join us from 7pm-12am for our annual New Year’s Even Celebration.

Quarterly Business Meeting January 2nd after Sunday AM Worship

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship (Psalm 37:12-26)

Our Call to Worship this morning is Psalm 37:12-26. We started Psalm 37 last week, but because of its length, we’re splitting it between three weeks. This psalm is a psalm of David in which he encourages those who are righteous to not be disturbed or troubled over the prosperity of the wicked, because God is just and he will act in justice. This morning’s section, though a little longer, compares and contrasts the wicked and the righteous with it being clear that God opposes the wicked but loves the righteous. Please stand and read Psalm 37:12-26 responsively—I’ll read the even-numbered verses, please join me in reading the odd-numbered verses.

Psalm 37:12–26 ESV

12 The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, 13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. 14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright; 15 their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. 16 Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. 17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. 18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever; 19 they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance. 20 But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away. 21 The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives; 22 for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off. 23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; 24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. 26 He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing.

Congregational Singing

Angels We Have Heard on High

Joy Has Dawned

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Scripture Reading (Luke 1:57-80)

I’ve asked Tara to read Scripture this morning and since we’re continuing in the Christmas account in Luke 1:57-80, I don’t have much to say beyond just pointing out that this is the passage in which we see John the Baptist born of Elizabeth and his father Zechariah being filled of the Holy Spirit and prophesying. This passage brings us right up to the birth of Jesus, which we’ll read next week. Tara can you read Luke 1:57-80?

Luke 1:57–80 ESV

57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60 but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” 62 And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. 63 And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. 64 And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65 And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, 66 and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him. 67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, 68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people 69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; 72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us 74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” 80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Sermon (Luke 1:39-56)

Introduction

Over the past few weeks we’ve been working on our Christmas at Grace & Peace series focused in on the topic of hope. Because we’re utilizing the whole series to discuss hope, we’ve been able to take a more in-depth study of hope as it pertains to us as Christians and as it pertains to Christmas. Thus, the first few weeks of our series served as a sort of introductory material for this week and next week. Just to get everything caught up to where we are in the series, let me just to a brief synopsis before we jump into this week’s message.

We started this series in the book of Ephesians, with Ephesians 2:11-22 being our text. I explained that in that message, we were essentially just dipping our toes in the water. That said, in order to get a proper understanding of Ephesians 2:11-22, we spent part of that sermon discussing the Old Testament temple and what the purpose of the Old Testament temple was. After we understood the purpose of the Old Testament temple, we focused in on Ephesians 2, with Paul’s statement that those who have been saved by faith now belong to a spiritual temple that God dwells in. I explained that we typically call that spiritual temple, which is made of all who believe past, present, and future the universal church. Or put another way, the universal church is the new spiritual temple that God dwells in. Which that idea of God dwelling with his people is so important for us to understand, because it is God’s desire to dwell with his people that provides us the first instance of hope in Scripture. Because God wants to dwell with his people, he sent his son to be born in a little town in Israel. Because God wants to dwell with his people, that son lived a perfect, sinless life and then died on the cross for your sins. Because God wants to dwell with his people, Jesus was resurrected and now sits at the right hand of the Father. Because God wants to be amongst his people, you can have hope. Thus, Christmas is a celebration of one part of God’s plan of salvation through which we can have hope.

Last week, we were in Isaiah 7:10-25, which was again, another moment in which we sort of just dipped our toes into the water. We read and studied about Isaiah speaking to King Ahaz, who was an evil king. And in speaking to Ahaz, Isaiah presents to him two prophecies—a short-term prophecy and a long-term prophecy. The short-term prophecy was to be utilized as validation for the longer-term prophecy. The short-term prophecy was that the Kingdom of Judah would be destroyed by Egypt and Assyria; the longer-term prophecy was the virgin birth of a child that will be called Immanuel. I explained that the reason for the prophecy being two-fold was so that the shorter prophecy would act as assurance for the longer prophecy—because God fulfilled the first prophecy, we know he’ll fulfill the second prophecy. I then explained that we live in an era in which we celebrate the fulfillment of the second prophecy in Isaiah 7:10-25 as we celebrate Jesus’ birth, but we still live in a time period in which theologians call the already, but not yet—we’re already in God’s kingdom, but we don’t yet see the physical consummation of the kingdom; we’ve already been sanctified in one sense and yet, we’re still going through the process of sanctification; we’re still waiting for God to return to finish what he had initially started, but what Isaiah 7 along with its fulfillment in the New Testament shows us is that we can have hope even if it takes several hundred years for something to occur because God keeps his word. And because Jesus keeps his word, even though its been 2,000 years since his birth, we know that he will come back, whether that’s tomorrow or another 100 years or another 1,000 years. We know this because God has previously kept his word and he’ll continue to keep his word—when Jesus says that he will be back, he will truly return. Thus, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus because it is the first step for God’s plan of redemption to bring you to reconciliation with him, so that you can dwell with him and it is proof that he will return to be with his people physically again.

