Sermon for MHBC (19 December 2021; 4th Sunday of Advent). You can listen on Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, or our website. Live at 11:00am on Sundays. Also available as a podcast here or by searching “Monument Heights Baptist Church” in your favorite podcast app.
The Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck wrote: “The gospel is sheer good tidings, not demand but promise, not duty but gift.” First and foremost, Christianity is about what God does. It is not about what humans do. We only need to look at the history of human beings to see that while human beings are capable of amazing things, we are incapable of fixing a broken world. Our passage this morning is Mary’s song of joy. This is her response to the news that she will be the mother of Christ.
Luke 1:46–55 is one of the most well-known passages in the Christian faith. It is often referred to as the Magnificat because of Mary’s first words in v. 46: “My soul magnifies the Lord.” It has been repeated in the daily prayers of Christians for centuries.
At its core, this passage captures the amazing action of God in Christ. It is gospel or good news. It is an announcement because it is about what God has done and is doing to redeem creation. It is an announcement of what God has done in Christ.
Look at vv. 46 and 47 with me: And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” In our candle lighting this morning, we talked about the theme of joy. We hear that joy in Mary’s words— “my soul magnifies the Lord … my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” When we say the gospel is good news, this is the good part. It is news that brings rejoicing. It is an announcement of joy.
What is it that causes Mary to be so elated? Look at v. 48: for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. Mary uses a word translated humble or lowly here. We might think of humbleness as a virtue, but Mary is talking about something else. She’s saying, in effect, “God looked on me even though I had nothing to offer.” Remember, the gospel is God’s action. It is not human action.
God didn’t choose a powerful queen. He chose a young Israelite woman. And, as a result of God’s action, subsequent generations will call Mary blessed. This is important, we see throughout Scripture that blessing does not necessarily equate to material prosperity. Instead, blessing is about participating in what God is doing.
Notice how Mary describes this blessing in v. 49: for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. The great things that God has done for Mary must be a reference to her being part of God’s plan to redeem the world through Christ. And for that reason, she sings praise— “holy is his name.” God’s action. It’s about His character, His faithfulness, in spite of human failure.
Verse 50 continues to celebrate the faithfulness of the Lord: And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. We’ve talked about this word mercy a lot. It is much broader than the way we use it today. The use of the word mercy here reminds us that God is faithful to His promises. Time marches on, but the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. A great example of this is Psalm 136. Over and over again, Psalm 136 tells us the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. The word translated steadfast love refers to God’s faithfulness to His promises. And when that Hebrew word is translated into Greek before the writing of the NT, the Greek word mercy—the same one we find here in v. 50—is used. So, the background to this verse is the idea that the Lord is faithful. And while this verse refers to His faithfulness to those who fear Him, we also know that those who fear Him do so imperfectly.
Even the greatest characters in the Bible are horribly flawed. David is the prime example. The great king, who is said to have a heart attuned to God’s own heart, is unfaithful, rebellious, and sinful. Yet, the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. The mercy of the Lord endures forever. The lovingkindness of the Lord endures forever. Second Timothy 2:13 puts it this way: if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. Again, what comes so clearly into focus is the announcement of God’s action.
Mary continues with that very theme. Look at vv. 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 away empty. Do you see the series of reversals? The mighty have been dethroned. The lowly (same word as in v. 46) have been enthroned. The hungry are filled. The rich are denied. This is what God is doing through Christ. He is changing the status quo. In Christ, God is bringing his justice and righteousness to our broken world.
We live in a world that is brutal and unforgiving. The systems and power structures are corrupt. Our hearts are twisted and crooked. Our efforts at justice and righteousness are feeble imperfections at best. But here is what Mary says, and it’s the gospel announcement: In Christ, God is unwinding the inner workings of this world. It will not always be this way. In fact, the unwinding has already begun. It begun in eternity past, before the creation of the world. It begun in the heart of the trinitarian God, who knew before the creation of the world that this world would be invaded by rebellion. And yet, the triune God created the world with an intention of redeeming it when it rejected His goodness. And because His character never changes, every evil, every atrocity, every disaster, every disappointment, is only a tangle in the unraveling thread of redemption. All creation is cascading toward redemption in Christ. And the decisive blow has been dealt. That is what Mary knows. Mary knows that what is about to happen is the moment when all of creation will experience the cataclysmic action of God—the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This is God’s action rooted in His character. Look at the last two 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. Once more, it is on the basis of His mercy—His lovingkindness, His faithfulness.
What I think we must take away from this passage is that the gospel is an announcement. It is an announcement of God’s mighty action in Christ. As Bavinck said, “It is sheer good tidings.” This ought to fundamentally change the way we utter the phrase “Merry Christmas” or even “Happy Holidays” (since there is no reason to be antagonistic or defensive when we have such news and hope and joy). What we are celebrating so acutely during this season of Advent and Christmas is the decisive action of God in Christ.
We talk much about the shepherds and the wise men at this time of year, and rightfully so, since they recognize the nature of the announcement. They realize God has acted. But we also hear it in the words of the women at the well in John 4. After meeting and speaking with Jesus, she returns to her village and she says to the people, “Come, see the Christ.” “Come, see the time has come.” “Come, see God has acted just as He promised to do.” It may seem like a simple message in a complex and corrupt world, but the living God has acted and there’s nothing simple about that. That is the joy of the gospel.