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Magnificat A Christmas Playlist :46-55 Pastor Josh Black December 4, 2016 The Soundtrack of the Season Nobody announces that the Christmas season has arrived. We simply change the music. It happens sometime around Thanksgiving. Where the stores were once filled with the ubiquitous presence of pop music and elevator music, they’re now filled with Christmas music. The musical masterpieces like “Jingle Bells,” “Frosty the Snowman,” and “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” fill the air. You even hear genuinely Christian music like “Hark the Herald Sing” and “O Holy Night.”1 What effect does this music have upon us? Well, it puts us in the mood for shopping. There’s a lot to do to get ready for Christmas, and the Christmas playlists at the malls and hardware stores provide a soundtrack of sorts for our frenzied activity. Or maybe they trigger sentimental feelings that make us think of warm fires and time with family. For most people, the music does little more than provide background music for all of the busyness of the season. The music doesn’t demand our attention. It rarely beckons us to meditate on the first coming of Christ and all that it means. Over the next four weeks, we’ll be in a sermon series called “A Christmas Playlist.”2 It’s all about the first four Christmas songs ever written. We’ll cover the four poems found in the first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel. Throughout the history of the church, these four songs have been sung in the liturgies of many traditions. They’re titled according to the first Latin word(s) in the song. The first is written by Mary. It’s called the “.” The second is by Zechariah. It’s called the “Benedictus.” The third is by the angels. It’s called the “Gloria.” And the fourth is by . It’s called the “.” Throughout the history of the church, even these songs have been sung without much thought from time to time. But these songs demand a listening ear. They’re not meant to be background music that has no effect on us. They shouldn’t allow us to go on, “business as usual,” with our frenzied lives. They’re intended to affect us deeply—to change us. They’re intended to get us thinking about the significance of Christ’s and to help us know how to respond to the gift of , with songs of joy. Luke 1:46-553 46And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50And his is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

1 Adapted from Begg, Alistair. Christmas Playlist: Four Songs That Bring You to the Heart of Christmas. The Good Book Company, 2016. 2 Begg 3 Scripture quotations are from The Holy , English Standard Version® unless otherwise noted. 2

52he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” This is the Word of the Lord. The first two verses of this song control all that follows. In verses 46-47, Mary sings, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” The song begins with the Latin word magnificat, where we get the word “magnify.” It means to declare that God is great.4 It’s an anthem of praise to God. It’s an exclamation of joy. I hear trumpets or maybe a massive pipe organ accompanying this anthem. Why does Mary declare God is great? Why does she magnify God? The rest of her song gives us three reasons, and her three reasons for magnifying the Lord give us three reasons to do the same. MAGNIFY THE LORD BECAUSE HE IS MINDFUL OF THE HUMBLE. (48)

First, Mary magnifies the Lord because he is mindful of the humble. In verse 48, Mary says, “he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.” Or as the NIV translates it, “he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.” What led Mary to believe that the Lord is mindful of the humble? In verse 26, we see that God sent his to Mary. And Gabriel “brought from under his wings a special envelope with the heavenly news that Mary had been chosen by God to be the mother of a son.” And not just any son; “Her son would be the Son of the Most High, the Davidic King of Israel, the long-awaited Messiah.”5 God was mindful of Mary. She found favor with God (v. 30). God showed grace to her. But not only would she bear the Son of God and the Savior of the world. The other amazing thing Gabriel revealed to her is that this would be a miraculous birth. In verse 35 the angel tells Mary that “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” “God’s powerful Spirit…would brood over her [like the Spirit brooded over the waters in creation] and create a miracle in her womb.”6 This is profound. Think about it. Listen closely to the melody of this song. “Mary is a young, poor, Jewish woman from an obscure Jewish village called Nazareth.”7 She’s a nobody to the world, but the Lord is mindful of her. She may have been very little in the eyes of the society, but she’s very valuable in the eyes of God.8 The same is true for all who believe in God’s plan of salvation. The thought that God is mindful of us is profound. The holy God (v. 49) of the universe has looked upon our humble estate as well. None of us deserve the favor or the grace of God. No matter how high and mighty we think we are, we’re all small in comparison to God. We’re all sinners. We’re poor and hungry spiritually (cf. v. 53). We’re in need of God’s mercy (cf. v. 50). But God has been mindful of us. He has sent his only Son to save us from our sins. How should we respond to this

4 Garland, E. Luke. Zondervan exegetical commentary on the . Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 2011. 5 McKnight, Scot. The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus. Brewster, : Paraclete Press, 2007. p. 7. 6 McKnight, p. 8 7 McKnight, p. 7 8 Begg

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amazing grace? We should respond like Mary. We should be mindful of God’s grace. We should ponder these things in our hearts (cf. 2:19, 51), and we should believe. The news God gave to Mary was amazing in and of itself. But not only is the news amazing. The fact that Mary believes all of this is amazing. In verse 38, she says to the angel, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Mary is a picture of a humble person who receives the promises of God in faith. She’s a contrast to many others in Luke’s Gospel who are arrogant and powerful and don’t receive Jesus in faith (cf. Zechariah’s response to Gabriel’s promise of John in vv. 18-23). She believes God is mindful of her, and she magnifies God. We should do the same. MAGNIFY THE LORD BECAUSE HE MAGNIFIES THE HUMBLE. (49, 51-53)

The second reason Mary magnifies the Lord is because he magnifies the humble. In verse 49, Mary says, “he who is mighty has done great things for me.” Or as an old translation says, “he that is mighty has magnified me.” Mary magnifies the Lord because he has magnified her. Or Mary lifts up the Lord’s name because he has lifted her up. One of the ways the Lord lifts up the humble is by bringing down the proud. Look again at verses 51-53. 51He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.

