Songs of the Incarnation: Christmas Songs You May Not Know Pt. 1 - The Magnificat

I want to share with you a Christmas series on the “Songs of the Incarnation: Christmas songs you might not know.” In it, we are going to look at four Christmas Songs from the Gospel of Luke.

1. The Magnificat of Mary - Luke 1:46-55
2. The Benedictus of Zechariah - Luke 67-79
3. The Nunc Dimittis of Simeon - Luke 2:28-35
4. The Gloria in Altissimus of the Angelic Host - Luke 2:10-14 

Each of these “Christmas songs” gives us unique insight into the Incarnation and what it really means to us. The incarnation speaks of God the Son, becoming a man (John 1:1,14; Phil. 2:5-8) so that He (Jesus), might humble himself and die for our sins (1 Pet. 3:18).

What I love about each of these “Christmas songs” is that they glorify God in a way that most songs do not. The first song of the incarnation that I am sharing with you is called “The Magnificat.” The Magnificat comes from the lips of none other than Mary herself.

Now before we look at The Magnificat itself we need to set the stage for her great Christmas song by establishing some background and setting the context from Luke 1:26-45. This young woman had recently experienced an amazing event. An Angel had appeared to her and told her that she, a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, had found favor with God.

 

The angel tells her that she was going to be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and was going to conceive a child who would be the “Son of the Highest” and would sit on the “throne of David” and reign over the “house of Jacob” forever. The angel also tells her that her cousin Elizabeth was with child (John the Baptist) which was in itself a miracle (cf. Luke 1:5-25).

We take up Mary’s story after the Angelic appearance, where she is led to go to her Cousin Elizabeth’s to visit (v.39). Mary’s haste was indicative of her excitement and obedient attitude. The trip was about 80 miles and probably took three days. During that time she had a chance to ponder what had happened to her. Finally she arrives and is able to greet Elizabeth (v.40-45).

There was a strong human joy in the meeting of these two expectant mothers. One, a virgin in the flower of her youth, the other, formerly barren her bloom long passed, yet now both were blessed with child. They had become soul sisters in the divine plan of Salvation. Nowhere is this clearer than in the greeting recorded for us by Luke (an account probably coming from Mary herself).

There is also a solidarity recorded for us between the lives that existed in the wombs of these two women. Verse 41 says “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” The sense here is that before Elizabeth herself could return the greeting, the child in her womb leaped for Joy. Why did the preborn John respond this way? For two reasons. First, he was a prophet of the coming Messiah and this was his first prophecy (cf. Luke 1:13-17). Three months before his birth he had already begun his ministry as the forerunner. Second, he was even then, filled with the Spirit and this was a spiritual expression of Joy and delight (cf. Luke 1:15; John 3:29). Even now as a babe in the womb, John recognized that the incarnation of God was now here. He was in the presence of the Lord!

Now as John lept in his mother’s womb, Elizabeth herself underwent an elevation of soul as she was filled with the Spirit and saluted Mary with a threefold blessing. Verse 42 says “and she cried out with a loud voice” is a New Testament phrase used to describe an expression of inspired utterance or pronouncement.

The first blessing, inspired pronouncement is “Blessed are you among women” (v.42a).

Mary is blessed because of the child she is to bear...The Son of God...the Messiah!

While she is no doubt an honorable Godly woman, she is to be well spoken of primarily because of what she gets to do not because of who she is. A Jewish Mother’s greatness was largely determined by the children that she bore.

The second blessing, inspired pronouncement is in verses 42b-44, “and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” 43 And how has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.

The focus here is of course on the Child in her womb. This child would be Elizabeth’s Lord - He would be great...called the Son of the Highest (Most High - El Elyon). There should be no doubt here that already both Mary and Elizabeth recognized who Jesus was i.e. the long awaited Messiah.   

The third blessing, inspired pronouncement is in verse 45, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”

The word “blessed” here is not eulogemenos of verse 42 (to speak well of), but rather it is markaria, the same word that Jesus used in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12).

