The Magnificat – Part 1
Luke 1:39-56 (39-45)
August 27, 2017
Well, it’s been a couple of weeks since we were last in the book of Luke,
Having taken last week to commission our teachers and students.
This morning we return,
And I remind you where we are in this “History of Redemption”
Luke is revealing the Messiah who was promised,
And a he is also revealing to us a great deal
About the type of people God used to send Him here.
• We’ve seen God use a righteous barren couple named Zacharias and Elizabeth to bring the forerunner into the world.
• And last time we saw that God plans to use a 13 year old Jewish virgin to bring His Son into the world.
Obviously both of those realities has reinforced the truth to us that
“God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Last time we actually saw the angel Gabriel appear to Mary
And announce to her that she was going to give birth to God’s own Son.
He told us that this child would be great,
And would be the eternal reigning king.
And despite the circumstantial difficulty and despite the social danger, Mary fully consented herself to God’s divine plan.
After revealing that she would become pregnant, Mary simply responded:
Luke 1:38 “And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”
This morning we are going to move forward with the story.
We are going to approach the text that is commonly referred to as
“The Magnificat”
It is the Latin word that means “To Magnify”,
Which is precisely what Mary seeks to do to the Lord.
But before we get to Mary’s exaltation of the Lord,
We first are given information about a conversation she had.
Before Mary set out to magnify the Lord,
We find that she first went to visit Elizabeth.
I was really quite prone to just sort of skim over the top of these verses very quickly
And get straight to Mary’s words of praise.
But, I was just compelled, to slow down a bit.
The question in my mind was, “Why did Luke include this meeting?”
• Why was it important for him to that you and I know about this conversation between Mary and Elizabeth?
The obvious answer is that this meeting
Was to provide CONFIRMATION for Mary.
Remember when she questioned exactly how she could give birth to God’s Son, that God gave her a sign as proof that He could do anything?
Luke 1:36-37 “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Just in case Mary needed a little confirmation
That she really had heard from God and that God really could do it,
He had provided Mary with proof.
That proof would be that her relative Elizabeth was pregnant.
And if you read the text you’ll see that
Mary was eager to cash in on that confirmation.
(39-40) “Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.”
Gabriel departed from Mary and she wasted no time
Traveling to see if Elizabeth was in fact pregnant.
I think it’s obvious that Mary was in search of something
To help calm her nerves and confirm her faith.
After all, I remind you again that
What Mary consented to was not only costly, but dangerous.
If a 13 year old girl shows up pregnant, without being married,
She’s not only about to lose her fiancé, she’s about to lose her life.
Mary consented, but she still needed some encouragement.
So before we get to Mary’s Exaltation, we first need to see the meeting that inspired it.
#1 ELIZABETH’S ENCOURAGEMENT
Luke 1:39-45
Here we have Mary, barely pregnant, and I’m sure at least a little anxious.
It’s probably a pretty safe bet to assume that no one knows yet that Mary is pregnant, that is until she decides to confide in Elizabeth.
(39-40) “Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.”
And “greeted” there doesn’t just mean that Mary say, “Hi Elizabeth”.
It means that Mary filled Elizabeth in on what was going on in her life.
She told her all about the messenger Gabriel
And God’s plan to use her to deliver His Savior to the world.
And (41) “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”
As Mary revealed all that God was doing in her and through her,
Sheer excitement came over Elizabeth
And the child she was carrying.
And Scripture says that “Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”
That is an important phrase.
And what happened to Elizabeth was an occurrence that happened to prophets before they spoke God’s word.
And so what is happening here to Elizabeth is remarkable.
God is about to use Elizabeth to deliver a message to Mary.
Certainly it is Elizabeth speaking,
But it is also the Holy Spirit using her to do so.
This is more than just Elizabeth encouraging Mary,
THIS IS HOW GOD SEEKS TO ENCOURAGE MARY.
And if you want to see the profound effect it had on Mary,
It is not hard to see.
After Gabriel visited Mary and revealed the entire plan to her, you remember Mary’s response:
Luke 1:38 “And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”
However, after Elizabeth is finished encouraging Mary, then look at Mary’s response.
