The Gospel of Luke. It's Luke and the title of the series is Kingdom Come. We're making our way through. We're still at the very end of Luke chapter 1. So you can turn with me now if you're following along. We love it if you bring your own Bibles. You can follow along in them. Luke is at the beginning of the New Testament. It's one of the Gospels there. That's where you'd find it. If you didn't bring a Bible, it'll be on the screen. The text will be up there. We'd love for you just to read and to follow along so you can hear God's Word spoken, but you can also read it. And as we say that now, let's turn our hearts to God's Word. We're gonna look at verses 39 to 56 this morning from Luke chapter 1.
So hear God's holy and authoritative Word. In those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound 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. And Mary said, 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, for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy. 'As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.' And Mary remained with her about 3 months and returned to her home. The word of the Lord. May He write its truth upon our hearts.
Well, when I say the word family, when you think of that concept of family, What comes to mind? What are the things that you think of when you hear of that? When I hear family, I think of people I love and I care most about, right? It's your family that are supposed to be the people that have your back through thick and thin, regardless of circumstances. Your family will be there for you. I grew up with a big family. We had lots of cousins, and so holidays were just a It was utter chaos, but it was fun. It was a huge household. And so my thought of family includes aunts and uncles and cousins and these people that you grew up with and you love dearly. Family is also, right, family is meant to be one of the safest relational contexts that we can imagine. Family is this place where it's safe to let your guard down. It's safe to reach out to those people and to know that they're going to love you back unconditionally. That's what I think of when I think of family.
Well, this week in the news, there were a lot of articles about a family. A lot of articles about a very public family, a wealthy family. It's a family that's caught in total turmoil. A billionaire family. These people have more money than they know what to do with. They own a really public company, really public organization, and that family and that organization that they are tied to is in the midst of a very public, tragic intra-family feud in front of the watching world. It's awkward to see. The patriarch of the family, this 87-year-old billionaire sent out a letter. He sent the letter to his daughter and to all of his grandchildren and to the media. And in that letter, he informed his family and the watching world that they would no longer have any say whatsoever in the family business. They would give no orders. These— his daughter and these grandchildren who had played prominent roles, they would be pushed to the side. They would be not only not in charge of things and in leadership positions, they would be completely out of the business altogether. And in place of them, he was rewriting his will, he said, his third wife would now control everything. He went on to say in the letter, and I quote, my descendants will still be well taken care of as they always have been. Ouch. You can read between the lines there, can't you? You can translate that. Listen, you spoiled little brats. I'm giving control of this organization over to someone else, but you'll still have your silver spoon, so quit complaining. It's an ugly, ugly public dispute. And as we would expect in our society, what was the first response of the daughter and the grandchildren? Go to grandpa, go to your father, and please let's be reconciled. No, it was, let's get a lawyer. They got a lawyer and they filed to have him found mentally incompetent, to have the will wiped away. It's incredibly sad. The media is swarming over this ugly fight. I mean, they smell blood in the water, right? This is headline stuff. I have no idea who's right and who's wrong. It's probably shared. There's probably dysfunction and plenty of it to go around on all parties. I don't want us to spend our energy this morning deciphering that either. But I think it is a powerful illustration. It illustrates for us just how fragile relationships can be, even within the family, doesn't it? How even familial relationships, this place where things are supposed to be safe and sacred and unconditional love is supposed to reign, become torn and fractured.
That leads us to the first thing I want us to look at this morning, and that's Elizabeth's example in our text.
It would be so easy for Elizabeth at this point in Luke's narrative to be filled with jealousy for Mary. As I was reading, I was just— I was struck by the fact that her instincts are so contrary to how we usually see people operate. Think of what's happened to Elizabeth right now, right? She's been longing her whole life to be pregnant, longing her whole life to have a baby. And it's, it's finally happened. She's not just pregnant, she's miraculously pregnant. No doubt her neighbors and the people in the village, they've heard about the angel that came to her husband. She's not just pregnant, she's carrying one who's going to be a prophet of the Lord, who's going to be great before the Lord. It's the greatest months of her life.