What kind of music do you like? Some like rock, others rap. Some like country, others classical. Some only listen to Christian music. Mary’s Magnificat could fit into a few different musical genres. It starts as an anthem of praise in verses 46-50. Then it moves into what some, in folk music, have called a protest song. Verses 51-53 are like a political song. The tone in these verses is like a song of liberation. “In the 1980s the government of Guatemala banned any public reciting of Mary’s Magnificat because it was deemed politically subversive.” I’ve never heard of a Bible song being censored! But “it is a song about turning injustices inside out and power upside down.”9 The Guatemalan government didn’t want it to rouse the people to rebellion against them, so they banned the song. Mary’s song is “more than a pious …it praises God for cracking the heavens wide open and descending into the world to establish justice and rout out unjust rulers.”10 Mary believed that her son would be the promised Davidic Messiah who would establish his kingdom forever (cf. 2 Sam. 7), and all who failed to believe in the Son would be crushed (cf. Ps. 2). Mary believed that justice would finally come to the humble and oppressed. Think of what the announcement of the coming Davidic King would have meant to those under the oppression of Herod and Rome.11

9 McKnight, p. 15-16 10 McKnight, p. 16 11 McKnight, p. 17

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Scot McKnight believes that “Mary’s Magnificat was for [her] world what “We Shall Overcome” was to the African American community in the…1960s and 1970s.”12 We shall overcome, We shall walk hand in hand, We shall all be free, We are not afraid, We are not alone, The whole wide world around, We shall overcome.

“Mary’s Magnificat was that kind of song…its powerful words give one the sense of rally and revival.”13 The Mighty One has magnified the humble by lifting them up and bringing down the proud with the strength of his arm (v. 51). Mary envisioned Jesus on a literal throne, subduing kings like Herod and Caesar. And that day will come, at Jesus’ second coming. But at his first coming, he came to defeat the power of sin and Satan through his cross and resurrection. He came to make forgiveness of our sins possible. This is what we celebrate at Christmas. This is what we must believe. This is the second reason we must magnify the Lord. MAGNIFY THE LORD BECAUSE HE IS MERCIFUL TO THE HUMBLE. (50, 54-55)

The third reason Mary magnifies the Lord is because he is merciful to the humble. In verse 50, Mary says, “And his mercy is for those who fear him.” In verse 54, she says, “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy.” The word translated “mercy” here is translated as “steadfast love” in the , or God’s covenant love. Mary is referring to the covenant promise that God made to Israel in Genesis. Following the fall of Adam and Eve, God said that there would thereafter be enmity between the offspring of Eve and the offspring of Satan. Satan would constantly nip at the heel of the promised offspring. We see that right away in Genesis 4 with Cain and Able, and we see it in Herod putting to death the babies in Bethlehem. But God also promised that one day the offspring of Eve would crush the head of Satan (Gen. 3:15). Later he promised that he would bless Abraham and make him into a great nation; that one day through the offspring of Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:1-3). God remembered this promise. He remembered his covenant love with Israel. As Mary says in verses 54-55, “he has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” God did make Israel into a great nation, and even though they failed him miserably, he remembered his promise. Jesus was the promised offspring of Eve, the promised offspring of Abraham. Jesus would crush the head of Satan. Through Jesus all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Salvation was from the Jews, but it was for the nations. “His mercy is for (all) who fear him from generation to generation” (v. 50). Mary knew that the child that she was carrying was God’s promised offspring, the promised Messiah. She believed, and this led her to magnify the Lord.

12 McKnight, p. 18-19 13 McKnight, p. 19

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The Gospel How did Jesus overcome Satan? How did Jesus provide blessing to the nations? He did it through his death on a cross and his resurrection from the dead. Not only did God keep his covenant with Abraham through Jesus’ death and resurrection. He ushered in the new covenant in his blood. Now all people can be the benefactors of God’s mercy through faith in Christ. His blessings are no longer limited to Israel. To all who humbly acknowledge their spiritual poverty, to all who humbly acknowledge their need for a Savior, to all who confess their sins, to all who believe that Jesus died for our sins, to all who believe that he defeated death through his resurrection, to all who believe he’s coming again to set the world to its rights, to all who would receive him as the gift of salvation, he has given the right to become children of God. This is God’s promise in his Word. Let us, like Mary, say, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your Word.” Mary didn’t know all of this. But she believed in God’s promise. She believed that God was mindful of her. She believed that God had magnified her. She believed that God was merciful to her, and that led her to magnify the Lord. Let us do the same.