46 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.” (Lk. 1:46-55 ESV)
Problem
These words from Mary are a song called the “Magnificat.” The word “Magnificat” comes from the first word in the song in the Latin Vulgate translation. It is a song from Mary in response to what she’s heard from the angel Gabriel and from her cousin Elizabeth about the son Jesus whom she is to bear.
I want to talk about three themes which the song touches on.
First, Mary sings about the “humble estate” she finds herself in and which others may find themselves in:
“for he has looked up on the humble estateof his servant”
“he has…exalted those of humble estate.”(Lk. 1:48, 52 ESV)
The phrase “humble estate” means low condition, lowliness, weakness, humble status. It describes someone living in a condition where they have very little–little power, little goods, little respect, little influence. Proverbs uses the phrase “humble estate” to talk about people who are poor (Prov. 16:19). Psalms uses it to talk about people who have been crushed or afflicted, often by others, having their resources or well-being taken away by others (Ps. 30:8; 71:45; 118:50; etc.).
Mary–because she is young, because she is a woman, probably because she is poor, and because she is pregnant out of wedlock–is living in a humble estate. Soon, she’ll be homeless, fleeing for her life across the desert as a local ruler named Herod has his soldiers chase after her and Joseph and their son Jesus. A humble estate.
With this phrase “humble estate,” Mary’s singing about the world’s “problem.” The world, Mary sings, is filled with people who are hungry, poor, and coming up short. And the problem is that the people in power, the people who can do something about it, are proud and prosperous. They don’t care about those in humble estates. They use their power for their own purposes. They don’t use their wealth to benefit others. Mary’s singing about the world’s problem.
And, as a quick aside, the significant thing about this is that God’s already picked a side. He’s sided with those of humble estate. God’s running against those in positions of power, those with the resources and the influence. That means that there’s an awful lot of people who assume God’s with them who are going to be wrong. It means we ought to consider which side we’re on.
Thus, the Magnificat is a social justice song. It is a political song.
But it’s also a pastoral song. Mary’s world is very similar to our world. It’s a world with a lot of problems. It’s a world we’d like to see get better. This is the bad news of this Christmas song. The world has a problem.
Mary’s song, at this point, is similar to the contemporary song “Grown Up Christmas List”:
So here’s my lifelong wish
My grown-up Christmas list
Not for myself
But for a world in need
No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list
Mary’s song acknowledges the problem of our world at Christmas. A problem Mary feels and sees in her world. The song reflects our own wish, and Mary’s wish, for things to get better. It’s not necessarily the most wonderful time of the year. It’s not all bright lights and packages and bows.
Power
But there’s good news. The bad news is about the world’s problem. The good news is about God’s power:
49 for he who is mightyhas done great things for me…
52 he has brought down the mightyfrom their thrones(Lk. 1:49, 52 ESV)
The word “mighty” is the word “dunamis” from which we get our word dynamite. It’s the word for power, strength, or might. There are people in the world who think they have power. But God, Mary sings, is the one who has real power.
Mary’s borrowed this word from the angel who appeared to her to tell her of Jesus’ birth. The angel described it in this way:
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the powerof the Most High will overshadow you(Lk. 1:35 ESV)
The word “power” is the same word translated “might” in the Magnificat. The angel came to tell Mary of God’s power. And Mary sings of God’s power.
Interestingly, just as Luke begins his gospel here in chapter 1 using this word “might” or “power” to describe God, so he closes his gospel in Luke 24 with the same word attached to Jesus:
Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mightyin deed and word before God and all the people(Lk. 24:19 ESV)
This word “mighty” is the same word used through Lk. 1. So, Luke’s gospel begins and ends with a description of Jesus, God or the Spirit being mighty or powerful. It’s one of the main themes of the Magnificat.
With this word, Mary’s singing of God’s power.The bad news of the Magnificat is the world’s problem. The good news is God’s power. God is powerful enough to make a difference. God is powerful enough to make the world a better place.
And God uses his power to send Jesus through Mary to do just that. The full force of God’s strength is coming now through his son Jesus. And through Jesus, Mary sings, the world is going to become a far better place. The proud will be scattered. The lofty will be torn down. The lowly will be lifted up. The hungry will be filled. All because of God’s power exerted through Jesus.
And that’s exactly what we see in the rest of the Gospel of Luke. Diseases are demolished, those who lingered all their life on the outside are welcomed inside, those who were hungry and homeless are filled up and tucked in. Power hungry politicians and religious leaders are called out. Humble and hidden servants are spotlighted and lifted high. The large part of the Magnificat is Mary singing about how God will use his power through Jesus to address the world’s problem and make the world a drastically better place.
John Ortberg summarizes the long-term impact of Jesus on our world’s problem. He says we can see Jesus’ power ripple across time in specific ways:[1]
- Children. In the ancient world children were routinely left to die of exposure. Jesus’ treatment of children led to the forbidding of such practices, as well as orphanages.
