We are going to close out the year by looking at 25 posts on Mary and Joseph for Advent. Part 3: The Magnificat
Luke 1:46-56 (NLT)
46 Mary responded,
“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.47 How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed.49 For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me.50 He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him.51 His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.52 He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble.53 He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands.54 He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful.55 For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.
Dear God,
My wife and I began attending Catholic church in 2011, and while I am still not Catholic, I have read the Magnificat many, many times. But I do not know that I have ever really taken these words that are attributed to Mary and looked at them from her perspective. What were the experiences and emotions that propelled these words out of her mouth? What insights was she having with you that we now get to see 2,000 years later?
To set the context, Mary has just arrived at Elizabeth’s after finding out she is pregnant. We do not know if she has told anyone else yet. We do not know if anyone knows. But when she walked in the door, Elizabeth gave her all the affirmation she needed, and Mary just seems to explode with these words.
● Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my savior! – This is just flat-out worship. Recognizing who you are first and foremost. Her soul magnifies you and her spirit rejoices in you.
● For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, – She is in awe of you noticing her and counting her as worthy of this honor. She probably always felt like her life would be limited and humble from beginning to end.
● And from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. – She had some time since Gabriel visited to think about her new place in history. If what Gabriel said is true, then she will be known as the mother of the Messiah for eternity. She had no idea how this would play out, but in her mind, she was aware enough to know that this would elevate her to a place in history.
● He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him. – She knows a savior is coming. Like Zechariah, she probably has the wrong idea about what that savior will look like, but she knows that those who hear you are within your mercy through the generations.
● His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. – She might think her new baby will bring about Israel’s freedom from the rule of Rome or any other country. The new paradigm of both Israelites and Gentiles being reconciled to God through Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection probably never occurred to her.
● He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. – I would imagine when you are poor and oppressed there are two main things that hit your radar: hunger and shelter. In her mind, this seems to be an outreach to the poor as well. After all, she is poor. Will the Messiah lift up and provide for the poor as well? Will he topple the wealthy? That seems to make sense to her, but that is not necessarily the way you work.
● He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever – She might think revolution is coming. Just like Zechariah does not have it completely right, Mary does not yet appreciate that Jesus came for the Gentiles too.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the link between Mary’s words and Psalm 146 and Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. She likely knew that psalm at least to some extent and that is what flowed out of her as she worshiped in that moment.
Father, what I see here is a young woman figuring things out much like the rest of us do. She worships you, but without perfect knowledge. But that is okay. You will take it anyway because you know her heart is pure in that moment of worship. She will learn over the years. She will become disillusioned, just like I can be disillusioned sometimes. And I still have a long way to go. I do not understand what you are doing in my life or in the lives of my wife and children. But I am here to worship you. I give you my worship and my praise.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
