Advent Magnificat 1

Luke 1:39-56 - Advent 1 Midweek - December 3, 2014
What Manner of Greeting is This?

“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

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During our Advent midweek services and for our Christmas Eve service – so for four weeks – we will be considering the song of Mary in three parts.  We call Mary’s song the Magnificat because it is the first word in Latin for “My soul magnifies the Lord.”  Today we begin with an introduction that focuses on the power and efficacy of God’s spoken word.  Let us consider what happened to Mary that brought her to sing the beautiful hymn that she did. 

The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce that she would give birth to the Savior of the world.  The sight of an angel brings with it the reflected glory of God.  This is not simply a dazzling sight.  This would have been a terrifyingly beautiful sight.  Consider the shepherds and their fear on the night when Jesus was born.  They were sore afraid.  But here we learn nothing of Mary’s fright at the sight of an angel.  Instead we learn that it was the word he spoke that shook her up.  “She was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.”  And a strange greeting it was indeed.  The angel had said: “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” 

What troubled Mary was the incredibility of it all.  How could a poor, lowly, ordinary maiden, with nothing special about her be called highly favored?  How could she, a sinner, be told to rejoice, and be called blessed among women?  She was incredulous.  This stopped her in her tracks and sent her head reeling and her heart pounding: “Who me?  Impossible!”  

But as Mary trembled, the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary.”  This served as an absolution.  For God to tell you not to be afraid means to say that your sins are forgiven.  Of course this is only comforting to those who know enough to be afraid of God’s righteous anger.  Mary knew she was a sinner.  But the angel calls her by name.  So God speaks to us.  He calls us by name in Holy Baptism, where he claims us as his, and from then on every pronouncement of peace and mercy has your name on it.  The angel said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”  And this is what it means to be forgiven.  It is to have God’s favor, to know that God is graciously disposed toward you. 

God doesn’t find something favorable in us.  Neither did he find something favorable in Mary.  He found a lowly sinner who in her sinful weakness could not even believe that God would call her blessed.  But to still her doubts, God tells her not to be afraid, and so with this gracious word gives her the faith to believe that she is indeed highly favored.  Though she finds no worthiness in herself, she finds favor with God.  And where?  Where is this divine favor found?  The angel continues with the word of God: “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.”  Here God’s favor is found.  It is found in the Son she will bear.  His name will be Jesus for he will save his people from their sin. 

“He will be great,” the angel continued, “and will be called the Son of the Highest;” – see here?  This means that this Child is true God!  “and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.”  See here?  This means that this Child is true Man, of the royal line of David himself!  “And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”  He is God.  He becomes a Man.  He who fills heaven comes to fill the earth by taking up dwelling in her womb.  And by so doing, he who is both God and Man will rule heaven and earth forever! 

So then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

This was not a question of doubt.  She was not telling God that he cannot do it like what Zacharias did when John’s birth was announced.  Far from it.  She was asking God how he does it.  How does he accomplish such great things?  How does he not need the agency of a man?  So the angel answered her question and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you.” God does not need man to accomplish what he will.  Just as Joseph was not needed for the conception of Christ, so also your will and strength are not needed for you to come to faith.  No, the Holy Spirit works without and despite your will and strength.  He works through his word alone. 

The Holy Spirit is called the Lord and Giver of Life.  But in order for him to give life to all of us, we must first see how he puts life into Mary’s womb.  He speaks.  And when the Holy Spirit comes through his word, look who he brings with him.  The power of the Highest – the One whom the Holy Spirit placed in Mary’s womb by speaking is the One whom he places in our hearts by speaking.  The power of the Highest – the One who once overshadowed Israel by filling the Temple with smoke will now overshadow Mary by filling her womb with the flesh and blood of God.  And this same power of the Highest overshadows us through the word of the gospel.  He is the Holy One of God himself who takes on flesh and blood to die for our sin. 

“Therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”   He will be called the Son of God.  This requires words.  Of course he will be the Son of God.  But his works will make it known, and our words will confess it as true.  The same word that brings Christ to us also works the faith to confess who he is.  He will be called the Son of God. 

“Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”  With these words, Mary was given leave by the angel to entrust herself to the care of her older cousin, Elizabeth (which is where our text begins).  And so to all of this, Mary responded to the angel, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

See what happened here.  One moment, Mary is troubled by the word of the angel.  And now she acknowledges it.  “Let it be.”  And not “let it be” like what the Beatles sing.  “Let it be, let it be; there will be an answer; let it be.”  No.  The answer has already been given.  She says “let it be” because she has already been told why she is so highly favored.  It is for Jesus’ sake.  She says “let it be” because the word has worked faith in her heart to consent to God’s plan.  She believes the promise about Jesus.  So say we “let it be” to God’s promise too.  Our “let it be” is not what makes it so.  Our “let it be” is what acknowledges with faith what God has done for us. 