It speaks of joy and contentment. Why is Mary blessed? Because of her faith! Mary exercised faith in God. She believed God’s promises and because of that she was joyful and content.

Mary truly was a remarkable young woman and here the Holy Spirit is celebrating her faith! As we examine Mary’s faith we can see why she was commended for it. Faith is more than mental assent. Real faith involves assent, plus trust, plus submission, plus obedience. Mary intellectually believed that what the angel Gabriel told her was going to happen, would happen. She mentally assented to the fact that the virgin birth was possible and that it would happen. Mary then placed her trust in God trusting that He would fulfill His Word to her. She then submitted herself to God. Finally, she immediately obeyed and went up to see Elizabeth! Oh, that we would be characterized by that kind of faith!

Now let’s look at The Magnificat, the Song of Mary!

THE SONG OF MARY - v.46-55

This song of Mary reveals that she understood deep theological truths and it also reveals that she knew her Old Testament scriptures, because the Magnificat is a brilliantly woven tapestry of scripture with specific parallels to the Song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and various Psalms. In Fact, every line of the Magnificat has a parallel somewhere in the Old Testament.

Predictably, because of its greatness and beauty, some critics have cast doubts on attributing the Magnificat to Mary. Critics say that it is too theological, too deep, too poetic, too structured and too packed with Old Testament allusions for it to have come from the lips of this young peasant girl. They theorize that Luke must have made it up by putting together Old Testament passages or that He borrowed from early Church hymns to put it together.

However, Mary’s critics fail to acknowledge that every young Jewish girl would have known by heart the songs of Hannah and Deborah and the Psalms of David and even sang them at Feasts throughout the year. So Mary’s mind would have been full of Scriptures and sacred phraseology from what she had heard at Synagogue and at Home. Therefore, when the Holy Spirit came upon her, He took what she had and wove it into this hallowed song of the Incarnation. The Magnificat stands as a poignant divine/human composition of the greatest magnitude.

The title of the Song comes from the Latin translation of the first words of the song (v.46)…“Magnificat anima mea Dominum” or “My soul exalts [magnifies] the Lord. “ Literally, her words could be translated..... “My soul makes great the Lord” or “My soul enlarges the Lord”. Now we know that we cannot make God any bigger, but He can be enlarged in our own lives, in our own souls. We can magnify/enlarge God by taking into our thinking some new aspect of His greatness.

For example: Scripture teaches that God is Creator...Redeemer...and Sovereign Judge. As we truly meditate on these aspects of God’s character and being, our thoughts regarding Him are enlarged or magnified. Think about how Mary’s thoughts of God had recently been enlarged! As she contemplates all that has happened she begins to think bigger and grandeur thoughts and her soul enlarges the Lord and her mouth pours out greater thoughts than ever before. Sadly, too many of us are not increasing in our knowledge of God, therefore we cannot truly magnify him in our souls.

 

As Kent Hughes says: “The fuller our knowledge of His greatness, the greater our ability to enlarge Him”.

It is only laziness that keeps us from enlarging our thoughts of Him. That is why when we come to worship we have nothing to offer. We have not been reading His Word, we have not been thinking about Him, we have not been exposing ourselves to His will.

I want you to notice something else...Mary says, “And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” This whole passage is a full of joy! Elizabeth is rejoicing, Mary is rejoicing, even baby John is rejoicing. Why? Their thoughts of God have been enlarged!

Let’s be frank my friends our worship is so joyless, not because of the externals, but because we have not opened ourselves up to enlarge God in our lives. In fact, all the fuss over the externals has done nothing but take our focus off of God. We are so worried that something is or isn’t done a certain way that we never get around to thinking about Him. I am not suggesting that we should ever be flippant or irreverent. But I am suggesting that we forget about those things and instead come ready to allow our encounter with God to so enlarge our thoughts of Him that we cannot help but respond as Mary did.

When was the last time you came to Church and were able to say in response to the worship: “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior?” Please don’t tell me that you cannot worship because of style or preference. Style of worship is not our problem. Our problem is that we are not growing in the knowledge and experience of God. I can tell who has been growing in their knowledge and experience of God by the joy they express in their lives.