6 · Uses parenting competition scenarios to show how easily pride and jealousy arise even over trivial achievements, making Elizabeth's response all the more remarkable
Moms can be proud of their kids, can't they? And I'm not just picking on moms. Dads can do the same thing, right? And we can be proud about the silliest things. Oh, my child is so advanced. He stopped pooping his pants at 2 and a half years old, and it was weeks before all the other neighbor kids. Wow. That is, I mean, I don't know if there's ever been another child who's figured out potty training. That's amazing. But we can find pride in that, can't we? When our kids hit those little milestones, we puff up. They got there before Susie did. Yes. We can find even insignificant things to proudly celebrate. Sometimes the things that parents celebrate are legitimate. Little Johnny is reading first grade books at the age of 5. He's really picked up reading and mom and dad are proud and they're excited. And then little Susie's mom, in hearing the news, responds, "That's so great! Susie can read too!" And all of a sudden, little Johnny's mom's face is crestfallen. 'Cause Susie's 4. Susie's better than Johnny. That little comment can stir up jealousy in another mother's heart. Even if Susie's mom is just trying to celebrate with Johnny's mom. That's awesome! Susie's reading too! What? You've seen it happen. Our hearts have incredible propensity to turn innocent comments into personal slights.
7 · Narrates the moment of Mary's arrival showing how Elizabeth's expected celebration is immediately interrupted by the revelation that Mary's child is the Messiah
And it can get especially ugly in families. You want to see a place where rivalry can get especially tense? So here's Elizabeth. She's on cloud nine. Mary is coming to visit. She's probably just stoked with excitement. I get to tell Mary the incredible news. Listen to what's happened to me, Mary. Mary literally walks in the door and greets her, and before Elizabeth can get a word in, the baby leaps in her womb. She can't even begin to tell Mary what's happened to her, and her baby leaps. And then she's filled with the Spirit. Luke's saying she's filled with the Spirit and she knows in that moment, immediately she's aware the baby in Mary's womb, her young teenage cousin, That baby is more significant than her baby.
8 · Makes the theological claim that gospel transformation produces selfless celebration in believers even when others' blessings overshadow their own
But Elizabeth is an example of selfless celebration. And this is what the gospel does. It motivates people to celebrate the successes of others, even when it steals the spotlight, even when it diminishes their own accomplishments.
9 · Defends Elizabeth's response against the objection that Spirit-filling made it easy, showing that even with minimal revelation she chose joyful celebration over begrudging obedience
Now, we can chafe against the example we're seeing here. We can find excuses. Well, of course Elizabeth responded like that. She's filled with the Spirit, right? That's why she responded. When I don't respond like that, it's because I'm not filled with the Spirit in this incredible moment. The Old Testament is full of examples, isn't it, of prophets filled with the Spirit, given revelation from God to give to the people. Who then begrudgingly go and give that message? "Blessed are you among women, Mary. Blessed is the fruit of your womb." She could respond like Jonah. She could be gritting her teeth as she relays the message. But that's not Elizabeth. She doesn't even totally know what's going on. All she knows in this moment of revelation, the only amount of the revelation that she has, is that her child will be a prophet and Mary's child is the Messiah. She doesn't know that Jesus is going to blow apart categories. She doesn't realize yet that as a Messiah, he's not just going to be a political Messiah. He's not just going to be a military deliverer. He's not just going to be the King that's an heir of David. She doesn't realize yet that it's the Lord incarnate. She's got the faintest glimpse of what the good news, the Gospel, is about, and she's overjoyed. She exclaims with a loud cry. She's bursting with excitement. Blessed are you, Mary! Blessed is the fruit of your womb! Blessed is the precious baby you're carrying! Why have I been given the privilege The mother of the Messiah is in my house. It's astoundingly selfless celebration. There's not even a hint of jealousy.
10 · Asserts that even partial understanding of the gospel has relational transforming power
The good news of the Messiah, even in this nascent form that Elizabeth has it, informs and transforms relationships.
11 · Applies Elizabeth's example to concrete scenarios: pastors hearing of other churches' growth, believers learning of others' promotions or scholarships, calling for genuine celebration instead of jealousy
So as a pastor informed by the gospel, Elizabeth's example should compel me to rejoice when I hear about the successes of another faithful pastor, when I hear about another local, not far off, local in the same neighborhood, the same town, gospel-loving church that's experiencing unusual growth and fruit is happening and the gospel is is taking hold of a people, as a pastor, I should respond like Elizabeth. Blessed is that church! Even though my heart might be tempted to— why isn't our church experiencing that? It means when a brother in Christ gets a promotion at work, a promotion maybe we wanted as well, The Gospel informs how we react to the news. When we hear that a teen in the church or a cousin in the family has gotten a great scholarship to a school as we're in the midst of trying to figure out, can we even send our kid to school? Can we even begin to afford this? The Gospel informs how we can uniquely reflect the Spirit's influence. Not responding with jealousy or begrudged congrats, but legitimate joyful excitement.
