Yesterday we saw what Elizabeth spoke to Mary. Here is Mary's reply:
 |
| James Tissot - Brooklyn Museum |
"Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!...
For He took notice
of His lowly servant girl, and
from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty One is Holy
and He has done great things for me.
He shows mercy from
generation to generation to all who fear Him.
His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has brought down princes from their thrones
and exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
He has helped his servant Israel and
remembered to be merciful.
For he made this promise to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever."
Luke 1:46-55
I can't help but notice Mary's heart... her perception of herself as a lowly servant girl. She is humble, poor in spirit and has a true fear and reverence for God. She see's God as merciful through out all the generations to those who fear Him and by contrast how God brings down the proud from their lofty places and He exalts the humble She is a beautiful picture of a lowly servant of.God that we can aspire to.
I like what it says in James 4:6-10. "God opposes the proud, but favors the humble." vs 6 NLT When we humble ourselves before God, come close to Him and He will come close to us. I miss that closeness when I get to busy to come to Him. In those times we should wash our hands, purify our hearts, because our loyalty to God can easily be divided with the world. Our repentance needs to be genuine with the grief and sorrow of tears. When we truly humble ourselves, He will lift us up.
I also notice repeated in these readings is the mercy of God; as well as He keeps His Covenant promises with Abraham and David.
Praise be to our God who keeps His promises and is merciful to all who fear Him!
A favorite film in our home is the recently made movie called "The Nativity Story". Available to buy on Amazon for $8.99 or rent, it is well produced and puts you into the lives of Joseph and Mary, her parents and Elizabeth and Zaccharias. You experience with them their faith and their humanity with the emotion that they must have felt living in such extraordinary circumstances.
3 comments:
Mary obviously was well acquainted with the prophecies for the coming Messiah and understood her role. What a humble response to such a monumental role! No wonder she found favor with God.
Harboring Jesus within her, the presence of God was strongly felt by Elizabeth and her unborn baby, John. Whenever people of good will encounter the God's presence, the response is so often overwhelming joy! A foretaste of heaven...
Mary's Song
And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant."
First off, the joy of Mary's life was the Lord. Her reason to live was the Lord; her joy came but from Him as nothing else really mattered. Moreover, in her 'Magnificat', she was just so thankful that the Lord payed attention to her to the point where He had chosen her for the greatest part of His plan: providing a Saviour to the world! To the world, she was a nobody, but to God, more precious than all the wealth in the world!
"From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name."
Yes, indeed, Mary has been recognized as being blessed beyond description by followers of Jesus for the past 2000 years. She has been priviledged to have been chosen to be the mother of our Lord.
"His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation."
Amen. Those who fear Him are also priviledged to be noticed by Him. We might be 'noobs' in this world, but if we seek and fear Him, desiring to follow Him and do His will, He will extend His mercy to us and give us a name, literally. To be chosen to carry a part of His plan - as all disciples of the Lord are called to be - makes us into very priviledged people as well. If the rest of the world despises us, it doesn't matter as we are a VIP in the eyes of God!
"He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble."
The prideful will not go unpunished. Those who look down upon others which are considered as nobodies in this world, will be assuredly brought down eventually. The humble will be avenged by the Lord; He will repay because He is a just God. The Lord loves those the world considers 'humble' or 'small' and cannot stand the proud! In chosing Mary, a 'noob' to this world, God avenged those who despised her. He gave her a name and a position in His Kingdom.
"He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty."
Again, the Lord will avenge. The rich who neglect the poor (or who have done so) will not go unpunished. In the end, the Lord will make justice for every injustice which has ever existed in this world.
"He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."
The Lord fulfills all His promises always.
All this justice for the poor, the hungry and the humbled, will be carried out through Jesus, the Great Judge, the Mediator between God and men! Praise the Lord.
Truly, Elizabeth was an amazing woman of God! She had eyes of faith that enabled her to "see" deeply beyond the surface. Standing before her was a pregnant, unmarried teenage girl. Most people would have quickly assumed Mary to be a promiscuous sinner. But Elizabeth is able to discern God's presence upon and within Mary, and sees so clearly His long-awaited prophecies for the Messiah are about to be fulfilled through the faith, courage and obedience of this precious young girl. Elizabeth herself was bearing a miracle -- in her old age she had conceived John who was growing in her womb. And his conception was surrounded by prophecies that this baby would be the prophet called to prepare the way for the Messiah! In Jewish culture, the young reverenced the old. Yet Elizabeth, the elder, deeply reverences her youthful cousin, Mary. Neither woman swells with pride over their monumental world-changing roles.... This humility is typical of all the great saints -- the closer they get to God, the more clearly they are able to see their own unworthiness in light of His magnificence...
Post a Comment