Luke 1:46–56

Article 7: Mary’`s Song`

The Magnificat

Barabbas

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IamBarabbas

7 min readOct 2, 2017

Filled with Joy

When you win and you stand upon that podium you want to cheer, roar in celebration. that loud cry is a sense of victory. Within Mary there is victory, resting within her womb, forming, developing into the form of a man who would represent the ultimate victory for humanity. But before this happened, Mary, filled with that sense of victory to come, has her words recorded below we’ve come to know by some as the Magnificat.

Luke 1:46–56

46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me —
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord

Based on it’s opening word in the Latin vulgate, this song is known as the Magnificat (which means Glorifies). Mary’s song has often been used as the basis for choral music and hymns. Like a character from the Old Testament, Hannah, the mother of a man named Samuel (from 1 Samuel 2:1–10). Mary glorified God in song for what he was going to do for the world through her. Notice that in both songs, The Magnificat also highlights a series of reversals in which the proud are humbled and the humble are exalted — not the least being a poor young girl who will be the mother of the Messiah. It also echoes Old Testament psalms of thanksgiving that contain both a note of thanksgiving and the reasons for such thanksgiving (psalm 30; 34; 138).

The style and theme of the hymns of Mary and Zechariah (Luke 1:67–79) are Semitic and pre-christian, indicating that Luke incorporated them from a source either Mary or Zechariah, both familiar with the singing of the psalms, could have composed them and repeated them as reflections on the auspicious events they had experienced. The hymns must have been written down and preserved by Jesus’ and John’s family.

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,

We know that the word Saviour is a title an angel later applies to Jesus (Luke 2:11).

When Mary said “from now on all generations will call me blessed” was she being proud? No, she was recognising and accepting the gift God had given her. Pride is refusing to accept God’s gifts or taking credit for what God has done; humility is accepting the gifts and using them to praise and serve God. Don’t deny, belittle or ignore your gifts. Thank God for them and use them to bring him joy.

for the Mighty One has done great things for me —
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”

Mary begins to speak of God’s character poetically, it was very accustomed with the Psalms of the day to speak in such a format. What Mary does give us insight into is what God has revealed to her in the character of what He is like.

Mighty one. Describes God is a warrior who can deliver his people through his victorious power.

Mercy & fear. When you’re a child you love your parents, depend on them, but when you break that £90 Vase you’re fearing the worst. But in forgiveness you feel the embracing of Mercy. From the one your fear, yet love in perfect balance, the fear is not too great, yet not non-existent, perfectly balanced to help us and not to deter us.

Deeds with his arm. God has not been silent, he works even when you don’t see. God cannot be accused of sitting back in a pantheistic way and watching the clock tick by, he is involved, personal and hears our prayers.

Scattered the proud, brought down rulers, lifted up the humble; Pride, although has its few uses can be devastating and lead to the irrational thriving. Inmost thoughts; even if it’s not visible God sees what we’re up to. It’s like saying you’re fine but inside you feel a mess. Those who rule over people rather than care are the same you’re on display, many can see you and God sees all of you. Those with a humble heart, those who do not dictate out of self interest God notices, He sees when people truly care for others and are not focused on silently discriminating others.

Filled the hungry; God will not let his people starve, we see in this fallen, broken world so many observations that might question this, but Mary is talking spiritually here. What good is physical food if you are not spiritually fed? Physical food won’t save you from death, only prolong the limited life that will end the same way. We are, as human beings made in God’s image, duty bound to serve the poor, to feed them physically but spiritually should be a priority.

(Side note: it’s not very biblical to preach the gospel as someone starves to death if you have the ability to get food for them!)

Rich sent away empty: Riches die at the grave, they go no further, We’ve seen as such in Viking burial remains (and a bit of common sense). You can’t buy your way into heaven and that’s obvious. Money, currency has a sense of empowerment, you either control it or it controls your decisions.

Helped his servant Israel: His people, we are God’s people, the borders of the physical country of Israel apply no more. Israel means ‘the struggle’ he helps us who struggle in this life and we know how clear that is when he sent Jesus who came down and struggled at our level, even willing to die for us despite us doing nothing for him.

Merciful, forever, promised: the mercy of Christ applies to all, God’s mercy has and is there forever but it’s a choice whether you want it.

God kept his promise to Abraham to be merciful to God’s people forever (Genesis 22:16–18). Christ’s birth fulfilled the promise, and Mary understood this. She was not surprised when her special son eventually announced that he was the Messiah. She had known Jesus’ mission from before his birth. Some of God’s promises are found in these scriptures; 2 Samuel 22:50–51; Psalms 89:2–4; 103:17–18; Micah 7:18–20

And so we conclude on the final verse;

56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

Because travel was difficult as we looked at in the previous article, Long visits were customary. Mary must have been a great help to Elizabeth, who was experiencing the discomforts of a first pregnancy in old age.

Conclusion

In many church cultures the Magnificat is sang, though historically we don’t know is Mary sang these words or simply spoke them poetically. We can say Mary is an incredible character, a figure of God’s greater plan but as equally as important to God as you or I. We all have different roles, missions, callings and environments the best advice I Could give based on what I’ve learned from God’s people is ask God in prayer, what am I to do? Where am I to be? What mission, task would you like me to be involved in, where do you see me?

Mary knew her role and what she was to do, she would be scorned by the public for the child’s forthcoming, observing the Messiah before her daily and then watch her son beaten and crucified like a criminal.