Read Luke 1:46-55
Today’s text is Mary’s hymn of praise to God upon her realization that she had been chosen to bear the Christ child. Mary’s beautiful hymn is called the Magnificat, Latin for “glorifies.” What is it that made Mary’s very soul glorify God? Mary extols God’s attributes. But why? Was she overwhelmed with the abstract qualities of God? Did Mary have a penchant for philosophical theology? Or was there something more? The question really is, what makes one appreciate God? Is it merely a scholarly understanding of God’s attributes or is it something more?
Our text says that Mary’s soul “magnified” the Lord. Literally, it says that she “enlarged God” for his mercy and might. That does not mean that she made God bigger, but rather God became bigger in her realization. Why? Because she first saw her needs so clearly and then recognized how his attributes of mercy, coupled with might, would meet them all. She was the first to see the most concrete expression in history of those characteristics. They would be most clearly expressed in Jesus. She appreciated his mercy because it meant that she could be saved by the one who was the embodiment of mercy. And she appreciated his might because it meant that God in Christ had enough power to save.
What makes us magnify God is our first recognizing our problems and then how his attributes solve them. Information about his attributes is given not for abstract theology, but for confidence in our redemption. We must enlarge God with our worship this Christmas, realizing afresh how his mercy and might abound to meet our need for redemption.
Merciful (vv. 46-48, 50, 53-55)
The characteristic that Mary praises most energetically is the mercy of God. Notice that by means of Hebrew parallelism (or hendiadys), she says her “soul” and “spirit” combine to praise the Lord. In other words, she gives her total self to praise for God’s mercy. She did so because she had a vivid understanding of what it meant not to receive what she deserved. Our appreciation of God’s mercy begins with brokenness over our sin. In fact, the depth of our Christian walk is directly proportional to the depth of our own realization of our sin. What makes us appreciate God’s mercy toward us in Christ was its cost and humiliation. You will never worship as you ought, nor extend mercy to others, until you have been broken and personally experienced the visitation of God’s mercy. And if you have been broken on the wheel of life, you must not think you are disqualified from ministry. Instead, like Mary, you are in now in position to be of blessing to the world.
Mighty (vv. 49-53)
God’s might makes God’s mercy the more appreciable, because we realize that God could have used his might to annihilate us in our sin. But because God is merciful, his might only reinforces our redemption, because it assures us of the power that has secured and maintains our salvation.
That power was demonstrated through the death of Christ, which accomplishes salvation for those who look to him. That is the mystery of the cross, that God would express his power through such an act of weakness. And it is that cross, that foolishness of God which is wiser than men, that weakness of God which is stronger than men, that either exalts the humble or humbles the proud.