Let God be enlarged in your life, learn and grow, expand your knowledge of Him and see His greatness. AND REJOICE!

Now, the rest of the Magnificat contains the reasons for Mary’s magnification of the Lord. It consists of two stanzas and in each stanza Mary shares why she has enlarged or magnified the Lord.

Stanza #1 - Personal Reasons for Magnifying the Lord - v.48-50

Here Mary gives two personal reasons for magnifying the Lord.

The first reason is because God took note of her - v.48

“For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;

For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.

There is a wonderful concept here that we cannot miss. Mary is pointing us to God’s grace. It was in her “humble state” that God regarded or took note of her, He was mindful of her, looked on her with favor.

 

The phrase “humble state” points us to her condition. Socially and spiritually she was in desperate need. Mary was a poor nobody from a non-place. She lived in a land controlled by a foreign government. They were burdened by a legalistic system of worship that could not ultimately remove their burden of sin, and neither she nor her people could bring about their deliverance.

And what did He do for her? He blessed her, lifted her up and honored her with the birth of the Messiah! The one who could truly bring deliverance (Luke 4:18-19)!

That is grace my friends! God’s unmerited favor. Certainly she had reason to magnify the Lord!

The second reason that Mary magnified the Lord is because God revealed Himself to her - v.49-50

49 “For the Mighty One has done great things for me;

And holy is His name.”

50 “And His mercy is upon generation after generation

Toward those who fear Him.”

Through her experience with God she was able to grow in her appreciation of three specific attributes of God. His power, His holiness, and His mercy.

His Power - v.49a

What are the great things? The angelic appearance, being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit - etc. (cf. Luke 1:35, 37). God does the impossible. He causes the virgin and barren wombs to conceive. He changes hearts and minds. He raises the dead and so on.

His Holiness - v.49b

His holiness is revealed in His Son who is the Holy One. His holiness is also revealed in His righteous acts of justice where He keeps His covenantal promises to the humble and lowly.

His Mercy - v.50

Mercy characterizes God’s dealings with His people. It is His positive behavior toward an underserving people. God in His grace gives us what we do not deserve. God in His mercy does not give us what we do deserve. Mercy is an important characteristic, especially when God’s Power and Holiness are stressed!

Stanza #2 - Prophetic Reasons for Magnifying the Lord - v.51-53

51 “He has done mighty deeds with His arm;

He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.

52 “He has brought down rulers from their thrones,”

And has exalted those who were humble.”

53 “He has filled the hungry with good things;

And sent away the rich empty-handed.”

The phrase “he has” could be translated “he will.” Here Mary is speaking in the prophetic perfect tense (aorist). The prophetic perfect speaks of events that have not yet happened with a certainty that they will happen in the future. In other words, God’s future works is so sure to happen that it is presented as if it already has. In reality, Mary is predicting the things her son will do in His ministry to come.

Mary saw her son turning everything upside down.

• He has/will show strength with His mighty arm
• He has/will scatter the proud
• He has/will put down the mighty and exalt the lowly
• He has/will fill the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty

His work is presented in a series of moral-social-spiritual reversals.

Both James and Peter quote Proverbs 3:34 which capsulizes the Gospel “God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.” God’s grace works contrary to the thoughts and ways of this world’s system. In God’s system the weak dethrone the mighty, the humble scatter the proud, the nobodies are exalted, the hungry are filled and the rich end up poor.

Mary closes her song with a praise to God as she looks forward to God’s fulfillment of His covenantal promises to Israel. Notice again it is couched in mercy!

54“He has given help to Israel His servant,

In remembrance of His mercy,

55 As He spoke to our fathers,

To Abraham and his descendants forever.”

God was on Israel’s side. He would remember His mercy and keep His promises, and He would do it through the child in Mary’s womb!

In this great Christmas song of praise Mary serves for us as an example of how to magnify the Lord. She also serves as an example of God’s care and grace for His own. Finally, she serves as an example of real faith. Mary heard from God, and she believed, as evidenced by her assent, trust, submission and obedience.