12 · Makes the claim that Elizabeth's gospel-shaped response deepens rather than fractures her relationship with Mary, modeling what gospel community should pursue
Elizabeth's response to Mary's great blessing. Here's what's happening. In the way that Elizabeth responds, in the way that the Spirit fills her and she willingly follows the Spirit's lead, It ensures that their relationship from that point on won't have a wedge driven between it because of jealousy, but that it will go deeper. They're going to get to share in each other's joys. It's what the gospel means to do. It's what a gospel-centered people, a community driving itself forward with the gospel in front of it, is meant to pursue. Celebrating each other's joys, rejoicing in each other's joys, praising God when others do well. It's Mary's example of selfless celebration.
13 · Introduces Mary's Magnificat by contextualizing her youth, her relationship with Elizabeth, and the temptation to hear Elizabeth's blessing as making her a big deal, setting up the contrast with her actual God-glorifying response
We also see an example— so that's Elizabeth's— we also see an example from Mary. With Mary, we see God glorifying humility. Now this section probably has in your Bible, if you get little section headings, it'll say it's Mary's song, maybe, or maybe it says it's the Magnificat, right? It's a famous section, the Magnificat. It's Mary's response of inspired, Holy Spirit-driven praise for everything that's happened thus far. Because what happened when she came to Elizabeth's house is the Lord gave her a sign. She'd been promised, "You're going to bear the Messiah." She's already pregnant, right? And she gets to Elizabeth's house And suddenly Elizabeth and the child within her are filled with the Spirit, and it's a sign to Mary that the Lord is doing what He promised. And Mary's response to all of this and everything else that's been happening continues to be this amazing expression of maturity. Remember, she's 13 years old. She's entering the household not of her other teenage friend to tell the news, but of Elizabeth, her older, venerated relative, the wife of the priest. She enters the household and her older relative, who she probably just respects beyond— I mean, there's a reason she's going to Elizabeth, right? I'm pregnant, I need to go, I need to tell someone. I need to kind of be somewhere for a while to get my head wrapped around this news, and I need somewhere safe to be while I'm with child. I'll go to Elizabeth, that godly woman who can care for me and disciple me in the midst of this. She walks in the door and Elizabeth turns to her and says, "You are blessed among all the women of the world." Here's what Mary could have heard: "Mary, you are a huge deal!" That's how some people read the passage. The primary point of the Magnificat is Mary is a huge deal. What's happening to Mary is a huge deal. Mary in this point is meant to be an example to us, but not because Mary is so awesome.
14 · Uses personal high school experience to show the natural teenage propensity for self-aggrandizement, highlighting how countercultural Mary's humility is
I think of how I would have responded as a teenager to hearing something akin to this. Not that I was pregnant with the Messiah, mind you. But I can think back to even being in high school, so older than Mary is, and you got your letter jacket and just like the way you walk around the halls with your letter jacket, right? You do it. High school kids do it. I remember like on game days for football, what do you do on Fridays? You wear your jersey to school. You walk around the school with your jersey on. "Look at me. I'm a big deal." That's how you operate when you're a teenager. You think you are God's gift to everything. I thought I was. And then I remember graduating from college and like going back to my hometown and going to some sort of high school event randomly and like seeing the teenagers and like, "They're so little." But when you're that age, it's like, I have arrived!
15 · Extends the illustration to adult life showing how praise can seduce us into pride and make us vulnerable when affirmation stops, preparing for the contrast with Mary's response
A lot of adults act that way, don't they? That's how a lot of us can be tempted to respond to words of affirmation. We get praised by the boss in front of our coworkers. Yeah, that's right. Keep it coming, baby. Keep it coming. Oh, don't stop. I'm sure they have nothing better to do. Let them listen to this. You win an academic award. Maybe it's a competition. Maybe someone praises you for serving in the church. And temptation crouches at the door. It whispers in your ear, "Yeah, you deserve the praise. You are better." 'You should be getting special treatment.' And when we allow ourselves to be seduced by praise, we also become vulnerable when the praise ends. 'Why isn't anyone thanking me for everything I'm doing for this company?' 'My boss hasn't gathered everyone around for a month to tell them how amazing I am.' Don't people see how sacrificially I'm serving? We know the propensity of our hearts to respond that way, don't we?