This morning’s message is from Luke 1:39-56, which hopefully will be familiar to you because we read it as Scripture reading last week. This message is unique from our previous messages in this series because this is our first message that is completely based in the biblical record of Jesus’ birth—we’ve gone from dipping our toes in the water to jumping right in. And we’re actually jumping into the middle of an account that started at the beginning of chapter 1, which I’ll explain as we work through the passage, but before I get too far ahead of myself, let’s read the text. Luke 1:39-56:

Luke 1:39–56 ESV

39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 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.” 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; 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. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” 56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

As we study this passage together, we’re going to break it into two parts, which I think you can see the clear separation of the sections in your Bibles. (1) Vs. 39-45 tells us the setting of the text and tells us what exactly is going on. This is Mary visiting Elizabeth and it describes a unique event that occurs as the result of Jesus in Mary’s womb being in the presence of John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb. The response of John the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth causes Elizabeth to cry a statement that we’ll look at in more detail. (2) Vs. 46-56 is then Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s statement, which comes out in a beautiful song of praise that we typically refer to as her Magnificat. It is a song of praise and worship of the LORD. As we look at this text, we’ll see the result of hope on Elizabeth’s part and we’ll see continued hope in Mary’s words. This should cause us to continue living in hope of what is to come and that hope should compel us to praise God the same way that Mary praises God.

Prayer for Illumination

Mary Visits Elizabeth (39-45)

In the first few verses, we’re told that Mary arose and went into the hill country to a town in Judah. We aren’t entirely sure what compelled her to do this, however, remember that Mary had just been told by the angel Gabriel that she is to have a baby and as part of Gabriel’s message to Mary, he tells her that Elizabeth, her relative has also conceived a child.

So, Mary could very well be traveling to see Elizabeth simply to celebrate with Elizabeth—that Elizabeth was able to have a child despite her old age.

Or it could just be that Mary wanted to be with family during her own pregnancy.

Again, we aren’t particularly sure about the human reasons behind Mary’s traveling to Judah, but its clear that God utilizes this visit for his own purposes regardless of the human reasoning behind the visit.

Vs. 39, tells us that “Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.”

There’s already a response being given in vs. 40 to the arrival of Mary in her family’s home. Remember, that at this time Zechariah still can’t speak. Vss. 20-23 tells us that because of his lack of belief in the angel’s words that told him of Elizabeth conceiving, he lost his voice and would continue not having that voice until the birth of his son.

However, Mary does greet Elizabeth and when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb.

That in and of itself could have just been a coincidence. Babies moving while still in the womb isn’t uncommon, but its the next phrase that keys us into the fact that God is doing something in this passage. “And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Now, remember that until Acts 2, the Spirit didn’t indwell every believer in the same manner that he does now. After Acts 2, the Spirit permanently indwells all who believes, but prior to that point, the Spirit would fill believers for specific tasks and this is one of those specific tasks.

Elizabeth is filled by the Holy Spirit for a specific purpose in Vs. 41 and that purpose is seen in vss. 42-45 in what she says to Mary. “Blessed are you among women, and 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.” There are a number of points to make about Elizabeth’s brief statement to Mary:

Elizabeth calls Mary blessed, but not because of who Mary is.

The Roman Catholic church misinterprets the verse that Elizabeth says to Mary “Blessed are you among women” to mean that Mary was the greatest or most blessed woman. That’s how they get into their doctrine of Mary, the immaculate conception of Mary, and the veneration of Mary.

