One of the interesting things about Luke’s gospel is the stories he chooses to include. He doesn’t begin the way John does and doesn’t have some of the emphases that Matthew does, but he begins with two pregnancies. We’ve read thus far the narrative of Elizabeth getting pregnant though she is old and barren and then the story of Mary’s conception though she is a virgin. These stories, I’ve argued show us much about the Christ, who he is and what he will do. But Luke doesn’t simply give us these two stories and then run off to “bigger and better” things. Rather, he stays a while, lingering in the lives of these two amazingly pregnant women – Elizabeth and Mary. In fact, our text this morning is an account of their meeting together after finding out they’re pregnant.
As Gabriel had visited Mary, he had told her news that would serve as a sign that what he had been saying would indeed occur. He told her that Elizabeth, the one called “barren” was in her sixth month of pregnancy. Therefore, it seems, right after the visit from Gabriel, bringing the good news to Mary, she runs off to meet up with Elizabeth. Luke writes that she “arose and went with haste into a hill country, to a town in Judah” where Elizabeth was. It was a visit she would not soon forget.
If Mary was hoping for confirmation, she found it as soon as she entered Elizabeth’s house. Luke tells us that she entered the house and greeted Elizabeth and when Elizabeth heard the greeting, the baby inside her womb leaped. Gabriel had told Zechariah that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit, ordained to carry out his task, even from the womb. This is proof of it. Just hearing Mary’s voice causes him to leap up, testifying to the fact that Mary was having the Christ child. But the Spirit doesn’t allow that leap from John to go without further testimony. Rather, Elizabeth is filled with the Spirit and begins to testify to Mary, saying, “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” (42-45).
The Spirit reveals to Elizabeth that the child Mary will have is the promised Messiah. She even calls Mary “the mother of my Lord.” She knows that’s why John has leaped within her. And she blesses Mary for believing the promise that was spoken to her. It’s as if Elizabeth was supplying the prophetic voice that John, still in her womb, was unable to provide.
This was all Mary needed to lead her into a song of praise. Thus, she begins to sing a praise unto the Lord, expressing that she magnifies him, rejoices in her, is humbled by him, and knows that he is faithful to his promises and will do all that he says her will do. Then the narrative ends with Luke writing, “And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home” (46), which sets up the birth of John the Baptist which we will look at next week.
This text, however, is not just a stepping stone. Luke doesn’t simply provide this story so that we might know how he’s getting from A to C. As he writes to Theophilus, wanting him to grow more certain concerning the things he has been taught, it appears Luke wants him to understand certain things about God and his ways. One of those that we won’t spend much time on since we have addressed it much in the last couple of weeks is that the child who will be born to Mary is indeed the promised Messiah. This is confirmed in John’s leaping and Elizabeth’s testimony. But there is much more here as well. For example, we are reminded from this text that God delights in showing grace to the humble.
One of the clearest details of this story is that Elizabeth and Mary are quite aware that they do not deserve God’s grace and have yet received it. As the Spirit fills Elizabeth, she first declares that Mary and the fruit of her womb are blessed, but then she immediately follows it by declaring, “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (43). It’s as if she is overwhelmed at the grace of God to allow her to be in the presence of one pregnant with the Christ child. Then, as Mary begins to sing, we find the same kind of humility and awe at God’s grace with her. She declares, “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” (47-49).
This is much more than yelling and jumping up and down from two women who shouldn’t be able to have children both sharing news that they are. This is a response of praise to God for showing them grace they didn’t deserve. And it’s obvious Mary is seeing the weight of what’s going on. She doesn’t simply thank God that he’s given her a baby. She thanks him for allowing her to conceive in her womb none other than the Messiah. That’s why she’s so confident that every generation from that point forward would call her blessed. And indeed we do today. What a blessing that one should have the Son of God growing in her womb, give birth to him, and raise him. She understands what’s going on here and she is overwhelmed at God’s grace to one such as her.
Now why would Luke include this? Why not move on past these women to the births of their sons? Why include the conversation between two women probably not heard by anyone else? And why give us a glimpse of their attitude of humility and sense of being overwhelmed at God’s grace? Is it just so that we might say, “Those really do seem to be two upstanding women?” In part, I’m sure. But I think it’s also to remind Theophilus and us that God delights in showing grace to those who are humble and undeserving. In fact, Mary moves her words of thanks to God for his grace to a statement of fact that affects us as she declares in verse 50, “And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” Mary knows that God has shown her great grace and mercy, but she also knows that God will show mercy to all those in all generations who fear him. And we know that God has lavished his grace on us.
After all, though it is true that none of us has been blessed in the same way that Elizabeth and Mary have been blessed, we have richly known and tasted God’s grace though we don’t deserve it. If we are believers we can say, “God has looked upon the rebellion of his creature and lavished upon me saving grace.” But why? It’s because God delights in showing grace to those who do not deserve it and who are lowly in spirit. That’s who God reveals to us that he is. That’s why Mary can confidently assert that God will show mercy to those who fear him in every generation. She knows that it is part of his character. Yes, there is much more to his character, but we can say with confidence that our God is one who delights in showing grace to the humble. So, no longer hold in your mind a picture of God reluctantly and begrudgingly bestowing grace upon you and doing you good, but realize that God is one who delights in doing that. And therefore love God more. How can we not when he has shown us his love so deeply?
Therefore, having mentioned the need to love God in response to his gracious character toward us, what else is to be our response to this God? Or, how do we show our love toward a God who delights in showing us grace? Elizabeth gives us the answer here. Zechariah was rebuked for not doing it in the first part of this chapter and Mary is blessed for doing it now. What is it? We are to believe God, trusting in his promises and care for us.