- Education. The ancient world loved education but tended to reserve it for the elite; the notion that every child bore God’s image helped fuel the move for universal literacy.
- Compassion. Jesus’ compassion for the poor and the sick led to institutions for lepers, the beginning of modern-day hospitals.
- Humility. The ancient world did not value humility. Jesus’ life as a foot-washing servant would eventually lead to the adoption of humility as a widely admired virtue.
- Forgiveness. In the ancient world, virtue meant rewarding your friends and punishing your enemies. An alternative idea came from Jesus: what is best in life is to love your enemies.
- Humanitarian Reform. Jesus’ inclusion of women led to a community to which women flocked in disproportionate numbers. Slaves—up to a third of ancient populations—might wander into a church fellowship and have a slave-owner wash their feet rather than beat them.
The Magnificat is about the desperate problem of the world, the awesome power of God, and how that power was exerted in the coming of his son Jesus, and how that son Jesus made this world a much better place.
Part
But where do we fit into this song? Do we have a role to play? Thankfully, part of this scene in the Christmas story reveals our part in all of this.
The angel describes how the Spirit of the Most High will “overshadow” Mary:
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the powerof the Most High will overshadowyou(Lk. 1:35 ESV)
This word “overshadow” in v. 35 is used in Ex. 40:35 of the cloud, symbolizing God, “settling on” or “overshadowing” the recently finished tabernacle and the glory of God filling that tabernacle. The tabernacle was an early version of the temple, a portable temple which the Israelites used as the traveled across the wilderness. In Exodus 40, the cloud, symbolizing God, overshadowed that tabernacle, settled on it, and filled it with God’s presence.
Using the very same language, in exactly the same way, the Spirit of the Most High would settle on/ overshadow Mary and fill her, bringing about the conception of Jesus within her. This Spirit would be the power of the Most High. It was by this power of the Spirit that Jesus first came through Mary and made the world a far better place.
And this language hints at our part in the Christmas story, at our part in making the world a better place. Through the same Spirit that brought Jesus, we too have a part.
Paul will later write this:
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16 ESV)
Just as the cloud settled on/ overshadowed the tabernacle, the early version of the temple, and God’s glory filled it, so the Spirit overshadowed and filled Mary, and so the Spirit dwells in us, who are also God’s temple. This is how God applies his divine power today so that we can partner with him in making the world a better place. The same Spirit who filled Mary and brought Jesus to transform Mary’s world now fills us and brings Jesus yet again through us to transform our world.
This is why, repeatedly, Paul prays that we, the church, would experience the power and presence of the Spirit in greater and greater ways:
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirityou may abound in hope.(Rom. 15:13 ESV)
16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelationin the knowledge of him(Eph. 1:16-17 ESV)
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father…16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to bestrengthened with power through his Spiritin your inner being (Eph. 3:14-16 ESV)
The Spirit was how God was mighty with Mary, overshadowed her, and caused Jesus to be born in her and live in the world through her, changing the world in radical ways. The Spirit is how God is mighty with us, overshadowing us, causing Jesus to be born within us and changing us and the world in radical ways.
This is why at Christmas we sing these lines:
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin, and enter in,
be born in us today.
This prayer is answered as the Spirit fills us and brings Jesus into the world through us.
The Christmas story, and the very first Christmas song, is about a world filled with problems. It’s about a God who used his Spirit of power to send his son to earth as a baby in order to do something about all those problems. But the song and the story doesn’t end there. That same Spirit of power has been given to you so that you might be given to the world, just as Jesus was given to the world. Jesus was not the only gift given at the first Christmas. We, each, are intended as gifts to be given to the world, empowered by the mighty Spirit, in God’s ongoing quest to make this world a better place for all.
When the Williams family moved into their home in Wales they got to know their neighbor Ken who was in his eighties. When the William’s daughter Cadi was born, Ken became a grandfather figure for her, even bringing Christmas presents by each Christmas.[2]Soon, however, he became ill. When Cadi was two, Ken died. Ken’s daughter dropped by the William’s home soon after the death. She had something for Cadi from Ken. Actually, it was a lot of something. Before he died, knowing the end was coming, Ken has picked out 14 gifts for Cadi and wrapped each one. One gift for each of her next 14 Christmases. They would take her all the way to her 16th Christmas.
Ken was committed to seeing the Christmas story continue, even after his own death. That’s what Mary’s singing about. It’s a story that didn’t only involve her and her world. It’s a story that’s intended to involve us and our world.
Will you continue this song, this story, this week?
[1]https://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-ortberg/six-surprising-ways-jesus_b_1773225.html
[2]https://www.washingtonpost.com/resizer/X4MscK7tP3sfdptKmyhstHzkBKc=/742×0/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/AFWAVMAOH5BCFFSVXT4BFAXWRQ.JPG