16 · Expounds Mary's Magnificat by contrasting her magnifying the Lord with the Pharisees magnifying their own religiosity, showing that despite the greater significance of what's happening to her, she glorifies God alone
And look again at Mary, 13-year-old Mary. And Mary said in response to being told, you are blessed, the fruit of your womb, the Messiah is blessed, you are blessed among all women. My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. Who am I? Behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed because I'm a big deal. No, for he 'Who is mighty, has done great things for me, and holy is His name.' To magnify something, that word where we get Magnificat, it means to extol something, to boast in it, to hold something in high esteem and to proclaim its worth to everyone within earshot. That word, that same word, it doesn't get used all that often in the New Testament. One of the places it gets used is in another gospel, and it's a striking contrast to what we see here. In Matthew 23, Jesus describes the scribes and the Pharisees, and He talks about the phylacteries that they wear. It's these little boxes they put scriptures in as they pray, literally interpreting scripture, bind God's word to your head and to your heart. Jesus says the Scribes and the Pharisees, their phylacteries, they're broad. Look how big it is. I have lots of Scripture in here. And He says, "Their fringes are long." Literally, they magnify their fringes. Now those fringes, go back to Deuteronomy and Numbers, covenant men in Israel, covenant-keeping men, righteous men in Israel are called to wear special garments with special fringes that come off the sleeve. And they're dyed a special color of blue. And it's meant to show that these are Israelites. Israelites who are keeping covenant with the Lord. Jesus says, look at the scribes and the Pharisees. They make the phylacteries huge and their fringes are something they boast in. Look how long they are. Look how glorious they are. You see what's happening there. The religious leaders boast. They exalt. They magnify. Their own religiosity. Look how blessed I am! It's like the guy who carries around the biggest Bible, not because he wants God's Word at his hand anytime he can turn to it, but it's like, you see the thickness of this Bible? Surely it compares to the holiness of my soul. He like walks into a room and doesn't just gently set it down on the side, it's like Boom! That's my Bible. It's the ESV Study Bible. It's extra thick. And you see all the stuff? I've got stuff inside of it, like all these devotionals. I magnify my Bible. You see how we can do that? This is what Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 23. They, these scribes and Pharisees, these people who magnify and exalt in their religiosity. They love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues. They love greetings in the marketplace. They love being called Rabbi by others. Yes, tell me I'm a big deal. What's happening to Mary is a bigger deal than anything these rabbis have ever done spiritually. And I hate to burst your bubble, but it's a bigger thing, it's a bigger deal than anything any of us will ever accomplish in this room. Maybe one of our kids is going to become president. Whoop-de-doo compared to Mary. Think of the comparison. But she doesn't strut through the marketplace with her first-century letter jacket. Her head doesn't get so big that she can't even fit in Elizabeth's kitchen anymore. No, Mary's soul, Luke is saying, Mary's soul, the very depths of her being, magnifies the Lord, extols and boasts in the Lord. She's no expert in the law, but she's carrying the one who is the end the telos of the law. And yet her instinct isn't to puff up her chest. Her instinct is to raise her eyes and to look to heaven and to praise the breathtaking grace of the Lord, to fall on her knees and be just stunned that God would show this mercy to her, to a nobody, a humble servant. He who is mighty has done a great thing. Holy is His name. It's all completely Godward.
17 · Applies Mary's example by calling the congregation to imitate her God-glorifying response in both success and trial, and to stop in devotional moments to praise God for His electing grace
And do you feel Mary drawing you into praise with her? She wants you to rejoice with her. That's the claim of this text as we consider it. The claim of this passage upon our hearts, the intended redemptive effect, what it's meant to do to your heart, it is meant to make you adjust how you think of successes. It's meant to make you look at Mary and consider, I want to worship when I have success. I want to worship when I have trials. I want to magnify the Lord in every condition and state of my life. I want to do what Mary's doing, and as Mary's doing it, as I'm reading this in the text, I want to stop right here in my devotions and I want to praise the Lord. That's what it's meant to do in our hearts. How often was the last time you just stopped and you sat before the Lord and you considered how astonishing His grace was to you? Lord, why? Why did you show me favor? Why did you set your electing love on me? I know my heart. I know my failings. I know my weaknesses. I know my besetting sins. Your mercy is great, Lord. You are greatly to be praised. Psalm 34:2: My soul makes its boast in the Lord. Let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. So Mary wants us to do.
