He Who is Mighty, Born of a Virgin

One of those time-honored traditions of Christmas is the singing of hymns and carols. Who doesn’t love Christmas songs? Some of my favorite songs to sing are technically Christmas hymns: O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Joy to the World, Away in a Manger, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen… The list really does go on and on and on.

However, when it comes to actually praising Jesus during Christmas, I sometimes feel like our worship can be lacking. We have so many different things going on—Christmas parties, presents, meals, and so forth—that we seem to get so caught up in the busyness of it all and totally forget the most important part; namely, we forget to worship Jesus Christ Himself.

Enter Mary’s song of praise, or, as it is more commonly known as The Magnificat. This is simply a Latin term for the word, “Magnify,” and it gets this name from the first line: “My soul magnifies the Lord.” I love that line, but another that always captures my attention is verse 49: “He who is mighty has done great things for me.”

Imagine it: The mightiest Being in all the Cosmos—God Himself—sends His only begotten Son to be conceived in the womb of this young virgin. Can you understand, at least in part, her excitement over what is occurring? I’m sure that there was fear, and worry, but there had to be a certain joy as well. After all, the Mightiest Being in all Creation had done something particularly mighty for her.

This really isn’t something that we should have a hard time relating to. Yes, Mary was particularly blessed, but do we not share in this same blessing? Of course we do. Through the birth of Mary’s Son, Jesus, we experience grace upon grace. In Him, we have salvation.

So, while this is Mary’s Song of Praise, it is, in another sense, the song of praise which each of us can share in, especially during the Christmas season. There are, within this song, several lessons for us to learn about magnifying and praising the Mighty One, Born of a Virgin, this Christmas season. So, what should we praise God for and what should we be magnifying?

1. We must magnify the great things of the Lord.

Luke 1:46-56: 

And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.”

It is important that we understand what we mean, and what we don’t mean, by “magnify” in this text. First, we do not mean that we can make our Triune God bigger than He is, nor do we mean that we can make the Father, Son, or Spirit greater as the persons of the Trinity. God is supremely glorious as He is, and we can neither add to Him nor diminish Him as He truly is.

To magnify God simply means to praise the Lord. In the context of “magnifying” or “exalting” the Lord, we make His wonderful deeds known far and wide. We tell others about all that God has done. In so doing, we make God’s name great—not in the sense that we’re adding to God in any way at all, but in the sense that we are making God known to others in a way that they formerly knew Him not.

This magnifying, or exalting, of God is based primarily on the spirit’s rejoicing within us. When we’re happy, or joyful, about some particular thing, we can’t help but shout it from the rooftops. If you’ve ever gotten good news about something that you were waiting on, you know how joyous of an occasion it can be. You know how loud you can be as you shout it to others. That’s how we ought to always be in regard to Jesus, His virgin birth, His perfect life, His miracles, His teachings, His sinless sacrifice, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension, and His return.

It’s always helpful to point out, here, that Mary was not herself without sin. She was not perfect. She was a sinner in need of grace and salvation, just as much as every other sinner on this earth. This is why she calls God her Savior. It’s also why she was so astonished by the mighty work that God was doing in her life—that God would smile upon a wretch like her, unworthy though she was, and graciously bestow upon her the honor of carrying the Son of God in her womb was absolutely astonishing, and worthy of praise.

Of course, this is the same for us. He who is mighty has done great things for us by sending His only begotten Son to save sinners. We, like Mary, ought to magnify the Lord for the great things He has done on our behalf, especially in sending His only begotten Son.

2. We must magnify the mercy of the Lord.

In verse 50 Mary sings:

And his mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.

The mercy of God is a magnificent thing. Charles Spurgeon famously declared, “God's mercy is so great that you may sooner drain the sea of its water, or deprive the sun of its light, or make space too narrow, than diminish the great mercy of God."

God’s mercy is far greater than we can possibly imagine. We daily merit and deserve destruction at God’s just hand, but He does not consume us in His wrath. How often do you think foolish thoughts, laugh at coarse jokes, cuss, cheat, steal, and behave in an otherwise sinful and unprofitable way? How often do you fail to glorify your Creator? 

We deserve wrath, but instead, daily, we receive mercy. This is something we ought to magnify, especially as we share the gospel. God, in His mercy, has offered a way of escape whereby we never need fear His justice or His all-consuming wrath. All one must do is, simply, repent of sin and believe in Jesus. That’s it. 

But let’s also make sure we magnify the fact that God is by no means required to be eternally merciful. In fact, a day is coming when He will send the Son to return and, like a thief in the night, change everything with His final judgment (2 Pet. 3:8-10).

3. We must magnify the strength of the Lord.

Mary continues her song of magnifying the awesome deeds of the Lord by focusing next on His mighty power:

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.

Those who have sinned are separated from God, a chasm in between them and their Creator that they could never hope to cross. As we read in Isaiah 59:1-2: 

Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
    or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
but your iniquities have made a separation
    between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
    so that he does not hear.

However, the Lord who is faithful is also mighty, and His arm is strong to save and to bridge the chasm we could never hope to cross. Like Psalm 118:14-16 tells us:

The Lord is my strength and my song;
    he has become my salvation.
Glad songs of salvation
    are in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,
the right hand of the Lord exalts,
    the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

4. We must magnify the covenantal faithfulness of the Lord.

Mary concludes her song of praise in verses 54-55 by focusing on God’s remembrance:

He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
    to Abraham and to his offspring forever.

Again, we see the help and mercy of the Lord on display. But we also see the covenantal faithfulness of the Lord. Take notice: He remembers mercy and, as per His covenants He made with the saints of the Old Testament, He remains forever faithful.

When we think of God sending His only begotten Son, born of the Virgin, we need to remember that all of this was in fulfillment of the Lord’s Old Testament promises (for example, Gen. 3:15, 15:5-6; Is. 7:14; etc.). Consider especially Isaiah 59:21:

“And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

It is our duty to go forth and to magnify God’s fulfilment of His covenantal promises, especially in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. After all, the promise of covenantal faithfulness is not only for us, but for our offspring, and all who come hereafter. 

So, whether it’s Christmas or any other time of the year, let us follow the example of Mary and magnify our Lord who is mighty, yet born of a Virgin, to save us from our sin.