Then the angel departed.  But the presence of the Lord remained with her.  Through these very words of the angel, the Holy Spirit conceived in her womb the incarnate Son of God just as the angel had said.  This is how the Holy Spirit works.  Through the word of God the Holy Spirit accomplishes what God sets out to accomplish.  When we say that there is nothing impossible with God, we’re not simply talking about God’s mysterious workings that are hidden from us.  “Nothing’s impossible, but who knows how?”  No, we’re talking more importantly about the specific promises that God makes.  When God speaks, regardless of how impossible it sounds or feels, he accomplishes what he says. 

Now if it is possible that the seemingly simple word of an angel can be so magnificently powerful as to cause the eternal Son of God to be conceived in Mary’s womb, then it is just as possible for Christ to be with us today through the word of a preacher, and so it is also certainly possible for the word of a woman to cause a baby prophet to leap in Elizabeth’s womb.  And this is what happened. 

But it wasn’t the presence of the Mary with the Lord Jesus in her womb that made unborn John the Baptist leap for joy — no more than it was the presence of the Holy Spirit that caused Mary to conceive.  Rather it was the word that was heard.  “For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.” 

John heard the word.  It was the word of Mary, yes.  But she spoke the word of God.  John would have been none the wiser that he lay an arm’s length away from his Lord if his Aunt Mary had not spoken the word of the Lord.  He was in darkness.  And this is how it works.  The Holy Spirit works through the word we hear even as we are surrounded by darkness – yet unborn, as it were.  But through his word he gives us rebirth – or in John’s case, pre-birth.  He believed while yet unborn. 

God does not tell us where he is present without his word.  And indeed, he is already present everywhere.  But the special feeling of his nearness is not what brings joy to the heart.  No more than it was the nearness of baby Jesus that made John leap for joy.  It is always the word.   It is always the peculiar greeting of the Lord God through which his Spirit comes to us with grace and mercy. 

Mary’s faith is not what caused the Holy Spirit to conceive Jesus in her womb.  It was the word of God.  Likewise, it is not our faith that makes the promise of the gospel true.  Rather, it is the word of God that creates faith in our hearts to believe it.  This is very important.  Otherwise, we make God dependent on our faith rather than making faith dependent on God’s word. 

Before Mary said, “Let it be done to me according to your word,” she said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord.”  Likewise, before we can give our assent to God’s word, before we can say “Amen, let it be done as God says,” we must first become the maidservant of the Lord, so to speak.  We must first be chosen as God’s vessel, and know that he intends to deal specifically with us.  God chooses us as his vessel through the word he speaks.  Only once we have heard the word by which we are called to faith, by which we receive his favor and blessing, are we able to express our faith as Mary did, and say, “Let it be done.” 

Mary greeted Elizabeth.  She greeted her with a song.  Whether she sang it or not is beside the point.  It is written as a hymn.  And it is this Magnificat which we will continue to learn from that taught Elizabeth all she needed to know to respond to Mary: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”  Elizabeth reiterated what the angel had said: “Blessed are you among women.”  But she explained why this was so.  It was because of what was inside of her – the Savior from sin, death, and hell – the Christ Child. 

“But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”  Elizabeth was puzzled by this manner of greeting.  It’s a different question than what Mary asked.  Mary asked how.  Well, through the Holy Spirit who works through his word; that’s how.  But Elizabeth asked why.  Well, because God loves you; that’s why this is granted to you.  God’s reason is clear, and yet far above us.  He loves you.  Just as God wanted John who would one day point his finger to this Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world to leap for joy in his mother’s womb, so also God wants your heart to leap for joy as well.  And so he directs your heart to where John points us all – to this same Lamb of God who takes away your sin.  Why does God grant this to you?  Because he loves you.  He wants you to believe his word.  He wants you to know that your sins are forgiven and that through the blood of Christ you have God’s favor. 

You cannot believe on your own – just as Mary couldn’t, and Elizabeth couldn’t.  But the word of God is true.  The Word of God became flesh for you.  He lived for you.  He died for you.  He was raised for you.  And he comes to you.  He greets you with the peace that he earned for you.  He calls you blessed and highly favored and seeks to make his home in you.  He kindles his lamp within us through the power of his almighty word so that we can rejoice with Mary and leap with John at such a wonderful manner of greeting as this:

“Blessed [are you] who [believe], for there will be a fulfillment of those things which [are] told [you] from the Lord.”

In Jesus’ name, Amen.