Elizabeth isn’t saying that Mary is the most blessed woman or that she’s the greatest woman, she’s saying that Mary has been blessed by God because of the unique privilege that Mary has by giving birth to Jesus—we know that from the direct context, “blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

Elizabeth isn’t praising Mary for who Mary is, she’s praising God for what God is doing through Mary. Robert Stein, “What God had done in Mary outshone even what God had done in Elizabeth. Mary was blessed here not because of her faith . . .; rather her blessedness depended entirely on her son and his greatness. . . This blessing is not to be interpreted as a call to praise/bless Mary but as an affirmation that Mary stood in a state of blessedness.”

Elizabeth is praising God for allowing her to see the one who is to give birth to Jesus and Elizabeth knows that this is the Messiah because of the response of the child that she has.

Remember that Elizabeth conceiving was also a miraculous event. She was well above child-birthing years when the angel came to Zechariah, so for the Jewish people in Elizabeth’s community, they already considered the child that she was to have as special or miraculous.

We know from Luke 1:15 as the angel tells Zechariah about his child that this child is special in one particular way. Vs. 15 tells us that this child will “be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.”

He’s special because he’s indwelled with the Spirit while still in the womb, which tells us that his kicking in the womb might be a result from the Spirit working within him to compel Elizabeth to say what she says.

And the fulfillment in Vs. 45 that Elizabeth is speaking of refers back to what was told to her earlier in chapter 1.

This statement of Elizabeth’s towards Mary speaks of Mary being blessed not because of who Mary is or what Mary had done, but because God chose to utilize Mary for the birth of his Son.

Elizabeth’s statement towards Mary indicates a realization of who Mary was carrying and who Jesus was and who he is.

Elizabeth’s statement compels Mary to make a proclamation of praise that takes up vs. 46-56. The remaining text for this morning is what’s typically referred to as Mary’s Magnificat or as the ESV says, “Mary’s Song of Praise.” And this is Mary’s response to the situation at hand, it’s very likely that this was originally sang and then written down, but of course, we don’t exactly know what it sounded like at the time. In Mary’s song of praise, we see her praise God for what he was about to do and for the small part that she has in his plan. Let’s read vss. 46-56.

Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat (46-56)

Luke 1:46–56 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; 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. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” 56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

Mary starts her song of praise by stating, “My soul magnifies the LORD, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

This song starts with an expression of praise and while I don’t think we should spend too much time differentiating between Mary saying “my soul” and “my spirit,” I think we can understand this to mean her whole being.

Soul translates the Greek word psyche while spirit translates pneuma, which really just expresses to us her desire to praise God with her whole person—her mind, her emotions, and every part of her.

Or in other words, what Mary is saying is that her whole being magnifies the LORD and her whole self rejoices in God her Savior.

All of her magnifies and rejoices in the Lord and in God. Because all of her magnifies and rejoices, I think its worth us taking a moment to discuss what it means to magnify the LORD and rejoice in God.

We might not be familiar with the idea of magnifying the LORD. Because we don’t typically utilize the word magnify, but certain translations (like the NIV) utilize a word that might be more familiar to you.

The NIV states that Mary said, “my soul glorifies the LORD.” The NASB utilizes the word exalts and I think those two glosses of this word help to identify what exactly it means. What exactly does it mean to glorify the LORD or exalt the LORD?

It means to give God the glory, which isn’t exactly a helpful definition, but when we realize that glory typically means “dignity, honor, praise, and worship” we get the understanding that to glorify him, we praise and worship him. To glorify him, we honor him. And we do this by not just singing songs of praise and listening to preaching, but also by bringing ourselves to him as a sacrifice acceptable to him, by obeying him, and by following him.

Mary here, is glorifying the LORD in what she says, how she acts, and her willingness to obey God.

The idea of rejoicing in God might be a little more familiar to you because we occasionally utilize the term rejoice in church settings and in music that we sing.

Oxford Languages, to rejoice means to “feel or show great joy or delight.”

In context with Luke 1, the idea of rejoicing that Mary has is one of great joy, great delight, and I would argue great thanksgiving in what all God is doing through her and in her.

Which honestly, is something that we should also experience as believers in our modern-day world, but we’ll talk about that more in the application.

Vs. 48-55 then gives us the reasoning for Mary’s praise; and her reasoning is focused on two categories in particular—what God has done for Mary (48-49) and what God has done for Israel:

Concerning what God has done for Mary, she really only focuses on two things in vss. 48-49. (1) For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.” And (2) “all generations will call me blessed [because] he has done great things for me.” Let’s look at those two things individually:

“For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.”—the idea of God looking upon her, isn’t just that he sees her. This is the idea of him looking favorably upon her. He not only sees her, but he has considered her much like the Psalmist who says “when I look at the heavens and the stars that you’ve created, what is man that you are mindful of him?” Mary is stating that she, herself is of lowly estate and yet, he still considered her and cared for her and is utilizing her for his purposes.