Luke 1:46-47 “And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”
Did you pick up on the difference?
After Gabriel Mary was willing, after Elizabeth, Mary is excited.
I think it’s worth looking at exactly what Elizabeth said to see
If we can’t learn a little about what it means to be an encouragement to people.
Certainly you know that encouragement is important.
It is a word used numerous times in Scripture.
Isaiah 35:3 “Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.”
1 Thessalonians 3:1-3 “Therefore when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:14 “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
Titus 2:3-5 “Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.”
Hebrews 3:13 “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
AND YOU UNDERSTAND THE PURPOSE.
Any time God asks us to walk in faith or to walk in obedience
There is always plenty of opposition.
The Bible tells us that we war against the enemy
And he has no shortage of people whom he uses
To discourage God’s people from walking in faith.
No doubt Mary was already bracing herself
For that opposition and discouragement.
And so it is very important that as a church we step up to the plate
To counter that discouraging message of the world.
NOW, DON’T MISUNDERSTAND ME.
Most of the world thinks encouragement just means that it is my job
To make you feel good about yourself and what you are doing REGARDLESS.
THAT IS NOT ENCOURAGEMENT. That is a combination of flattery and enabling, and God isn’t interested in that at all.
Biblical encouragement is when we approach a brother or sister
And seek to motivate them to walk by faith and not by the flesh.
It is when we seek to push someone to obedience and faith
In spite of the apparent hardships.
This is one of the functions of the church.
Hebrews 10:24-25 “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
One of the main reasons we commit to gather together
Is so that we may all be a voice of encouraging to one another.
That we may “stimulate one another to love and good deeds”
We don’t just want people to feel good about themselves,
Instead we want them to know that
Walking in obedience to God is always the goal.
And we see this type of encouragement from time to time in the Bible.
Consider Paul to Timothy:
2 Timothy 1:5-7 “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”
Consider the writer of Hebrews:
Hebrews 6:9-12 “But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
In both of those cases you hear a writer seeking to encourage another
To get up and be what they are intended to be.
That is what it means to be a Christian encouragement.
It is to refuse to allow our brothers or sisters in Christ
To settle for less that God’s purposes for their life.
Well, the Holy Spirit is going to use Elizabeth to do just that for Mary.
• Here is a 13 year old girl.
• I’m sure she’s scared
• And she has run immediately to Elizabeth for confirmation that God really does know what He’s doing.
And what a wonderful job Elizabeth does of
Giving Mary the kind of encouragement that she needed.
In fact, we can learn from her.
I think we can break Elizabeth’s encouragement down into 4 main things.
1) SHE ENCOURAGED MARY’S IMMEDIATE DECISION (42a)
“And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women,”
You can tell how Elizabeth is seeking to single Mary out here.
She tells Mary, of all the women on the earth, you are blessed.
Now, not to miss the point.
Elizabeth is NOT here saying that
You are more fortunate than all other women,
Though that could easily be said.
The word “blessed” translates EULOGIA (from where we get our word Eulogy) and it means “to speak well of; to praise”
ELIZABETH IS PRAISING MARY.
And again, don’t miss the point, she is not worshiping Mary, not by a long shot.
But she is giving Mary a huge “at-a-boy!”
See… Mary had just heard from Gabriel about a terrifying reality that was about to take place in her life and Mary consented.
• Mary then ran straight to Elizabeth and told her about it.
• Elizabeth then praised Mary for making the right decision.
Think about that for a moment. Ever had a time in your life when you were compelled by God to walk by faith?
• Who did you first tell?
• What was their response?
You know and I know that
The first response you receive after you make your decision
Can make all the difference in the world can’t it?
What a blessing when we come across that person who says,
“Well done!” at your decision to walk by faith.
What a tragedy when we come across that person who says,
“What were you thinking?”
We’ve all dealt with both of those in our life.
What I’m really interested in, is which of those are we being to others?
Here is a girl who has plenty of reasons to second-guess her decision,
It sure is a blessing that she ran across a woman
Who praised her for choosing to submit to God.
