Mary's Magnificat

Luke 1: 46-56 (The Magnificat)

When the angel Gabriel told the young Virgin Mary that she was going to have a child who would be the Son of God and reign over the house of Jacob forever, she said, "How can this be?"

He answered her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her so that the child's conception would be divine.

And then He gave Mary the added confirmation that nothing is impossible with God by telling her that her relative Elizabeth who was old and barren was also pregnant. Mary then went with haste into the hill country, to the city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby, that is, John the Baptist, leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed,

"Blessed are tho among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord!"

That's all the confirmation Mary needed. She clearly sees a most remarkable thing about God: He is about to change the course of all human history; the most important three decades in all of time are about to begin.

And where is God?

Occupying himself with two obscure, humble women—one old and barren, one young and virginal.

And Mary is so moved by this vision of God, the lover of the lowly, that she breaks out in song—a song that has come to be known as the Magnificat.

Mary and Elizabeth are wonderful heroines in Luke's account. He loves the faith of these women. The thing that impresses him most is the lowliness and cheerful humility of Elizabeth and Mary.

Elizabeth says (1:43): "And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me?" And Mary says in delight (1:48): "For He has looked favorable upon His lowly servant." The only people whose soul can truly magnify the Lord are people like Elizabeth and Mary—people who acknowledge their lowly estate and are overwhelmed by the love of God.

Let's take a moment and look briefly at what she actually said in her praise to God.  In the Magnificat Mary makes the general statement that God's name is holy. That is, God's nature, His essence is holiness. He is completely free from sin, and his ways are not our ways. He is separate from and exalted above all creation. All his attributes are perfect, and they all cohere in a perfect harmony called holiness. But what Mary stresses is the way this holiness expresses itself. Her words grant us deep insight are a warning to us not to make the common mistake that because God is great, he is partial to great men, or because God is exalted, he favors what is exalted among men. Just the opposite is the case. God's holiness has expressed itself and will express itself by exalting the lowly and abasing the proud and mighty.

What fills Mary's heart with joy is that God loves to help the underdog, those in need, those who call upon his mercy.

She mentions this three times:

• "He has mercy on those who fear Him";
•  "He has lifted up the lowly";
• "He has filled the hungry with good things."

That's one side of God's holiness.

The other side is that God opposes and abases the proud and mighty. Mary mentions this three times also:

•   "He has scattered the proud in their conceit"
•  "He has cast down the mighty from their thrones";
•  "The rich He has sent away empty."

It is clear from Mary's words that God is not partial to the rich, the powerful, or the proud. How could God be partial to the things which in our world are, more often than not, substitutes for God rather than pointers to God?

Mary also simply sees in her own experience an example of the way God is. He responds to Mary's lowliness and does a great thing for her: he makes her the mother of God! It is such a singular and unimaginable blessing that all generations from that time on have acknowledged Mary's blessedness.

And finally, Mary's soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. 

But, how does a soul do such a thing?

I pondered this question for some time. Eventually I began to realize that as God’s grace allows us to slowly comprehend who He actually is, the magnitude and magnificence of who He is, who God actually is, and then realizing how precious and loved we are by him, we can’t help but be infused with such overwhelming Joy, Appreciation, Humility, and Love, that our soul and spirit bursts in response and reflects and radiates that love, His love, out and into the world.

Isn’t that our Magnifcat as well?

He has and continues to do great things for us, and holy is his name. He has remembered His promise of mercy, the promise He made to our fathers, to Abraham, and to His children forever. He is our Savior, and the Savior of the world. Knowing this, all of this, our souls also burst in Love, and love we can’t help but proclaim to the world.