Luke 1: 45-55—Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat

Main Point: Our salvation should cause us to worship God knowing without him we would be left hungry and the rich would be left on their unjust thrones.

Greet:

Give main point and sub points:

first, Servants of God are brought high, second servants of the world are brought low and last, God is not a procrastinator.

Where we find ourselves is the angel Gaberial visits Mary to tell her she is going to bear a son named Jesus: her son will be called the son of the most high, he will reign over the house of Jacob foever, and his kingdom will have no end”. Then Mary responds by saying to the angel “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word”. Then Mary goes to the house of her sister. Her sister tells her she is blessed to be the mother of the Lord, then lastly her sister tells her she is blessed to believe what the Lord has spoken to her through the angel. Then the passage we are about to read is Mary’s response to being blessed and being called blessed by her sister. So she was just informed she will have Jesus and her sister calls her blessed:

Read Luke 1:45-55 “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. 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. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 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. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.””

Servants of God are Brought High

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my Spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant”

We see right from the start Mary is worshipping the Lord. She magnifies the Lord. She is overwhelmed with her Lord. Then she says she rejoices in God her savior. It is almost like we are having a conversation with Mary, we could just say “Mary, why are you rejoicing in God who is your savior? She responds with “he has looked on the humble estate of his servant”.

Here Mary is rejoicing in the greatest truth ever known. The God of the universe looked upon people who never deserved salvation because of their sin and saved them. At the very center of our rejoicing in God and how we praise him should be our salvation, as Mary’s was. Fellow believers, I think a great temptation we face is to put our worldly situation as the center of our rejoicing in God. What I mean is we are grateful for salvation, but really what is on our minds the most is the common graces he gives us. It may sound like this : “I sure am grateful for salvation from my sins, that is a great thing, but where would I be without my good health, bank account, all my friends and family”. Those things like financial provisions, friends, health are blessings from the Lord certainly and should be used to glorify him, but if we gloss over our salvation as it is just a side benefit in a credit card loan, like the 1% cash back, we are not rejoicing in the gospel.

We should first and foremost rejoice in the gospel that God looked on our humble estate and then use those other blessings he gives us for the purpose of the gospel. With your bank account, give to the church! With your friendships, build them on the truth of the gospel. When we are rejoicing in God we should be rejoicing in him because of the gospel and how he gives us gifts to use for the sake of the gospel. If we are looking for the things of the world like wealth why are we looking to God for those things? To be honest, the world is going to give us wealth a lot easier and faster than God. So let’s evaluate our hearts this afternoon as of why we are rejoicing in God. We should not be rejoicing in God for things the world can give us, but because of the salvation only he can give.

Just practically, when you pray to God what are the common things you give thanksgiving for? If the gospel, which is the very reason God can hear your prayers, is not one of those things then we should repent! Prayer for me is always a reminder of the gospel. I pray to him because I believe he is in control of all things and first and foremost is my eternal dwelling place. As mentioned, I am only able to speak to him through the mediator of his son. Evaluate your heart this morning as of why you are rejoicing in God.

Of course we know this baby boy that Gabrielle told Mary about would grow older as babies do. I’m sure you can remember when your own kids or grandkids were younger and they just shot up super quick and now they are married and living their own life. Well Jesus, being man, was the same way. Near the end of his ministry, Jesus returned to where he grew up in Nazareth. When he returned he performed miracles and taught about salvation. The people from his hometown were impressed by his miracles, even praised him for his miracles, but did not have faith in him for their salvation. In looking at Mary’s praise, she is not just impressed that an angel came to her, she is not excited because of all the attention she is going to get, she rejoices in God because of the salvation he gives. So let us first rejoice in the salvation we get from the gospel. Not primarily in the money, friends, or good health he gives us. Those things will fade, but our salvation is eternal. So praise God because of our salvation.

“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”

Many of you this afternoon may come from a faith background that teaches Mary has a role in our salvation or she was without sin, maybe a belief that would point to that she is something beyond a sinner that needs saving. I would just lovingly say this is not what we see in this passage. Maybe if you took the former half: “from now on all generations will call me blessed” it may seem that way. However, if you keep trying to have a conversation with Mary and ask her why? Why Mary will generations call you blessed? She answers with: “for he who is mighty has done great things for me”. This is not some kind of ugly dispute by any means, I just want to point out for one moment that Mary wants people to remember her as blessed not because she was sinless or anything, but because God has done great things for her.