Elizabeth encouraged Mary’s Immediate Decision
2) SHE ENCOURAGED MARY ACCORDING TO GOD’S PLAN (42b)
“and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”
Of course this is a reference to Jesus.
And here Elizabeth uses the same word EULOGIA
So after praising Mary’s decision to submit to God,
Elizabeth then makes a statement of praise
Regarding the baby she is going to have.
WHY?
Well, you know, and I know that this baby is certainly worthy of praise.
I mean after all, He is going to be called the Son of the Most High.
But beyond that, what an encouragement to Mary
For someone else to be excited about what God is gonna do through her
Think about it again.
• God asks you to trust Him in an area and you say, “yes”.
• You tell another believer about it and they say, “good for you”
And then they say, “but I’m sure glad it’s not me, this is going to be hard, this is going be brutal.”
“I think you were right to say yes Mary, but wow, did you ever just sign up for something terrible!”
That is not what Elizabeth did.
You don’t get a hint of negativity from her do you?
All you get is:
• Way to go Mary!
• Wow, how awesome is this child gonna be!
See how Elizabeth helps Mary focus on the good that is going to come out of her obedience and not the hardship that will come as a result?
There are only about a million negative things Elizabeth could have pointed out at this time.
• You know Mary, Joseph isn’t going to be happy about this…
• You know Mary, you’re parents are going to be disappointed…
• You know Mary, you’re preacher is going to want to stone you…
• You know Mary, you’re gonna get morning sickness…
• You know Mary, child bearing is painful…
When God asks you to trust Him,
Don’t you love those people who remind you how hard it’s going to be?
What we really appreciate
Are the people who help us see the blessing
Of what God will accomplish through it.
And again I ask you, “Which role do you more commonly fill?”
• Are you the person who helps a brother see that his decision to trust God was
the right one?
• Or are you the person who feels the need to point out just how difficult it’s
going to be?
And again, I’m not talking about are you negative or positive in general.
Sometimes there are things that people do that require a negative word.
What I’m talking about is a person who is walking in obedience to God.
Do you encourage that or do you discourage that?
• Elizabeth pushed Mary to focus on the good that God was doing.
• Elizabeth was seeking to help Mary trust God.
Encouraged Mary’s Immediate Decision, Encouraged Mary According to God’s Plan
3) SHE ENCOURAGED MARY BY BEING EXCITED FOR HER (43-44)
(43-44) “And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? “For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.”
Again,
• There is no negativity here…
• There is no rationalism…
• There is no realist…
Elizabeth is proud of Mary, excited about what God is doing,
And grateful that she gets to be a part of it.
Isn’t that something?
It sure beats:
• Trust God if you want…
• It’s gonna be hard…
• Don’t come crying to me when it gets hard…
Some people can’t be excited for what God is doing in your life
For fear that it might upset their life.
The tragedy is that we are often this person to others.
• We aren’t excited about other people’s faithfulness because there is a chance it might affect my life too.
But that isn’t Elizabeth.
Listen to her, she is pumped!
She is grateful to be a part, and so is her child.
“For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.”
And incidentally, this is a joy that would permeate the life of Elizabeth’s child his whole life.
John 3:29-30 “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John’s entire life would be characterized by joy over the One coming after him.
And think about that.
Elizabeth is rejoicing over the child
That will be more important than her own.
Her you have an older woman, well past child bearing years.
• And finally God grants her request at an old age and allows her to become pregnant.
• You know Elizabeth was flying high.
And then, here comes this 13 year old girl who has a similar story to yours, but in reality she one ups you in every way.
• God sent an angel to announce the birth of your child, well, God did the same for her.
• God said your child would be great in the sight of men, but God just said her child would be great period.
• God said your child would bring a nation to repentance, but her child is going to bring a nation to salvation.
• Your child will be filled with the Holy Spirit, but her child will be the Son of God Most High
• Your child will drink no wine or liquor and will be Holy to the Lord, but her child will be the Lord, actually called the Holy Child
Do you see how Elizabeth might have felt “one upped”?
