What God Did Required a Specialist
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;
Luke 1:46–51 ESV Read More
This prayer of Mary’s has been called The Magnificat (rhymes with cot) through church history. Her cousin Elizabeth has prophesied because the Holy Spirit came upon her when Mary came to visit. John the Baby is filled with the Holy Spirit in Elizabeth’s womb, and by some amazing marvel of the Trinity, Christ is in Mary’s womb. Mary’s response is her prayer and her declaration of what God is doing in the world by becoming a child in that time.
It’s no mistake that her rejoicing sounds like Hannah in 1 Samuel 2. They were both children sent as a miracle from God. They were both going to change everything for God’s kingdom. Mary knows right off the bat how this child’s birth fits into human history. He is not like the rest of us trying to find our part in this story. His part has been foreseen by prophets, by angels, and now is prophesied by His mother.
Read through her whole prayer a few times and look at the character of God. She acknowledges that He is the same God that inspired the Proverbs and that has guided Jewish history to that supreme moment. Note also how focused she is on GOD. Almost every line starts with “HE” and her only mention of herself is how her state relates to who God is and what He has done.
What if besides the stable, the shepherds, the whole Christmas story, all we had was this prayer from Mary? What would Christmas mean and how would we respond? As you read through it, think about what it shows about God’s character that He did all of these things she says. What does it show that He did it all by being born as a little kid and grew up to be a man?
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.”
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