Mary then continues by stating, “for behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”—So, Mary expresses the praise that she has towards God and gives the reason for it in the second half of vs. 48 and vs. 49. That many generations will call her blessed; because God has done great things for her. Or put in other words, Mary expresses this praise because she understands the significance of what God is doing through her and she realizes that what God is doing through her will be remembered for many generations.

So, Mary spends the first two verses describing the first reason for her to rejoice in the LORD and its simply for the reasons that God considered her; he looked upon her, and because he is utilizing her as part of his plan to bring the Messiah into the world. But she doesn’t end with praising the LORD for what he has done for her, she continues in the next six verses.

In the next six verses, she praises the LORD for what he has done for Israel (50-55)

I do have to make one statement here, because many commentators point out (based on Greek grammar) that vss. 51-55 are prophetic.

Meaning, that by utilizing the Greek tense called the Aorist, she’s speaking of things that have yet to occur, but she knows will occur based on what God has already done.

Or in other words, commentators who believe this think that Mary is speaking about what Jesus is going to do, by reflecting on what God has already done.

That Jesus is going to do these great things because God has done these great things in the past.

And she starts with the general fact that “his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” God has mercy for everyone in every generation that fears him. Or put differently, he has compassion on those that rightfully consider God greater than themselves, which in and of itself, is cause for all of us to praise and worship the LORD. God in the past has had mercy on those who feared him and will continue to have mercy on those who fear him.

She continues with “He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” In the past, God has shown strength, he has scattered those who resist God in their pride, he’s humbled them. He has filled the hungry, and he has sent away the rich, just like Jesus will humble the prideful, feed the hungry, and send away the rich. This is a reflection of all God has done in the past with a comparison to what Jesus will do in the future.

“He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” This is Mary’s praise for God’s help for his people. Mary is thinking of all that God had done in the past by keeping his word to their forefathers and she’s reflecting on all that Jesus would do as he seeks to continue helping his servant Israel and as Jesus fulfills the words given to Abraham and the rest of their forefathers. This statement shows us that Mary was fully aware that the birth of her child was a fulfillment of the covenantal promises that God made to Abraham and his people.

Mary praises God and rejoices in all that he had done for her and for her people while still remembering that the baby she held was about to fulfill great prophecies from the Old Testament through his life, eventual death, and resurrection.

There is a lot of Mary to rejoice in the LORD and praise him and all that she has to rejoice in the LORD wells up within her and causes her to worship the LORD with this song.

Mary’s praise and the reasoning for that praise stems from what all God has done for her and for her people.

Vs. 56 then wraps up this section by telling us that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months before returning home—the reasoning for this is quite simple.

All the way back in vs. 26, which was not part of our text this morning, we’re told that “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God . . . to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph.”

That statement, “In the sixth month” can sometimes mean the sixth month of the year, but we have to remember to keep this in context.

Looking at Vs. 24, “After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden.” When Luke continues with “In the sixth month” he isn’t referring to time in a general sense, he’s referring to time concerning Elizabeth’s pregnancy.

Vs. 26, is saying that in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy Gabriel was sent from God to Mary.

So, while Mary was visiting Elizabeth, Elizabeth was six months pregnant. We could assume that the reason for Mary remaining with Elizabeth in vs. 56 for another three months was so that she could be there for the birth of Elizabeth’s child.

So, what we’ve seen in this section of Scripture is Luke’s record of Mary visiting Elizabeth, which resulted in John within Elizabeth reacting towards Jesus by leaping in the womb. I explained that John was unique in that the Bible tells us that he was filled with the Spirit even in his mother’s womb and then we saw how the Spirit filled Elizabeth for her to make the exclamatory cry that Mary is blessed because of the child she was about to have. This results in Mary’s song of praise called the Magnificat. The question is, how do we apply this passage to our lives today? And I want to give application in two ways: (1) I want to give you specific application concerning the purpose of this passage. (2) I then want us to look at this passage in light of Christmas and of hope. My prayer is that by doing so, we understand just how we can praise and worship the LORD like Mary does and we can see how this whole passage is a result of hope.