18 · Pivots from the examples of Elizabeth and Mary to the theological content of Mary's Magnificat about the nature of God's kingdom
The final point, the final thing we see in this section isn't just the example of two women and the way they point us Godward in their reaction to the gospel and the evangel, the good news. It's the revelation Mary has about the nature of this kingdom that is coming. What kind of kingdom is it?
19 · Asserts that the Magnificat reveals the unexpected, upside-down nature of the Messiah's kingdom—characterized by mercy for the humble and retribution against the proud
It's an upside-down kingdom. It's an unexpected kingdom. Mary turns from praising God for what He's done for her, and she begins to praise God for all that He's about to do for His covenant people. And what she describes, what God is going to do, it's the first hints that Luke gives us of a theme he's going to carry through the gospel. The Messiah is coming. The Messiah has arrived. The Messiah is here to establish His kingdom. That kingdom and this Messiah are different than we expect. That's what Mary is showing us. That's what Luke wants us to see. It's going to be a reign, Luke says, marked by mercy. Mercy from God for the God-fearer. And it's going to be a kingdom marked by retribution against the independently powerful.
20 · Expounds how Jesus' kingdom operates opposite to human power structures, exerting divine omnipotence on behalf of the weak through covenant mercy rather than political maneuvering
We like the first part, don't we? It's an anomaly, this kingdom, this Messiah. It's not about someone coming into power and then securing power around them with backroom deals. Like somebody gets elected to office in Washington. You know, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. That's not really how it goes. You get to Washington and it's like, "I gotta start wheeling and dealing, baby. I want to get on the right committees. I want to work my way up the chain. I want to be influencing the major power people. I want to be sitting on what's happening with the defense. I want to be controlling the purse strings. If I'm going to do that, I gotta make sure I know the right people, pull the right people in around me." Jesus' kingdom reverses fortunes. Jesus' kingdom sets the scales right. Mary's filled with a vision of God's actions on behalf of the weak and the destitute. There's this power, "Your mighty right arm." This Old Testament Hebrew idiom for the strength of God. His glorious omnipotence, this sense of the angel armies and the hosts of heaven behind the strength of the Lord. Your power is exerted because you are merciful. And this idea of mercy is the Old Testament idea of mercy. Because you are merciful, you are loyal, Lord. You are filled with faithful hesed love to your covenant people.
21 · Establishes Mary's complete lack of social status or privilege, making her a representative figure for the humble whom the Messiah came to save
Mary has no illusions about her standing. She's humble, she's statusless, she's a servant. She's not the daughter of Abiathar, right? Chapter 1, we read about Abiathar. He's the high priest. She's not Abiathar's daughter. She's not Herod's daughter. Shoot, Mary's not even the daughter of a wealthy merchant. We know nothing about her parents, presumably because there's nothing to know about them. She grows up in a backwater town, and now she goes to visit Elizabeth in some backwater town in Judah. That's who Mary is. But in this way, she's a perfect representative of those who the Messiah has come to deliver.
22 · Makes the central soteriological claim that entrance into God's kingdom requires faith-filled humility and fear of God, not status or privilege
God extends mighty mercy to who? Who does the text say? To anyone who acknowledges and fears him. The only position that matters in the Kingdom of God is a posture of faith-filled humility before the Lord. Luke wants us to grasp that. It's not just— the point of this text is not just that humble Mary is going to be blessed. Yes, humble Mary is blessed even in the carrying of the Messiah. Humble Mary will be considered blessed by generations to follow. Mary will have special honors in heaven for what happens to her in this text. But Luke's point isn't just that she's blessed and exalted in the kingdom. He's prompting us to imitate Mary, to see God in His power, holiness, and His mercy, and to fear Him. To put your faith in Him so that in His kingdom you can be raised up.
23 · Establishes the warning side of the kingdom message—that wealth, status, and security-seeking are false refuges that the world seductively promotes
And that encouragement comes with a warning. Luke has a grave concern for people who have an overzealous attachment to their possessions and their wealth and their position and privilege. In the present age, those are the sort of things that seem wise, stuff you pursue, you set your hope in them so you can find security. The world seduces us with the myth that security is possible and it's even probably available for purchase. You can buy your way into a safer neighborhood, you can purchase better protective stuff for your home. As long as you have good enough connections, maybe this is where you're putting your hope, as long as you have a terminal degree from a really good school, then you'll be safe, you'll be secure, you can thrive in this world.
