Mary's Song of Praise (Luke 1:46-55)
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Introduction
Introduction
Historical Setting
Encounter with an Angel (Luke 1:26-38)
Angel is sent from God to give a message to Mary.
Luke 1:26–27 (ESV)
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
Angel tells Mary that she will be the mother of Jesus.
Luke 1:30–33 (ESV)
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Mary visits Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-45)
Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth and she proclaims.
Luke 1:41–45 (ESV)
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.”
Mary’s Prayer of Praise (Luke 1:46-56)
After hearing what Elizabeth proclaimed, Mary goes into a prayer of Praise.
Her prayer becomes known as “The Magnificat”
“The Magnificat reflects the Hebrew poetry in the book of Psalms, both in form and content (Koontz, “Magnificat,” 336). Mary’s words parallel a number of Old Testament passages, especially Hannah’s song in 1 Sam 2:1–10 and Psa 136 (Koontz, “Magnificat,” 339; Brown, Birth of the Messiah, 358–60).” (Tresham, Aaron K. “Magnificat.” Ed. John D. Barry et al. The Lexham Bible Dictionary 2016: n. pag. Print.)
Mary prays a prayer of praise focusing on 4 main Ideas addressing her and her understanding of God.
We can learn a lot about the understanding of Mary about the baby she is going to have.
Outline adapted from: Tresham, Aaron K. “Magnificat.” Ed. John D. Barry et al. The Lexham Bible Dictionary 2016: n. pag. Print.
Mary’s Amazement
Mary’s Amazement
Mary rejoices that she has the privilege of giving birth to the promised Messiah (Luke 1:46–48).
Luke 1:46–48 (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;
Mary rejoices (46-47)
Hebrew parallelism (The second line emphasizes the same point of the first line)
Magnifies - to praise a person in terms of that individual’s greatness—‘to praise the greatness of.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 429. Print.)
Rejoice - to experience a state of great joy and gladness, often involving verbal expression and appropriate body movement—‘to be extremely joyful, to be overjoyed, to rejoice greatly.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 302. Print.)
The object of her praise and joy is the Lord.
Mary’s humble state (48a)
Luke 1:48 “for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;”
Reason for her praise and joy is that the Lord would choose her to bring the Messiah into the world.
Humble estate - the state of low status, with the probable implication of humility—‘low status, low estate, humility.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 739. Print.)
“God has chosen a person of no social importance as the means of his saving work. As Paul later put it, God’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).” (France, R. T. Luke. Ed. Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013. Print. Teach the Text Commentary Series.)
Mary is blessed (48b)
Luke 1:48 “for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;”
to regard someone as happy or fortunate in view of favorable circumstances—‘to regard as happy, to regard as fortunate.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 301. Print.)
Mary is a role model and example who is worthy of our respect and honor
“If you come from a tradition that shies away from special doctrines about her, take a moment to acknowledge the ways in which it is appropriate to respect and honor her as a sister in faith and as a role model for ordinary people who would be used by God.” (France, R. T. Luke. Ed. Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013. Print. Teach the Text Commentary Series.)
Submissiveness - to the will of God told her by the Angel.
Humility - Seeing herself as fortunate to be called by God and not arrogant.
“So the theme of God’s fulfillment of his Old Testament promises remains central to this passage. Mary’s joyful exultation celebrates the entire scope of his saving work. But it is focused on his choice of an obscure and socially insignificant girl to be his servant and so to be advanced to the highest honor.” (France, R. T. Luke. Ed. Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013. Print. Teach the Text Commentary Series.)
Mary’s Praise
Mary’s Praise
She glorifies God for His power, holiness, and mercy (Luke 1:49–50).
Luke 1:49–50 (ESV)
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.
Mighty (49)
Luke 1:49 “for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
(derivative of δυνατόςb ‘able, can,’ 74.2; a title for God, literally ‘the one who is able’) one who is capable of doing anything—‘the Mighty One, Mighty God, the Almighty.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 675. Print.)