Application

So, concerning specific application of this passage:

The first section of this passage tells us the setting of the passage. Mary had gone to visit Elizabeth in Elizabeth’s home and while visiting Elizabeth, both the baby inside Elizabeth and Elizabeth herself are filled with the Holy Spirit in such a way that the Holy Spirit utilizes both of them to proclaim Jesus.

Which is something that’s of great value to note. On occasion, we see people who claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit doing different things in the name of Jesus that don’t actually proclaim Jesus—they utilize their self-proclaimed Spirit-filledness to claim that people should follow them or give more generously so that they can be Spirit-filled as well.

The issue is that these self proclaimed Spirit-filled people neglect to do what every Spirit-filled person in Scripture does, they aren’t actually proclaiming Jesus—they’re proclaiming themselves.

But when we see people filled by the Spirit in Scripture, like the baby and Elizabeth, the result is praise and proclamation of Jesus.

Now, I mentioned during the sermon that we live in an era that’s different because we live after the moment of Pentecost, which means that we are all indwelled by the Spirit of God.

This means that we experience the Holy Spirit differently than how Elizabeth, John the Baptist, and Zechariah does because when they experienced the Holy Spirit, the Spirit would move between them and only temporarily indwell each one of them.

In our current time period, the Spirit indwells every believer permanently—however, if you think with me, the Bible does tell us numerous times to continuously be filled with the Spirit. So, let’s discuss what exactly it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit while still being filled by the Holy Spirit.

In John 14:16, Jesus promises that the Spirit would indwell believers permanently—and from that statement along with Acts 2, Galatians 3, Ephesians 1, and 2 Corinthians 1, we see that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer permanently without exception. Everyone who believes has the Spirit, those who don’t have the Spirit don’t believe.

Ephesians 5 however, tells us that it is necessary for us to be filled of the Spirit in such a way that we’re fully yielded to the Holy Spirit—or in other words, we should be so completely full of the SPirit that he can possess us fully and we obey him.

Mary, Elizabeth, and Zechariah experienced a situation in which the Holy Spirit indwelled them temporarily, filled them, and utilized them as part of his place.

Believers today are always indwelled by the Spirit, but that filling of the Spirit according to Ephesians 5 only occurs when we yield to the Holy Spirit.

What we see in Paul’s writings is though the Spirit indwells every believer, we can quench the Spirit and grieve the Spirit through our sin. Thus, the way to be filled of the Holy Spirit is by rejecting sin and obeying Jesus Christ.

I’m saying all this with a point and that point is this: often we read passages like Luke 1 and we think, “Man, I wish God would do something miraculous like this in my life.”

God has already done something miraculous in your life through your salvation—you were once dead, but he has made you alive.

God has already done something miraculous by allowing the Holy Spirit to indwell you permanently—that’s something that our Old Testament brothers and sisters didn’t experience.

And God continues doing something miraculous by utilizing the Holy Spirit to convict you of sin and causing you to obey, which allows the Holy Spirit to fill you more.

Which brings me to the application for this section—we often see people wanting to do amazing and miraculous things for the LORD because we see these miraculous events in Scripture.

While God might do these different sorts of events throughout your life, the point however isn’t to seek miraculous events—Paul states that the Greeks seek human wisdom and the Jews seek signs, but we proclaim Jesus crucified.

Or in other words, people are looking for human wisdom and they’re looking for miracles, but the reality is that what God has given us is Jesus, born of a virgin, living a perfect, sinless life, and dying on the cross for your sins.

Thus, the point isn’t to seek human wisdom and miracles, the point is to seek Jesus.

In light of Luke 1:39-45, what we see in this passage are three regular people, that were seeking to simply live their lives in a way that brings glory and honor to God; and we see God utilize these people to amazing ways to bring about the birth of his son.

Our application is this, stop seeking for miracles and miraculous events as signs of people being filled by the Holy Spirit. Be filled with the Holy Spirit by rejecting sin and following Jesus; and then do exactly what Elizabeth does and make proclamation about who Jesus is.

Reject sin, follow Jesus, and proclaim Jesus.

From Vs. 46-56, we see Mary’s song of praise. And in this song of praise, we see Mary rejoicing in the LORD and magnifying him with her whole being.

I explained that rejoicing in the LORD and magnifying him are really the ideas of praising God and glorifying him. And Mary does this with her heart being—her heart, her soul, her mind, and her strength.

