Word of Encouragement (12/21/2020)
Good morning! This week, we will do Christmas-themed devotions. There are three “Christmas Songs” in the New Testament: The Magnificat (Mary’s song), the Benedictus (Zechariah’s song), and the Nunc Dimmitis (Simeon’s song). We will start with the Magnificat.
Luke 1:46-55
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.”
Mary sang this song after Elizabeth, her cousin who was pregnant with John the Baptist, greeted her as “the mother of my Lord.” This song is called the Magnificat because the first word of her song in Latin is “Magnificat,” which means “magnifies.” This song is about the reasons for which she magnifies the Lord.
The first set of reasons are personal: God granting her an amazing favor on a humble maid like Mary (vv. 48-49). The next set is more general: God showing mercy to those who are afflicted (vv. 50-55). The two share similar expressions:
God had regard for Mary in her humble state (v. 48a); God has exalted the humble (v. 52b);
God had regard for Mary, God’s servant (48b); God has given help to Israel His servant (54a);
All generations will count Mary blessed (48b); God’s mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him (50a);
God the Mighty One has done great things for Mary (49); God has done mighty deeds with His arm in scattering the proud (51).
They share a common theme: God’s redemption is described in terms of reversal. God raises the humble and scatters the proud. Mary understands herself as a prime example of God’s redeeming work. Why these reversals? God is showing the gracious character of the kingdom of heaven as opposed to the meritorious character of this world, in which the strong and elite dominate.
This redemptive reversal is based on the greatest Reversal, the true wonder of all wonders. If the proud are scattered, the rulers are brought low, and the rich are dispossessed but the humble are exalted and the hungry are fed, it is because the glorious Son of God humbled Himself and became man on that very first Christmas. The sovereign Lord of heaven and earth was born as a helpless Child in a humble manger. And this mighty God, who was born as a helpless Child, wrapped in swaddling cloths, would again be helplessly wrapped in a linen cloth in His death. He would allow His mighty hands to be nailed to the cross and His side to be pierced with a spear, His divine head to be crowned with thorns, His mouth, the Fount of living waters, to be parched with the fiery heat of hell.
The humble are those who recognize their unworthiness and sinfulness before God and their desperate need of a merciful Savior. When we look to Christ in faith as their Savior, God exalts us as His beloved children and gives us the right to enjoy the untold riches of His infinite and unbreakable love. Do you feel down and out? Do not blame God and despair. You are exactly where you need to be to receive God’s grace for the humble and lowly. Look to Christ and have Him bring about a marvelous reversal in your life. But if you are proud, prostrate yourself before God and ask for His mercy to draw you near to Him in humility: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:10). Have a blessed day!