Context No. 3481 of 4322 · Luke
Context · Reflection
Luke 1:46-55: in context
46Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord. 47My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, 48for he has looked at the humble state 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. Holy is his name. 50His mercy is for generations and generations on those who fear him. 51He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52He has put down princes from their thrones, and has exalted the lowly. 53He has filled the hungry with good things. He has sent the rich away empty. 54He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy, 55as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.”
Mary's song overflows with praise for a God who overturns the world's order. My soul magnifies the Lord, she sings, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant, a lowly girl, and done great things for her. All generations will call her blessed, not for her own greatness, but for the mercy God has shown her.
And she sees in her own experience the pattern of how God works. He scatters the proud in the thoughts of their hearts, brings down rulers from their thrones and lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty. God's ways run opposite to the world's; he exalts the humble and humbles the exalted, remembering mercy to the lowly and keeping his promise to Abraham. Mary rejoices not in her own worthiness but wholly in God's mercy, which stooped to choose the lowly and to do great things through them. The God she praises is the God who lifts up the small and scatters the proud.
Do I praise the God who lifts up the humble and scatters the proud, taking my place among the lowly he delights to exalt, rejoicing in his mercy rather than my own worthiness?
Sources
- Luke 1:46-47: "My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior."
- Luke 1:52: "He has put down princes from their thrones, and has exalted the lowly."
- Luke 1:48: "For he has looked at the humble state of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed."