Luke 1:39-58

Luke 1:39-58
December 9, 2007

Remember the context. The angel Gabriel has already announced to Zacharias that he, Zacharias, and his wife Elizabeth (who was barren) were going to have a baby. Because of his unbelief Zacharias asked for a sign and Zacharias was given a sign… he would not be able to speak from that moment on until the baby was born. Lesson? Be careful what you ask for.

The angel Gabriel then went to Nazareth and announced to Mary that God has chosen her to be the mother of the Messiah… it would be a supernatural birth as the Holy Spirit and no human being was responsible for this. There are a lot of folks who struggle with this, but it really comes down to this… how big is your God? If God can make a dead womb come to life, He certainly can make a virgin’s womb come to life.

Luke 1:39-58: Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” 46 And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. 50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. 54 He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, 55 As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.” 56 And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house. 57 Now Elizabeth’s full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. 58 When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her.

When Gabriel departed from Mary, I believe Mary’s heart felt like it was going to explode for joy… yet this joy certainly had to be tempered with concern because back in those days it was a serious matter (a matter of shame) to have a child out of wedlock. Mary knew she would have to face a lot of questions from her family and the wagging tongues of her neighbors… not to mention Joseph. Can you just imagine the following conversation between Mary and Joseph, “Honey, I just found out I am pregnant, but don’t worry… God is responsible.”

We know that Mary was a godly young woman… a woman who certainly was not ignorant of the Law, so she probably had to wrestle with this passage of Scripture.

Deuteronomy 22:23-24: 23 If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor’s wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you.

Mary knew she had kept herself pure, but how was she going to get others to believe her story… after all, how many Virgin Births have their been before and after Mary’s? So with all these thoughts swirling through her mind, Mary went with great haste to see Zacharias and Elizabeth. Now think about that… the home of an ordained priest would have been the last place in the world Mary would have gone if she had anything to hide.

Luke 1:39-41: Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Greek word for babe is βρέφος and this term is used for both a baby who has been born and it is also used for a baby in the womb. This ought to settle the abortion issue once and for all for a believer. Just in case you want more evidence, however, let me give you another text that makes this clear.

Exodus 21:22,23: If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,

In spite of all the efforts of Planned Parenthood to convince us that baby in the womb is just a fetus, God calls that baby a life… so much so that under the Law if men get into a fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely and that baby dies, the man who hurt the pregnant woman was to die… a life for a life. Can you imagine being in the shoes of these abortionists when they stand before God at the Judgment Seat?

41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

Mary was blessed, but notice Mary was not blessed above women… she was blessed among women. The Catholic Church has elevated Mary to a position that is not just error, it is heresy… for they have elevated Mary to the position of Co-Redeemer.

Acts 4:8-12: Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

1 Timothy 2:3-6: For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,

In fact, listen to Mary’s own words:

46 And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

So much for the “immaculate conception” of Mary. Please understand we are not talking about the Virgin Birth of Christ now… we are talking about the Catholic Church’s teaching that Mary was born free from sin. In the Constitution of the Catholic Church Ineffabilis Deus of December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX pronounced and defined that the Blessed Virgin Mary “in the first instance of her conception,[not Jesus’ conception, but Mary’s] by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin.”
Here is another quote from the Catholic Church about Mary:

Mary was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin at the first moment of her animation, and sanctifying grace was given to her before sin could have taken effect in her soul. The formal active essence of original sin was not removed from her soul, as it is removed from others by baptism; it was excluded, it never was in her soul. Simultaneously with the exclusion of sin. The state of original sanctity, innocence, and justice, as opposed to original sin, was conferred upon her, by which gift every stain and fault, all depraved emotions, passions, and debilities, essentially pertaining to original sin, were excluded. But she was not made exempt from the temporal penalties of Adam — from sorrow, bodily infirmities, and death.

Mary’s song is commonly known as the Magnificat and we find it in verses 46-55. In part one (verses 46-50), Mary is reflecting on what it means to her to be chosen to be the mother of the Messiah. She is praising God for His great mercy to her personally. Her words are personal and her focus is an inward focus. In part two (verses 51-55) Mary’s focus turns outward and upward to God… she is praising God for what the coming of Christ is going to mean to the world. So let’s begin with part 1.

46 And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. 50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation

In verses 46-48 Mary is praising God because He has chosen her to be the mother of the Messiah, despite her lowly estate. Verse 48 is the key:

48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

The word lowly refers to Mary’s background, her economic condition, her lack of social standing… even her age. You see, Mary is astounded that God would choose her over all the other people available to bear the Messiah. “Why me, O Lord, when you could have had one of the rich/famous/educated/ refined/upper class/socialite girls from Jerusalem?” Mary is just a poor Jewish girl… one among thousands. In all of Israel there was no one less likely to be honored in this way was Mary’s way of thinking. Mary was overwhelmed by the thought that she has been chosen by God.

God chose a poor peasant girl when He could have chosen any girl He wanted to be the mother of the Messiah… and here we find a statement about the grace of God. I am also reminded of this passage:

Isaiah 55:8,9: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Mary can’t get over the fact that God had chosen her. If it had come to her by winning the lottery, she would have been grateful but the honor would not be the same. But it didn’t come to her by chance or by accident. Mary was not the last choice after everyone else said “no.” Mary was God’s first choice. No, we can state it even more strongly than that… Mary was God’s only choice. This is the thrust of part 1. Now for part 2.

51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly.
The coming of Christ signals the death knell for pride… for all human boasting. It guarantees that vanity and selfish ambition will ultimately never succeed. His coming means an end to insatiable greed and uncontrolled lust for power. The mighty will be brought down by the strong arm of the Lord.

Psalm 20:7: Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

Proverbs 21:31: The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord.

Luke 1:53 He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.

Not only does the coming of Christ uproot and undo the proud of this world, not only does Christ lift up the humble, but it actually means that the hungry are fed and the rich go away empty. I am reminded of a passage in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29: For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
Notice the text states that God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty.

When Pharaoh decided to exterminate the Jews by murdering each newborn baby boy, he had the might of Egypt (the world) behind him. The Hebrew slaves had no one (except God). In the providence of God Amram and Jochabed had a baby boy born to them… a baby boy who was scheduled to die by Pharaoh’s orders.
Exodus 2:1-6: And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. 2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him .5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. 6 And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

God used the weak things of this world, a baby’s tear, to thwart the king’s decree and to put into motion His plan to set His people free.

During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades.

Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed. As he waited, he prayed, “Lord, if it be Your will, please protect me. Whatever Your will though, I love You and trust You. Amen.”

After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, “Well, I guess the Lord isn’t going to help me out of this one.” Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave.

As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.

“Hah,” he thought… “What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor.”

As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while. “Lord, forgive me,” prayed the young man. “I had forgotten that in Thee a spider’s web is stronger than a brick wall.”

28and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,

The book of Judges is full of illustrations of this kind of thing… God used an ox-goad (3:31)… He used a nail (4:21), a pitcher and a trumpet (7:21), a millstone (9:53), and the jawbone of a donkey (15:16) to confound the things that are mighty.

He used David, a little shepherd boy with a sling and a stone to fell the mighty Goliath (1 Sam.17). He used a humble maid to teach haughty Naaman a powerful lesson (2 Kings 5). He used a dose of insomnia to humble the egocentric plans of Haman (Esther 6). He used a young virgin to bring His Son into the world as God manifest in the flesh (Luke 1).

The explanation as to why God uses the “nobodies” is very simple: 29that no flesh should glory in His presence.

God downsized Gideon’s army from 32,000 men to 300. Why?
So that no one in Israel could ever think for a minute that their soldiering skills gave them the victory.

God will never allow any man to boast in his flesh. Ask Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4). Ask Herod (Acts 12:20-24). Ask Peter, who boasted that even if all the other disciples would deny the Lord, he (Peter) would never do so.

30But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

The believer’s highest possession… his greatest claim to fame… is that he is in Christ. It is in Christ that we live and move and have our being… all we are and have is based on our being in Christ.

Because the unsaved man cannot see with his naked eye the riches we possess, the best he can come up with is, “I am glad that works for you.” He thinks we are crazy… it makes no sense to him.

A person who is born blind has no idea of what a sunrise or a sunset looks like, or a rainbow, or snow capped mountains, or the splendor of a bank of thunderclouds. We can try to describe with words the various shades of the colors of the spectrum, but he cannot begin to appreciate what we admire so much because of our ability to see.

Likewise, the unsaved man is blind to the glories of our risen Lord… the glories that can only be seen by those who are in Christ. We who are saved know what it means to say, “Once I was blind, but now I see.”