We respond to a God who delights in showing grace to the humble and undeserving by believing in his Word and trusting in his promises. Elizabeth is filled with the Spirit so that she might prophesy concerning Mary and the child in her womb, and interestingly the last words from her mouth to Mary in this blessing are, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (45). Mary is blessed for responding to the Lord’s gracious news to her with faith. That is a fitting response from people who have no goodness, strength, or wisdom to offer God. We simply believe and trust him.
Now, I can guarantee you that you will never be blessed in precisely the same way that Mary was blessed. I was holding my newborn son in my arms this week thinking to myself, “What would it have been like to hold your newborn child and know that he is the promised King who would live and reign forever, the one who is called Mighty God?” I’ll never know. You will never know. Mary knew what that was like. We will not walk her same path. However, just like Mary, we can respond to God by believing him and trusting him.
In fact, God does not give us stories like this in the Scripture, necessarily, so that we might emulate the exact actions of those who came before us. There are times when actions simply cannot be emulated. However, we can and are encouraged to imitate the faith of those who have come before us. So even today here we are in the midst of our perhaps difficult and confusing lives, and the charge before us is the same as that given to Mary. Simply obey God in what you know, and trust him. Believe his promises. Have faith that his Word is true. That should be our response. And then we are called to praise God for his blessings.
Something else we are encouraged to do is to praise God for his blessings. As one who delights in showing grace to us, God commands us to praise him for his blessings. Specifically we find this done in song. After Moses is able to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt, he sings a song of praise to the Lord. Deborah and Barak do the same thing after God gives them victory. And in our text this morning, Mary and Elizabeth do the same. This story, as we stop to think about it, is a story of praise to God between two women without anyone witnessing this but God. Luke highlights their praise for what has been promised. If you were reading this story for the first time you would be thinking, “Wow. What were these women thinking?” Luke tells us. They were thinking about how great their God is and praising him.
Mary declares in her song, the Magnificat, “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” (47-49). It’s easy for us to forget, but the expectation of Scripture is that those who receive grace from God praise him for his grace.
In fact, in the scene of Revelation 4-5 we read of all the heavenly creatures praising God for creation and then for redemption. R. C. Sproul points out that in heaven God will give us a new song to sing. So obviously God delights in those recipients of his grace praising him. We’ve seen it throughout the Psalms, and now we are reminded of it here again. Therefore, may we be faithful to trust God, believing his promises, and praising him for his blessings in our lives.
But to this point we’ve only looked at Elizabeth’s words and Mary’s song only through verse 50. As Mary continues in her song we are reminded that Jesus’ birth means that all of God’s promises are sure.
After having praised God for allowing her to be the mother of the Christ Mary continues, saying in verses 51-53, “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 empty away.”
Now with that we might say, “What’s going on here?” Has Mary begun praising God for this coming child and then lost track a bit so that she’s wondered off into praising God for everything she can think of, even things that have not yet happened? Interestingly there is another time in the Bible when a woman praises God in a similar way, and it is after she has a son. It is Hannah, after giving Samuel to the Lord she says, “My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in the LORD. My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. … He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed” (1 Samuel 2:1-2, 9-10).
If Mary has lost her mind, then we would have to conclude Hannah had as well. But that’s not what is going on. Hannah is praising God because he has been gracious in fulfilling his promise to her and so she reflects on the fact that he will fulfill all his promises, even judging the righteous and the wicked on that final day. She is declaring, “Even as God has fulfilled his promises to me, so he will continue to fulfill his promises.”
In Mary’s Magnificat, she is doing the same thing. She speaks of God judging those who are arrogant in their abilities and riches in this life and lifting up those who are humble and looking to God for help. She is speaking of God’s final judgment as if it is already happening. Why? It is because she knows that the coming of the Messiah means that all of God’s promises are sure. If God has done this, then he will surely continue his work of salvation.
This is a good reminder for us as well. As we are tempted to doubt that God is continually working things in our life for our good so that we are conformed to the image of Christ, we can remind ourselves that God sent his Son. That is the proof that he will do more. Paul reasons similarly, declaring in Romans that if God did not spare his own Son, then how would he not finish his work of salvation.
And finally in our text we are reminded that God will continue to show grace and mercy to his people because of his covenant promises.
For Mary this song began on a very personal note, but it ends focusing on God’s people as a whole. She knows that God has been gracious to her as an individual, and she knows that God has been gracious to all of his people. She declares, “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever” (54-55). Mary says that she knows that God is bringing this Messiah because he is faithful to the covenant promises he spoke to Abraham, David, and the others. God is faithful to his covenant promises.
That is, Mary is being blessed by God because God is faithful to his covenant promises. And this is true for all of God’s people. It’s easy for us to doubt that God would choose to be gracious to us continually. However, it is true. And it is true because he is faithful to his covenant promises. For Mary that meant that the Messiah would come. That’s what God would have to do to be faithful to his covenant promise. For us it means that God must continually forgive us our sins and use everything in our lives to make us more like his Son. This is not because we deserve it. We don’t deserve such blessings any more than Mary deserved hers. We are blessed because God has made a covenant that he sealed with the blood of his Son.
Therefore, this morning we’ve been reminded that God delights in showing grace to the humble, and now we conclude in seeing why. It is because his grace toward those in Christ demonstrates his faithfulness to his covenant promises. Therefore, trust God, believe God, and praise God for his grace in your life, and praise him that it doesn’t depend on your faithfulness but his.
What should be our response to a God who delights in showing grace to his people as a demonstration of his covenant faithfulness which has been guaranteed through the coming, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ? We should trust him, obey him, and praise him for such blessings. May we even do that now as we come to the table. Amen.