24 · Uses extreme security measures in wealthy South African neighborhoods to illustrate how wealth creates an illusory sense of security and invincibility
South Africa is a striking example of this. The wealthy— it's a country that's a strange place. When they had the World Cup there a few years ago, there was all this concerns about people's health and their safety because it's a dangerous place to be. There's a lot of lawlessness that goes on in South Africa. So what do the wealthy do? Well, they go to great lengths to ensure their security. They trick out their cars, not with like ground effects like we do. Like our ground effects is like somebody tricks out their car and it's like, "Ooh, these cool lights," and whatever it might be. In South Africa, you trick out your cars and you know what ground effects are? It's a blowtorch that at the push of a button, if you're standing at a stoplight and someone comes to hijack your car and kidnap you, you push it and you toast them like a marshmallow and you drive off. I'm not kidding. That's what they do. That's how they defend themselves. It's a dangerous place. Rich people get kidnapped and held ransom. You don't just buy yourself a good house in a good neighborhood, you make sure it's a gated community. And in that gated community, you make sure your house in the gated community has a really high gate and a really high wall on top of which shattered glass is put into the concrete. So even if someone tries to scale this really high wall, they're going to get sliced up. You're going to pay for trying to get into my house and violate my security, baby. Until recently, there was a judicial system totally prejudiced to protect the privileged. But it's all an illusion.
25 · Makes the theological distinction that wealth itself doesn't exclude from the kingdom, but pride in wealth and the false security it creates does by numbing people to their dependence on God
The danger of these things Luke is starting to hint for us is that if we aren't careful, they deceive people of power and wealth and privilege into a false sense of invincibility. Can a powerful person get into the kingdom of heaven? Yes. Can a wealthy person? Yes. Joseph of Arimathea is a wealthy man. He's got a spare tomb. Those aren't cheap. But can someone who's independently wealthy, independently powerful, proud of the way they're out of the reach of others, enter the kingdom of God? You see, in this invincibility, we can become numb to our need for God, numb to our dependence on him.
26 · Uses a middle school social hierarchy analogy to make the kingdom reversal concrete—the socially elevated are brought low while the humble are exalted
What Luke is saying is the kingdom that the Messiah inaugurates, what Mary is rejoicing in, is essentially— here's kind of a crude illustration of it— it's like the reversal of the middle school years. The person who's elevated in the kingdom isn't the mean girl with the most stylish clothes and the big posse of friends doing whatever she wants. That's not who's elevated in the kingdom. It's the quiet, sweet, introverted 13-year-old who will prosper. Your shoes aren't in style, your clothes don't match— that matters in middle school. It doesn't matter in the kingdom. You're hungry, you're weak, you're destitute, you're powerless? The evangel, the good news of the gospel, Christ has come for such as these. And he's going to take on all of that weakness. God is seen as a great deliverer in this passage. He hasn't arrived for the popular and the successful and the arrogantly wealthy and the power-hungry. The Messiah has come for the humble and the hungry, the meek and the meager.
27 · Asserts that Mary models moving God's abstract attributes into concrete life situations, making divine power and mercy real for those in suffering and weakness
Mary models for us what it looks like to take God's attributes out of the theoretical. He's holy, he's mighty, He's merciful to take them out of this abstract place and to move them into everyday life situations. The Mighty One has done great things for me. Even in the midst of being a pregnant, unwed mother, I'm okay. I rest secure. God's omnipotence, moving from the idea of Him being one who can do anything to God being willing and able to uphold a mother who's just lost a child. Mercy isn't just a nice concept in this passage. It's the realization that, that God and the Messiah in his kingdom deal tenderly and patiently with a man crying out for help in the throes of depression, in the the second month of depression, the third year of depression, the fifth bout with depression. You are merciful to the humble. You, in your power, extend your faithful, loyal, hesed love to those who fear you.