It’s not usually the rich who listen to the Gospel… it’s usually the poor, the lowly, the widowed, the forgotten and the hurting who are first willing to listen to the Gospel. Do you remember what John the Baptist did when he was thrown into prison? He had heard about Jesus and His miracles… yet John the Baptist wondered if Christ was indeed the promised Messiah, because if He were, why was John in prison? If Jesus was the Messiah who was performing all these miracles, why didn’t Jesus perform another miracle by snapping His fingers to get John out of prison? So John sent his disciples to Christ with one simple question, Are you the One we are waiting for, or should we look for another? Christ answered with these words:

Matthew 11:4,5: Go back and tell John what you have seen. The sick are healed, the deaf hear, the blind receive their sight, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

At first glance, that last phrase may seem out of place… but not to Jesus. There were many miracles that proved His deity… not the least of which was the miracle that the poor were hearing and responding to the Gospel.

That is the genius of the Christian faith…that it goes out first to the poor of the world… first to the hungry and the hurting… first to the handicapped, the lonely, the needy. Mary’s heart is filled with praise, because she knows the world will be a different place… a much better place… because Christ has come. He will pull down the proud. He will lift up the humble. He will fill the hungry. And the rich, by in large, will be sent away empty. This is the ultimate reversal of fortunes.

54 He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, 55 As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.

Verses 54-55 conclude Mary’s song. She brings it to an end by praising God for remembering to keep His promises of old to Abraham. God remembered to be merciful…. aren’t you glad of that? I am sure glad God remembers His promises… especially His promise to not remember our sins.

Jeremiah 31:34: No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

Isaiah 43:25: I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.

God remembered to be merciful… where would we be if Jesus had not come to earth and died in our place on that old rugged Cross? Mary’s mention of Abraham takes us back 2,000 years in time, but in some ways we can go back even further:

Genesis 3:15: And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

This is the first promise God gave to Adam and Eve after they ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. It is also the first Gospel message ever preached on the face of the earth. Theologians call it the Protoevangelium… or first Gospel. These words spoken by God contain the first promise of redemption in the Bible. Everything else in the Bible flows from these words in Genesis 3:15. As the acorn contains the mighty oak, so these words contain the entire plan of salvation.

Although we may not see it at first glance, Christ is in this verse. He is the ultimate Seed of the Woman who would one day come to crush the serpent’s head… in the process, however, Satan would bruise Christ’s “heel” on the cross. In short, this verse predicts that Jesus would win the victory over Satan (He shall bruise your head) but He would be wounded in this battle (and you shall bruise His heel).

Not only is this the first preaching of the Gospel, but notice it is also a prediction of the continual hostility between good and evil… between man and the satanic forces that oppose our well being… and between the people of God and the unregenerate world system in which we live. This is more than a prediction, however, as it is divinely caused. It is God’s will that until the 2nd Coming when Jesus Christ judges the world and puts all things under His feet, the Christian and the world should not be at peace.

When God chose to save the world, He didn’t send a committee… He sent His Son. When God chose to say, “I love you,” He wrapped his love note in swaddling clothes. When God chose to crush Satan, the process didn’t start in a stable in Bethlehem… the process took on an accelerated dimension at this time, but God’s plans to crush Satan were formed in eternity past.

When God sent his Son, He deliberately took the side of the weak… He still does the same thing today. If you and I were going to plan the birth of Jesus, we wouldn’t do it that way. We’d get on the phone, call FOX News and plan a big press conference. Plus we’d arrange for a ticker-tape parade with a big brass band leading the way. We’d call Larry King to make sure he got it on his show.

We’d have Jesus arriving in His private jet… after all, that’s the least you’d expect for the Son of God. That’s how He’s supposed to come… first class… pull out all the stops… the red carpet treatment… spare no expense… bring out the band and the ticker tape parade… lots of pomp and circumstance.

But that’s not the way God does business. When God chose to send His Son into the world, He picked an unlikely girl to be the mother. He picked a forgotten province in the Roman Empire. He planned it so that His Son would become a part of the hated Jewish race. He found the most unlikely hometown (Nazareth) and arranged for His Son to be born in a stable and spend the first days of His life in a feeding-trough.

Jesus was born this way in order to send us a message… a message about how God does business. Mary’s song teaches us that this is how God always does business. He doesn’t do business with the proud. He doesn’t run with the rulers of the world. He doesn’t cozy up (or suck up) to the rich. God is at home with the humble, the tired, the weak, and the lowly of this world. He does business with those who fear His name.
God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.