And Mary does this in two particular ways—she recounts what God has already done for her, and then she recounts what God has done for her people and what the Messiah will do for all people.

Or in other Words, she appeals to the past, present, and the future.

And as she does this she simply heaps praise and glory onto God for all that he has done, all that he is doing, and all that he will continue to do.

She does this, because she’s genuinely experienced who God is and she does this as a response to what all God has done.

Which provides a pretty compelling application for those of you that genuinely believe in Jesus Christ today.

We serve a God that has done amazing things—he has saved you from your sins

We serve a God that continues to do amazing things—by utilizing all things in your life to sanctify you and conform you into the image of his Son

We serve a God that has promised to do amazing things—by returning to earth, taking up his people, and physically dwelling with his people in the eschaton.

What should our response be to these truths?

It’s in Vs. 46-48, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.”

Or in other words, what God has done, what he continues to do, and what he has promised to do ought to cause you to magnify the Lord and rejoice in God with your whole being.

You do that by singing songs of worship, by studying God’s Word, by participating in the means of grace, and by loving God and loving others.

You also do that by simply obeying Jesus and giving thanks.

Consider the fact that you are his servant and you have a humble estate; consider that God is not our servant and he owns the cattle on a thousand hills—he doesn’t need you; you need him and you don’t offer him a single thing—everything you have ultimately belongs to him.

So, obey Jesus, give thanks to the Lord, sing songs of worship, study His Word, participate in the means of grace, love him and love others because God has done amazing things, he continues to do amazing things, and he has promised to do amazing things.

Rejoice in the LORD and glorify him.

Mary does this because through recognizing what God has done, what he continues to do, and what he promises to do, she has hope, which brings us to the last part of our application—what does this have to do with Christmas and hope?

In light of Christmas of in light of our theme of hope:

Luke 1:39-56 occurs before the Christmas account even begins in Scripture. So, its sort of a Christmas passage, but not really—it concerns Christmas because it leads up to the birth of Jesus and it concerns the fulfillment of multiple prophecies.

But my emphasis for this series is simple—hope. Thus, how does this passage line up concerning hope. Mary, Elizabeth, baby John the Baptist, and Zechariah are all in the multiple miraculous events.

Logically, neither Mary nor Elizabeth should be pregnant and they both are, Zechariah can’t speak at the moment due to his response of unbelief when he met the angel, baby John the Baptist is leaping because he’s in the presence of Jesus for the first time, and Mary and Elizabeth both praise the LORD for all that God has done, is doing, and will do.

What is the common theme through all this? They all have hope.

Mary and Elizabeth have hope because of the children that they’re growing—again, neither should be pregnant and yet, God utilized these ordinary woman to do amazing things as part of his plan. Elizabeth and Mary can have hope.

Zechariah knows that once his son is born and he names the son John, that he’ll receive his voice again. He also knows that there’s a prophecy about his son from God—Zechariah can have hope.

Baby John the Baptist is leaping at the presence of Jesus because even from the womb he was filled with the Holy Spirit. He’s leaping because he has hope for what Jesus is going to do through his life.

Mary and Elizabeth praise the LORD for all that God has done, is doing, and will do—they have hope because they’ve seen a consistent pattern—God did amazing things, he does amazing things, and he will do amazing things.

All these people have hope because God has kept his word about the coming Messiah—the Messiah is here, just like God said.

Likewise, we celebrate Christmas every year, not because of anything that we did or anything that we’re doing or will do. We celebrate Christmas every year because of what Jesus did, what he does, and what he will do.

We celebrate Jesus’ coming because it is through his coming that he eventually dies for our sins and is resurrected.

We celebrate Christmas because it shows us that God kept His Word, he keeps His Word, and he will always keep his word.

We celebrate Christmas because we can have hope; and because we can have hope, we ought to do what Mary and Elizabeth does:

Praise God with our whole person

Glorify God with our whole being.

And worship God by reflecting on what he has done, what he continues to do, and what he has promised to do.

Put simply, Luke 1:39-56 teaches us to (1) reject sin, follow Jesus, and proclaim Christ; it teaches us to (2) rejoice in the LORD and glorify him; and in light of Christmas, it helps us to see that we can have hope in Jesus because he has done amazing things, he continues to do amazing things, and he will do amazing things.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

God Christian Men, Rejoice