Luke 1:46-55 (King James)
The Song of Mary
46 And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
54 He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
55 As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Preparing for a Baby
Preparing for a Baby
While we prepare for Christmas, our story has Mary preparing for a baby. Of course Mary has an angel come and tell her baby is special.
But then, isn’t every baby a precious gift from God, and every child special and worthy of love and care. Yet our story is not quite so straight forward, just like life, it seldom is!
There are lots of angels around Christmas, lots of messages to be delivered. Zechariah, Mary and even Joseph all get visited in a dream and then of course, a whole bunch of angels announce Jesus’ birth. Lots of angels! This is important stuff. How else are these people going to understand their important role in the unfolding of Jesus’ birth.
The scripture passage from Luke is called The Magnificat, or sometimes the Canticle / Prayer / or Song of Mary. It is Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s outburst when Mary comes to visit her in Judea, by this time Elizabeth is about 6 months pregnant.
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:42b-45)
Mary immediately glorifies God for considering her to be a part of the good news story and for fulfilling it through her.
And it is good news because look what God is doing;
God’s attention is to the humble, oppressed, poor, marginalized, and despised people in society. God is working in the world, through ordinary people, keeping the promise to be with Israel throughout the ages.
Something to Think About:
What do you think about the role of angels/ visions/ dreams in these stories, or in the bible in general? Do we still have
these today? What about in your own life?
How do we discern God’s will for our lives?
There is a lot of emphasis put on God’s promises in the Bible, what are they and do those promises still hold any truth for us today?
What promises (either God’s or your own) do you consider to be important in your life?
If you could voice or write a song to God, what would you include?
The Song of Mary
46 And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
54 He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
55 As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Preparing for a Baby
Preparing for a Baby
While we prepare for Christmas, our story has Mary preparing for a baby. Of course Mary has an angel come and tell her baby is special.
But then, isn’t every baby a precious gift from God, and every child special and worthy of love and care. Yet our story is not quite so straight forward, just like life, it seldom is!
There are lots of angels around Christmas, lots of messages to be delivered. Zechariah, Mary and even Joseph all get visited in a dream and then of course, a whole bunch of angels announce Jesus’ birth. Lots of angels! This is important stuff. How else are these people going to understand their important role in the unfolding of Jesus’ birth.
The scripture passage from Luke is called The Magnificat, or sometimes the Canticle / Prayer / or Song of Mary. It is Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s outburst when Mary comes to visit her in Judea, by this time Elizabeth is about 6 months pregnant.
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:42b-45)
Mary immediately glorifies God for considering her to be a part of the good news story and for fulfilling it through her.
And it is good news because look what God is doing;
God’s attention is to the humble, oppressed, poor, marginalized, and despised people in society. God is working in the world, through ordinary people, keeping the promise to be with Israel throughout the ages.
Something to Think About:
What do you think about the role of angels/ visions/ dreams in these stories, or in the bible in general? Do we still have
these today? What about in your own life?
How do we discern God’s will for our lives?
There is a lot of emphasis put on God’s promises in the Bible, what are they and do those promises still hold any truth for us today?
What promises (either God’s or your own) do you consider to be important in your life?
If you could voice or write a song to God, what would you include?