Adjective - describing the character of God. Her amazement is that the mighty God of the universes would choose to use her in this way. She will expound on God’s work in the rest of the prayer: “He has shown strength with his arm" (51).
Holy (49)
Luke 1:49 “for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
“pertaining to being holy in the sense of superior moral qualities and possessing certain essentially divine qualities in contrast with what is human—‘holy, pure, divine.’” (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 744. Print.)
“person ⇔ name n. — any rational entity (human being, God) understood by their name; perhaps understood according to the reputation and character of the person.” (Biblical Sense)
Holy is God’s character and His actions.
Merciful (50)
Luke 1:50 “And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.”
“to show kindness or concern for someone in serious need—‘to show mercy, to be merciful toward, to have mercy on, mercy.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 750. Print.)
“to have profound reverence and respect for deity, with the implication of awe bordering on fear—‘to reverence, to worship.’” (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 539. Print.)
Mary’s Expectation
Mary’s Expectation
Mary looks forward to God transforming the world through the Messiah. The proud will be brought low, and the humble will be lifted up; the hungry will be fed, and the rich will go without (Luke 1:51–53).
Luke 1:51–53 (ESV)
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.
Proud is brought Low
Parallel between “proud” (51) and “mighty” (52)
“arrogant person n. — a person characterized by feelings of unwarranted importance out of overbearing pride.” (Biblical Sense)
“powerful ruler n. — a person who rules or commands; especially understood as having great controlling influence.” (Biblical Sense)
Parallel between “scattered” (51) and “brought down” (52)
“to disperse (cause to separate) v. — to cause a group or gathering to disperse or scatter, with possible emphasis on the distributive nature of the scattering (that is to say, each going in a different direction)—‘to scatter, to cause to disperse.’” (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 199. Print.)
In the thoughts of their hearts - deal with the arrogant thoughts of superiority in the ruling class.
“to unseat ⇔ take down v. — to remove from a position or an office (of high status or honor); conceived of as physically removing an object by bringing it down from a higher location.” (Biblical Sense)
Humbled is Exalted
“Mary named three specific groups to whom God had been merciful: the helpless (Luke 1:51), the humble (Luke 1:52), and the hungry (Luke 1:53).” (Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Vol. 1. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996. Print.)
Humble - “pertaining to having low and humble status—‘lowly, humble.” (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 739. Print.)
Attitude and Societal Status
Hungry - to be in a state of hunger, without any implications of particular contributing circumstances—‘to be hungry, to have hunger. (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 252. Print.)
God is the one exalting the humble and fulfilling the hungry.
Psalm 34:15–18 (ESV)
15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Mary’s Thankfulness
Mary’s Thankfulness
Mary exalts God because He has been faithful to His promise to Abraham (Luke 1:54–55; see God’s promise to Abraham in Gen 12:1–3).
Luke 1:54–55 (ESV)
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.”
God is faithful to his promises to Israel through the sending of His Son.
God’s promise to Abraham.
Genesis 12:1–3 (ESV)
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham.
Galatians 3:16 (ESV)
16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.
Mary is praising God for his faithfulness to his promise to Abraham and his help and mercy towards Israel.
“Mary’s song reveals two complementary aspects of the character of God well known from the Old Testament. He is the mighty warrior who over throws those who oppose him, but he is also the God of the covenant whose love and faithfulness ensure the ultimate blessing of his chosen people.” (France, R. T. Luke. Ed. Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013. Print. Teach the Text Commentary Series.)
Lessons
Lessons
God was faithful to His words and promises to Abraham and the people of Israel under the Roman Empire.
The Messiah was to deliver the nation from their oppressors and lead them into eternal time of peace.
Mary believing that her child is the Messiah because of the message of the angel.
Just as Mary rejoiced and praised the Lord,
Spend time reflecting on the love and faithfulness of God through Jesus Christ.
Spend time in praise and prayer for God’s goodness in our lives.