As we approach Christmas, it’s likely that you’ve seen or
heard some reference to Mary’s song of praise (the “Magnificat”) in Luke
1:46-55. In her book Jesus Through the
Eyes of Women, Rebecca McLaughlin notes similarities between Mary’s words
and Hannah’s praise in 1 Samuel 2. She notes,
“Looking at Jesus through the ancient telescope of
Hannah’s and Mary’s eyes, we see the one who turns the tables on all human
power, the one who lifts the humble and humbles the mighty, the one who is the
Savior of his people, showing mercy even as he shows his strength.”
One thing I noted in reading through the Magnificat is how little
of Mary’s praise is for her own personal blessing of being the mother of the
Messiah. While it is true that Mary’s role was unique and that she was blessed
in that way, it’s also true that every believer is blessed through our adoption
into God’s family through Jesus’s birth, life, death, and resurrection. When
Jesus began His ministry, some of His first recorded words are proclamation of
blessings—the Beatitudes in Matthew 5—for the poor in spirit, meek, hungry for
righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, and persecuted. In fact,
there are several parallels between the Magnificat and the Beatitudes. Mary
quotes from many Old Testament passages in saying that God has shown mercy to
the meek, scattered the proud, exalted the humble, and filled the hungry.
In Ephesians 1:3 we’re reminded that God “has blessed us in
Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” In a recent
sermon from Immanuel Nashville, Barnabas Piper notes that Mary wasn’t chosen because she was spectacularly different
from other people, and neither are we. God “chose us before the foundation of
the world” (Eph. 1:4), not for anything we have done but by His own grace and
mercy. Our blessed status is entirely dependent on Jesus’s righteousness, not
our own. “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we
might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). And Jesus’s righteousness
never changes. We can trust in His promised blessings forever. We can join Mary
in saying, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my
Savior, for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from
now on all generations will call me blessed.”
During this Christmas season, rather than elevating Mary
beyond measure, let’s give our praise to God, who elevates all believers beyond
anything we could ever ask, imagine, or deserve. As Amy Orr-Ewing notes in an interview in Christianity Today, “It’s encouraging to
know that, whatever our qualifications or status, we can have this deep
theological conviction in the reality that Jesus is Lord of all.”
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His
benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who
redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy”
(Psalm 103:2-4).
© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture
are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do
not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.