Advent Midweek 3-Mary's Song-St. Luke 1:46-56

‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.’ (Ps. 19:14) Amen.

Grace, mercy and peace will be with you, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love. (2 John 3) Amen.

‘And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord”’. (V. 46)

Have you ever been truly overjoyed because of something? Have you ever been “over the moon” as it is sometimes described? Mary’s words are different from her cousin’s. Mary is not excited in the way that Elizabeth was. Her mind was full of the spiritual message of God’s Word. This was especially true because of the words the angel had just spoken to her.

Mary’s mood in the entire scene, this meeting with Elizabeth, is rather one of compressed joy. When she hears Elizabeth’s song, Mary’s response is to sing back in response.

‘And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord”’. (V. 46)

So, what do you all think?

Do you really think that Mary only said these words?

My wife and I watched a movie the other night and all of the great canticles that Luke records for us and which we sing, if they were included at all, in this movie the actors speak. The effect was jarring. Nothing about the words sounded right. And these were the words of Elizabeth, given directly before Mary in Luke’s Gospel. When she greets Mary, she sings: ‘“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?”’ (Vv. 42-43)

It just made no sense to me for that actress to be speaking these words. Just because the church has not chosen to use her words as it has the words of the other songs in these first two chapters of Luke. This is no reason not to think that these words were not also sung. After all, to read the Holy Spirit’s words in Luke’s Gospel, you can see and hear the joy and awe exhibited by Elizabeth when Mary arrives at the door.

In these words of Mary, we have the thoughts of the Old Testament scattered throughout. This is especially evident when we also read the words of Hannah’s Song in first Samuel (2:1-10).

‘“For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; … And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.”’ (Vv. 48, 50)

Mary was the bride of a carpenter but, as her cousin told her, she was also the mother of the Messiah[1]! What wonder! What joy! The long-expected One had finally arrived. Everyone had told Mary that the Messiah would come in glory and majesty. He did, but not in a fashion that anyone ever expected. After all, the angel had told her how this would all come to pass. He had said that her son would be the Son of God (St. Lk. 1:35).

As the great Advent hymn declares:
‘For You are the Father’s Son
Who in flesh the victory won.
By Your mighty power make whole
All our ills of flesh and soul.’ (LSB 332:6)

Yet, what a wonderful thing. If Mary was singing these words, ‘“For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant”’, then she obviously did not see herself as worthy to bear the Christ. In this we see how our God inspires people. He does not just tell them what to say, He also uses their own words to declare His message. In her being carried along by the Holy Spirit, Mary tells us that all generations will call her blessed. She, a sinner just the same as each of us, did not believe she was worthy to be given the honor of bearing hers and the world’s Savior. She certainly then did not herself believe that she was worthy of being called blessed.

Yet, there it is. The Holy Spirit has declared it to be so. And so, though Mary would surely shrink from such honor, she is rightly called blessed. She was chosen by the Father to be the bearer of the Son of God. She was chosen to give a human nature to Jesus that He would pay the price for our sins. That we might receive the forgiveness of our sins, God’s mercy.

Thank God for this. This is a great and mighty wonder. This is an amazing thing for you and me. We are the ones who benefit from this mercy as Mary sings. We are among those who fear the Triune God. You and I are those who receive the mercy of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Thank God for that. ‘Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!’ (Ps. 72:19)

In Jesus’+ Name. Amen.

[1] Word Pictures in the New Testament, Robertson, p. 15-16.