Thank you to Mark R for this week’s MWB
Over the next 3 weeks we will be looking at Mary’s song, or ‘prayer of praise’ in Luke Chapter 1:46-55.
This song is known as the Magnificat and was one of the earliest hymns used in the developing Christian church.
I wonder what we think of when we hear the word ‘magnify?’
I tend to think of a magnifying glass…a piece of glass that magnifies what we look at.
At the extreme end of magnification is the Hubble telescope, which sends back those extraordinary images of the Universe in all its colours and splendour…
So when Mary says: “My soul magnifies the Lord”, we know she is going to reveal something about the splendour and greatness of the Lord.
And in her prayer of praise, she does this in the 3 ways, the first of which we will be looking at today.
Mary says: “My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour”.
Her words follow a visit to her cousin Elizabeth, who has been barren for many years, but now in her old age is expecting a child.
The pregnancy is a miracle in the same line of Old Testament figures like Sarah and Abraham. Sarah became pregnant with Issac at 90!
We know that Abraham was going to be the father of many nations. Through his line a Saviour would come.
And now, as the baby leaps for joy in Elizabeth’s womb, recognising the Saviour in Mary’s womb, Mary exclaims: “My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour!”
She knows that the baby in her womb is the One who will change history forever.
Mary, a teenage unknown girl from an unknown time and place…in her the King of Kings and Lord of Lords resides.
What a mystery! The Saviour of the world!
The Lord has chosen the weak and insignificant to display His power and strength.
And from her the Baby to be born will change the world through His death on the cross and resurrection.
“My soul magnifies the Lord”. Will we join with Mary in magnifying the Lord as we go about our daily lives today?