I think we can all relate there right? God has done great things for us and like we just discussed the greatest for those is salvation. Particularly here, most likely she is thankful for the birth of Jesus! Again though, she does not point back to herself as if she was able to do this on her own or by her own power, but it is a grace of God that she is able to bear the savior of the world! Generations will call her blessed not because of what she did but because of what God did for her and through her. This is so familiar to us right? Through our salvation God has done a great thing for us.

In just thinking with God given logic: the only thing a sinner has is sin, so if a sinner is going to be blessed it makes since that that blessing can only come from outside of them. Mary has no ability to conceive the savior of the world by her own strength or she would not have said she is blessed because of what God has done. We too are not blessed because of what we can do or from what the world can do for us. We are blessed because he who is mighty has done great things for us and because of this, as Mary proclaims, Holy is his name!

To be holy means to be set apart, so Mary is saying generations will call her blessed because of what God has done for her, and since he has done this for her, he is set apart‚—thus, holy is his name! What God does is set apart. His actions are unlike the world. God looks at his humble servant and brings him and her high. Our God is only one who can save us from our sins and the only one who looks at the weak as strong. It is a good thing too because we are weak and if our Lord was not holy and set apart in this way, we would be left in our sin. We would have no hope for salvation. So again, worship God and rejoice in him because of the salvation he gives to those who do not deserve it. Our motive for worshipping him should be because of this undeserved salvation.

Going on “And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation”

In this upside down kingdom, God is merciful in salvation towards those who fear him. The world would tell us this does not make sense. The strong are the ones who do not fear anything. But we are called to submit to him. God gives mercy to those who turn to him in faith and repent from their sins, but he is just to those who harden their hearts against him. Notice also how it mentions “generation to generation”, God’s mercy did not stop. His mercy is still flowing for those who fear him. However, if you are not fearing him, you will not receive this mercy. In closing out this first point, know that the highest we can be brought is a servant of God and we should worship him because of the salvation he gives those who fear him.

2. Servants of the world are Brought Low

“He, being God, has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts”. When you read this it seems obvious Mary is speaking of eternal things right? I do not think Mary is talking about how God dealt with Pharaoh or anything that has already happened yet, actually, she is speaking of things still to come. We would interpret this as God is going to eternally punish those who are proud and do not fear him, this line is in opposition to the previous. The ones he shows mercy fear him and the ones he scatters are proud in their thoughts. But wait a second, let’s back up and remember the context. Christ has not even been born yet but Mary believes God is going to do all of these things? Robert Stein explains it better than me: “the second strophe is a prophetic forward look at the results of Mary’s child for believing Israel”. Mary did not have to take time to contemplate the promises of God through this child, she believed what god said through Gabrielle that this child’s kingdom will reign! Now that is encouraging!

Just as a side note, in your own personal readings of scripture, be aware of where in the linear history of salvation you are. Don’t read Amos the same way you read 1st Peter. Be aware of what the original audience knew at that time because it already happened and what they knew because it was promised by God. Particularly, on this subject, the Psalms are always encouraging for me. They seem so sure of eternal salvation but Jesus has not even been born yet.

“he has brought down the mighty from their thrones”

Many of the Jews expected this baby boy to grow up and be a stronger David because of his kingship. They expected Jesus to be an eternal Alexander the Great if you remember your history. They believed he would be on a throne unreachable by anyone else. However, this soon to be conceived baby boy would not be a mighty one on a throne.—he would be a servant who faced death. My pastor speaks often of this upside down kingdom we live in. God’s kingdom is totally upside down from the world’s standards. The savior of the world suffered in this world. That does not make sense from our worldly perceptive. When we think of a king we thing of an untouchable, one who has all that they could ever desire.

Mary speaks of this upside down kingdom, God takes the mighty from their thrones. Those in the world who have worldly power, if without Christ, will end with nothing. I enjoy psychology, just understanding why people do the things that they do, and what I’ve found is so many people think we are so advanced these days. Man it would have been crazy to live back in biblical times without iPhones and all the information at the world at our fingertips. That is just embarrassing. But what I think is embarrassing is how, in our sin, we still view the world the same way: as a place where our gratifications can be granted. Nothing has changed since the day of Solomon when he found out all the money, sexual pleasures, power, etc could not fulfill him. Now, too, the thrones of their will bring you down.

However as we keep reading “he has brought down the mighty from their thrones, then Mary says, and exalted those of humble estate”.