• Do you see how she might have been bitter?
• Could it seem like Mary was stealing the limelight a little bit?
Well, you’d never know that from Elizabeth,
She is genuinely excited for Mary.
She is overjoyed that Mary will have the child
Who will become greater than her own.
Now that is being an encourager.
There is no bitterness there, there is no sorrow there
She is giving Mary every reason in the world
To be happy about what God has chosen to do through her.
On Wednesday nights we are studying with the youth
What it means to live for Jesus.
And to do that we are looking at those commands of Romans 12.
Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”
And at first look, that might seem easy.
But what if a person is rejoicing at your expense?
I asked Zek about when Lockney would high five and rejoice after beating his team in baseball?
• Could you rejoice with them?
• Could you be happy for them?
I asked some of the girls about when another girl gets cheerleader and they don’t.
• Can you rejoice for that girl?
That is really what Elizabeth is up against here.
She is carrying the child who is born to play second fiddle to Mary’s child.
But that doesn’t stop Elizabeth from rejoicing.
What an encouragement that must have been to Mary.
NO PEER PRESSURE TO STOP
And then Elizabeth gives her one more word of encouragement
4) SHE ENCOURAGES MARY’S CONTINUED FAITH (45)
(45) “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”
Now here “blessed” is a different word.
This is not EULOGIA, this is MAKARIOS which simply means “happy”
Elizabeth is not praising Mary here,
Elizabeth is exhorting her to continue.
She already praised her for so willingly consenting to the Lord’s plan,
Now Elizabeth is encouraging her that
True happiness is found in continuing to trust God.
Isn’t that great?
And what a blueprint for what it means to be an encourager.
I can’t get over the enormity of the role that Elizabeth played in Mary’s life.
Here was a young girl and although willing
She had to be scared out of her mind.
What a blessing that when she finally did tell someone,
It was someone like Elizabeth!
• Someone who was proud of her faith…
• Someone who could see that this was a good thing…
• Someone who genuinely rejoiced at the event…
• Someone who encouraged her to stay the course…
I want you to know it takes a lot of humility and grace and perspective to be that type of person.
• Anyone can point out the negative.
• Anyone can give all the reasons trusting God will be hard.
• Anyone can be a discouragement.
In fact, most of the time we don’t even need any help for that.
Wouldn’t you imagine Mary had already thought of all the reason why this was a bad idea?
Well, thank God for Elizabeth who encouraged Mary
At a very pivotal time in her life!
And again, the difference it made to Mary is obvious.
In verse 38 Mary is willing, but in verse 46 Mary is excited!
“And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name.”
Now is that true?
Had God done great things for her?
Absolutely He had!
But if Mary’s perspective had been different
She might have seen what God had chosen to do as a burden.
It’s not far-fetched to think that a 13 year old girl
Might respond with a “Why me God?”
But Elizabeth has encouraged Mary’s faith.
And I just think it’s important you see that.
I think it was important to Luke that you see that.
It’s not surprising to us why Elizabeth was the type of person God used.
• She was humble…
• She was joyful…
• She trusted God…
• She encouraged others to do the same…
Can I remind you that God’s people NEED this type of encouragement?
Hebrews 10:24-25 “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
The world provides plenty of people
Who will encourage our flesh and discourage our faith.
The church must be a voice of true encouragement.
The writer of Hebrews told us to “consider how to” do it.
Well, I can tell you how.
• When you encounter someone who has made a decision to trust God in some area of their life, reinforce that decision with praise.
• And when they tell you exactly what they are going to do, leave the negativity at home. Help them see how good it’s going to be, not how hard it’s going to be.
• Then rejoice with them, and even that you get to have a role in it through your encouragement.
• And finally help them to see that as good as their initial step of faith was, it is nothing compared to how happy they will be when their faith becomes sight.
Remind them just how “worth it” it will be.
That is how Elizabeth encouraged a 13 year old girl who really needed it.
And that encouragement inspired one of the greatest doxologies of praise recorded in the Scripture and we’ll look at it next time.