28 · Highlights the timing of the Magnificat to show that Mary praises God before seeing the fulfillment of His promises, in the midst of uncertainty and potential rejection
Notice how Mary When she does this, notice when this happens. If someone asked you, if there's a quiz, right? You have those little Bible quizzes. Do you know your Bible? Can you name the 12 disciples? Can you know? It's like those are the questions they get asked. Can you name the tribes of Israel? When does the Magnificat happen? Not like chapter verse, like when in Mary's life does it happen? When does she utter these words? Wouldn't you think if you didn't look that the Magnificat happens when? After the birth of Jesus? He hasn't been born yet. Think of Mary's example in that. She hasn't given birth. There's still all sorts of unanswered questions. Up to this point, she doesn't know how Joseph's going to react. I'm kind of going to Elizabeth to kind of have a safe place to bunker down and figure out how is the Lord going to secure me through this. I might get disowned by everyone. That's where this poem, this song of glorifying the Lord and rejoicing in His redemptive work, that's where it happens. It happens for Mary before it's fully come to pass for her in her life.
29 · Emphasizes that Mary's faith came before any confirming events (shepherds, magi), based only on God's word and the sign at Elizabeth's house, defining true blessedness as believing God's promises before seeing their fulfillment
It's before the shepherds recount the angel's message because we need reminders from the Lord. It's before she gets that reminder from the shepherds. It's before the Magi travel hundreds of miles to come and worship this newborn King that they've heard about because they looked at the stars. The heavens declaring the glory of the Lord, a star coming and pointing. It's before that happens. And she is settled. The Lord has spoken. And not only has He spoken, He's given her a sign. The baby in Elizabeth's womb has leaped for joy. So she is convinced the Lord will protect her and the Lord will deliver his people once and finally. And so we read verse 45: Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. Not blessed because at the end of it all she saw, yep, the Lord was true. Blessed because before she saw the end of it all, she heard from the Lord and said, "Yep, the Lord is true."
30 · Applies Mary's pattern to believers who have experienced the Holy Spirit but await Christ's return, calling them to trust God's promises in the midst of suffering and partial fulfillment
We have an opportunity similar to Mary's. Jesus the Messiah has come, but He hasn't returned. We've experienced a miraculous sign beyond the miraculous sign Mary experienced. Every believer in this room has been filled and indwelt with the Holy Spirit. You've been filled and indwelt with the Spirit of the risen Christ. Mary's carrying a baby, but it's a different person. You've been united to the risen Christ in all of His glory. You've sensed that and you've experienced it, and yet It's a fallen world. It's a world around us where there's difficulty and there's hardship and you're still waiting for redemption. Even though you're filled with the Spirit, you still have to battle in the Spirit against those besetting sins you have to put off, right? We know what it is to be where Mary's at. We've been promised something from the Lord. We've experienced the beginning of that promise's fulfillment, but not its finality. It's easy to lapse back into unbelief. When we suffer or when we're trapped in difficulty. You're tempted to think maybe God doesn't want what's best. Maybe living for His kingdom isn't worth this kind of hardship. Maybe I'll never experience victory over this debilitating pattern of sin. But it's right here in the space of a promise made and still only partially fulfilled that we can follow Mary's example, that we can look back at God the promise keeper so we can look forward in faith to everything he will do, that we can believe with all our hearts that everything God has promised to us in Christ will be fulfilled. Because blessed is everyone who believes that there will be a fulfillment of what was spoken to them in the Lord and in his word.
31 · Asserts that Mary's response pattern is the intended model for all Christians in their relationship with God and His promises
Mary is meant to be a forerunner of every Christian's response, a response to the Messiah and to God's commitment to fulfill his promises.
32 · Applies the sermon's central promise by calling the congregation to identify their specific need for assurance and to trust that all God's promises in Christ will be fulfilled
Think of where you are at right now and that place in your life where you just need assurance that God is going to move, assurance that God is going to stand with you, assurance that you won't be abandoned, assurance that God's power won't leave you, assurance that he will sustain you until the end. We have assurance, just like Mary. Every one of God's promises to us, every single one, in this Messiah, in Jesus, will come true.
33 · Closing prayer asking God to awaken hearts to truth, guard the congregation's response from mere emotionalism, and work through the Spirit to produce Mary-like magnifying of God and trust in His promises
Would you bow your heads? Lord, awake our hearts and souls to the truth of your word. As we respond in song, don't let it be 5 minutes, Father, of our emotions being titillated. God, let it be 5 minutes of your spirit stirring us in assurance and propelling us into the days and weeks ahead. Lord, we want to magnify your name in the way that Mary did. We want to rest unshakably secure in Your Word and the faithfulness that You have to Your promises. Do that through the great gift of Your Spirit to Your people for the glory of the name of Jesus. Amen.