Let’s see if you have been paying attention, who are those of humble estate? From a couple verses earlier we learn they are believers, they are those who fear him. As believers, do we have an upside down heart if you will, or do we have a heart of the world? Do we desire to fear God and worship him or to sit on a throne of this world. As I mentioned, I am a college student and one thing that has really stood out to me is how much time you spend with your friends in college. One day I guess I was bored or something and thought a lot about it and concluded there may be days where the only alone time I get is in the bathroom. I work with friends, go to school with them, hangout with them, live with them etc. This living facility here actually has a lot in common with a college actually right? You are always around people, you eat with them, play bingo with them, play cards. I can tell you the temptation on a college campus is to be influenced by others to have worldly desires and I fear the same can be true here. I’m sure the people you spend time around are not all believers so are they influencing your beliefs about God or are you using the relationships you have with unbelievers to share the truth of the gospel with them?

Do not let others believe that we are to spend this whole life reaching for the throne of this world instead of being a servant of God. So as an application, be aware of how the people you do life with are influencing your beliefs about God and the world. Surround yourself with those who are going to push you towards faith in Christ for salvation and repentance from your sins. If you do not have friends like that then maybe get out of your comfort zone and be friends with those who you know are believers or share the gospel with unbelievers in your life. Also, our primary influence in our life should always be God right? So spend time in his word. Do not let this world tell you that the throne of the world is what we should be pursuing. Be influenced in a way that causes you to be a humble servant who fears God.

“he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty”

Do these phrases remind you of anything? They remind me of Luke 6:21 ““Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied”. Jesus says these words! What are they hungry for? I can give you a hint, its not anything you are getting for dinner in a little bit, wait a second don’t start thinking about dinner on me now! They are hungry for salvation! They are hungry for something you can’t get from dinner or from this world period! They are hungry for what only God can give them: forgiveness of sins! Then the rich are the ones have what they believe they need or believe that the world is where they can find what they need. If we jump back just one second to the story we mentioned of Jesus returning to Nazareth, after the people from his hometown thought that Jesus could offer them nothing in terms of salvation what did he do? He went away from them and probably never came back before he was crucified.

Friends this is one of the necessary but gut turning truths of Christianity: those who desire the world will gain the world, but those who are hungry for God will gain salvation. God will send away empty those who believe they are fulfilled or can be fulfilled by the world by going out from them as he did in Nazareth. Again to put this in perspective, Mary is believing these things before Jesus was even known in Nazareth. What a great example of a saving faith for us! Finishing out the second point, do not be like the world believing this is where desires are fulfilled, be hungry for salvation and let that salvation be in Christ. For believers, keep pursuing righteousness and repent from any beliefs that the world can make you rich. Let us be poor servants in this life but be rich in our love of God.

3. God is Not a Procrastinator

A procrastinator is someone who does things last minute, for example maybe they wait until the night before to write a paper over church structure when they have had a month to do it, I promise I just got that example out of thin air!

Luke 1:54-55 “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.””

God is not a procrastinator because his plan of salvation has always existed. Even before time God mad a covenant with himself to save a group of people. Then when sin came he promised to defeat it through a seed of Eve. Then, what Mary mentions is God’s covenant to Abraham: a good reference verse here is Exodus 32:13 “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”.

What God promises to Abraham is coming true in Christ! The promised in Mary’s womb is the one promised to Abraham! Through this this afternoon I want us to see that the character of God is one of redemption. God desires to redeem his people and we know this because he has always had a plan to do so. He did not decide last minute to sin Jesus, God did not panic in the garden when sin first occured and thought “oh no, what am I going to do now”. He knew that creating Adam meant he would have to send his son, the second person of the trinity to suffer. So throughout this message if you have been a little weary as to why we should be rejoicing in God or why we should fear him, he has always wanted to rescue his people from sin. He made us even knowing that we would rebel against him, that we would be hostile towards him. Still, he created us and still he sent his son to take on the wrath consequential of our sins. So this evening, why rejoice in salvation and why should we serve God instead of reaching for the throne of the world? Because our God is a saving God. Through faith that Christ’s death on the cross is our salvation and repentance from the sins that separated us from God we can take part in this God given redemption.

This baby makes all of these things possible: he is the reason the hungry can be fed, he is the reason the mighty will be brought down from their thrones, and he is the reason we should rejoice in God. Let us all walk in these truths. Let’s pray to this redeeming God.