First Song of Christmas - Magnificat
Luke 1:46-55
What songs do you find yourself singing or humming this time of year? Why is Christmas music so appealing and magnetic? Because God created us to enjoy music. We are “wired” for music. Plus, music teaches us theology.
“Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise. The gift of language combined with the gift of song was given to man that he should proclaim the Word of God through Music.” - Martin Luther
There are four songs in the Gospel writer Luke’s record of Jesus’ birth. They all have cool-sounding Latin names, but those names aren’t titles; they’re just the first word or words of the songs in Latin. Over the next four weeks, I am setting aside my posts on the “Seven Frames of Formation” to consider these songs and their implications for our spiritual formation. I am indebted to my son, Pastor Sean Cole, who gave me the idea as he is preaching on one song each Sunday of Advent.
Let’s begin by looking at the world when the Christ-child entered humanity. It was a world of turmoil, poverty, desperation, and darkness—not unlike our world today. Darkness has always been the enemy of God. John, the Gospel writer, tells us that Jesus is the light that “…shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it” (John 1:4-5 NLT). In a dark world, the Israelites waited for a Messiah, a Savior.
The word “advent” simply means “coming,” and regarding Christmas, the celebration of Jesus coming as a child—“the word became flesh” (John 1:14). But for those in Luke’s Gospel, it was a time of waiting. They were waiting for the Messiah to come. He did come—not as they expected, but as God incarnate—“the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 CSB). Today, there is another advent of our Lord that we are waiting for—the second, or last, Advent. He will be returning to “set everything right.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer explains the connection between the two Advents.
The Advent season is a season of waiting, but our whole life is an Advent season, that is, a season of waiting for the last Advent, for the time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
We live between the two Advents of our Lord. We look back at His birth and wait for Him to come again. As we wait for His second coming, let us rejoice in His first coming with songs—the songs in Luke’s Gospel.
The Magnificat - Mary’s Song
In Luke 1:26-38 we have the record of the angel Gabriel coming to Mary with the announcement that she would give birth to a son, whom she will name Jesus. Gabriel tells her, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end" (Luke 1:32-33 CSB).
Mary was confused since she was still a virgin. But with great maturity and faith, she realizes that she is indeed blessed by the Lord to have such a great thing happen and responds, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true" ( Luke 1:38 NLT).
Then Mary takes a trip to the countryside to visit her relative, Elizabeth, who also had a miraculous conception - she became pregnant when she was physically beyond child-bearing age. When Mary shares with Elizabeth what has happened to her, Elizabeth tells Mary how God has blessed her above all women. Mary then breaks out into song - what we know in Latin as The Magnificat.
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and his name is holy. His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him. He has done a mighty deed with his arm; he has scattered the proud because of the thoughts of their hearts; he has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he spoke to our ancestors” (Luke 1:46-55 CSB).
What can we learn from Mary's magnificent hymn to apply to our lives today? First, we learn that she is a very mature young lady—both emotionally and spiritually. She was probably only in her mid-teens. At that time, most young women were engaged (betrothed) by 14 or 15 and married by 16 or 17. Plus, in becoming pregnant, she would have been branded as unfaithful to Joseph and considered an immoral woman. She could have, should have been totally freaked out and gone into a deep depression. But she did not. I believe that her emotional maturity resulted from her deep spiritual maturity. As we shall see, her song of praise contains some profound insights. What are they? I'm glad you asked. Mary’s song shows us four words that should permeate our worship, especially during Advent, as we rejoice in the birth of our Savior. The first two words should be our response to the second two.
Praise —Mary’s first words are, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” She recognized that praise should be our first response to God’s involvement in our lives. He has shown us favor by becoming a human and dwelling among us, then eventually dying on the cross for us. He is a transcendent, holy God who loves us enough to plunge himself into human history in what we call the incarnation. He did that not because of anything deserving on our part. He did it out of his love and grace. When we think of the child in the manager, our first response should be joyous praise.
Humility—not only was Mary humble—“he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant,” she sees how the birth of Jesus should bring humility to all mankind. “He has scattered the proud” and “has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly.” A chief root of sin is pride. We think we are better, more important, more deserving than we are. We were created by the Supreme Creator of everything there is. We do not deserve anything! When that truth really sinks in, we can only fall on our knees in humility before the Ruler of the Universe.
Mercy—Twice in her song, Mary mentions mercy—“His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him, and he has remembered “his mercy to Abraham and his descendants forever.” Mercy is basically not receiving what we deserve. Because of our sin, we deserve eternal separation from a righteous, loving, and holy God. Think about that for a minute. Everything good, beautiful, true, and right exists in the presence of God. If God’s presence is not there, the result is the absolute opposite of good, beauty, truth, and right. I don’t want to live in that kind of world now or my life after this life. But God doesn’t give us what we deserve. He has extended to us mercy. He loves us with an incomprehensible love, wants what is best for us, and shows us unlimited mercy.
Blessing—The Advent season is a time to slow down, pause our day-to-day lives, and reflect upon how God has truly blessed us. Mary said, “…from now on all generations will call me blessed, because the Mighty One has done great things for me.” While becoming a pregnant out-of-wedlock teen, Mary had the privilege of giving birth to the Saviour of the Word. Yet, looking back from the cross, it was not an easy road for her. She had to go on the run to Egypt because of King Herod (Matthew 2:13-18); she was told by her son that she was really not his mother (Mark 3:31-35); she stood at the foot of the cross and watched Jesus die (John 19:25-27). Yet, she was blessed because God chose her to be the mother of his Son. We will never be chosen by God for the blessing that Mary had as Jesus’ mother. However, God has chosen us for blessing—in ways that we can easily miss because we are focusing on the difficulties in our lives instead of his blessings. Like Mary, Christmas time should be when we reflect on how “the Mighty One has done great things for me.”
Mary’s song shows us that through the birth of Jesus, God has shown us mercy and blessed us beyond our imagination. Our response should be humility and praise. During all our Christmas activities this Advent season, let us slow down and reflect upon all God has given us. Then, we will praise our wonderful Savior and bow before Him with humble hearts.
Next week, we will look at Zechariah’s Song, the Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79).