What Child Is This?

If you have your Bible with you, you can open it up to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

Last Sunday, we heard about Mary's spectacular encounter with the angel Gabriel

and the word that God spoke to her, that she would conceive and bear a son

and that her son would be the Messiah and reign forever.

We heard that she would conceive without a human father by the power of the Holy Spirit overshadowing her

and that as a result, her son would be the very son of God.

Well, this morning, we continue the story as documented by Luke and we are in verse 39 of chapter 1.

At that time, Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea

where she entered Zachariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.

So Mary has just had this amazing encounter with Gabriel

and the sense we get here is that she wastes no time.

She just packs her bags and heads out of town.

She hits the road down to the Judean town where her relatives Elizabeth and Zachariah live.

And we might wonder, why does she do this?

It doesn't say here in the text exactly what Mary's reasons are of her thinking,

but we know from back up in verse 36 that Elizabeth is Mary's relative.

The old King James translation says cousin.

Cousin, 400 years ago, cousin was a more general term referring to kin,

someone who belonged to your extended family or to your clan,

but didn't already have a title like grandma or grandpa or aunt or uncle.

So Mary has that connection with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth is kin.

She's extended family.

And Mary has just heard from Gabriel that she's pregnant,

that Elizabeth is now six months pregnant.

So they have the pregnancy in common.

And if we're listening closely to what Gabriel said to Mary,

the reason Elizabeth is pregnant in her old age

is because no word from God will ever fail.

So there's a bit of a hint there that maybe Mary picked up on,

an allusion to the fact that God had spoken a word about Elizabeth's son as well,

just as he did to Mary about her son.

And then we can add on top of all that, Mary's situation.

She's not yet married.

She's just engaged.

But she's been told that she's going to conceive and be pregnant without Joseph.

Before the wedding, she's going to be with child.

And so you could think of the societal implications of this for her.

Not to mention that what are people going to think

if you tell them that you had a visit from an angel

and that you're going to give birth to the Messiah?

People might say that you're crazy.

So like, who can I talk to about this?

Getting out of town and going to visit Elizabeth

seems like just such a natural choice.

If she too has received a word from God

and as a result has become pregnant,

she might be just the person to share my news with.

So Mary makes the several days journey down to the hill country of Judea

where Elizabeth and Zechariah live

and she enters the house and greets Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting,

the baby leaped in her womb

and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

In a loud voice, she exclaimed,

Blessed are you among women

and blessed is the child you will bear.

But why am I so favored

that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears,

the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

Blessed is she who has believed

that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her.

I love this moment.

It's like Mary barely gets in the door.

She just finishes saying hello

and Elizabeth is joyfully shouting back to Mary,

You're pregnant!

And you're going to have a very special child.

You're pregnant with the one who is my Lord.

Now, how did Elizabeth even know

that Mary was pregnant?

It says Mary hurried down

to where Elizabeth was to visit her

and so probably Mary wasn't even showing yet.

How did Elizabeth even know that Mary was pregnant?

Luke mentions two things.

First, the baby in Elizabeth's womb

leaped for joy.

Little baby John,

who was still in the womb of Elizabeth,

leaped for joy.

Sprung about for joy.

Now, if that doesn't express the personality

and humanity of the unborn, pre-born child,

I don't know what does.

And now I know what some of us might be thinking.

Some of us skeptics might wonder,

you know, isn't that just something

that pregnant women sometimes make up?

You know, like,

I know it's a boy

or I know it's a girl

because of these certain movements

that I've been feeling,

only to find out later

when the child is born

that that feeling was wrong.

How could Elizabeth know

that John,

the six-month-old baby

in her womb,

had joy?

And that that's the reason

that he leaped

or sprung about

in her womb.

Well, there's an important detail here

that I think makes sense of it all.

Verse 41.

It says,

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting,

the baby leaped in her womb

and Elizabeth was filled

with the Holy Spirit.

Elizabeth was filled

with the Holy Spirit

in this moment.

Think about this.

God himself

entered into

Elizabeth

in this moment.

This is how Elizabeth knew

that Mary was pregnant

the moment that she walked

in the door.

And not just pregnant,

but pregnant with a blessed child,

pregnant with,

in Elizabeth's words,

my Lord.

Only God,

by his spirit,

could reveal

this to Elizabeth,

this secret of Mary's

in a moment like this.

Think about how

strange this moment

would be

to an outsider

looking in.

I mean,

an elderly woman

just called the child

in a young girl's womb

her Lord.

How could she know

that that's who

Mary's baby was?

But by the Spirit of God

who had filled her

in that moment,

and I think

it's also reasonable

to conclude

that it was by

the Spirit

that Elizabeth knew

of the joy

in little John's heart

even though he's

only six months old.

How else could she know that?

That it was for joy,

that that was the reason

he sprung about

in the womb.

All of this

is yet another sign

that God

is at work.

That everything

that God has been saying

through these

angelic visitations

is coming true.

that Elizabeth's son

will be

who Gabriel said

and that Mary's son

will be

the Messiah,

the Son of God.

Elizabeth commends

Mary for her faith

in the Lord's promise.

She says,

blessed is she

who has believed

that the Lord

would fulfill

his promises

to her.

and then at this point

we read about

Mary's response.

Verse 46,

and Mary said,

and what follows

is a fairly lengthy

thing that Mary says

from verse 46

all the way down

to verse 55.

And we're going to

dig into the meaning

of this

in just a moment.

But first,

before we get to that,

what is this thing

that Mary utters?

Many of the little

subtitles in our Bibles

may say something like

Mary's song.

This utterance of Mary's

has been traditionally

called

the Magnificat.

And it's called that

because

in the Latin translation

of this passage,

Magnificat

is the first word,

the word for glorifies

or magnifies.

And there's a lot

of debate

and discussion

over what this passage is.

Is it a song

that Mary composed

or sung?

Or is it just

a declaration

that she made?

Did she say this

right on the spot

after Elizabeth said

what she did

in verse 45?

Or did Mary

write this later

as sort of

a personal reflection

about what God

was doing

around the time

when she became pregnant?

Well, first of all,

there's nothing here

in this passage

that says

that it is a song.

The subtitles

in the Bible

may say Mary's song,

but they're not

part of the original text.

They're not inspired.

They're added later

by editors

to help us know

what's in a section,

where one section ends

and another begins

and what that section's about.

Luke says,

Mary said,

and then the words

that follow

are spoke,

not Mary sung

this song.

And so I would take

this as a spoken word

from Mary.

But,

there is

a very obvious

poetic characteristics

to Mary's words.

Scholars who know

the original languages

better than I do

discern a pattern

of meter

and rhythm

in these words

that's common

in the Psalms

and in other

poetic passages

found in the Bible.

Not only that,

but there is

that signature

characteristic

of Hebrew poetry,

which is parallelism.

Some English

translations today

even adjust

the formatting

to reflect

the various lines

of this poetic utterance.

And so,

it's understandable

that some have concluded

that this was

a song or a hymn.

At the very least,

it's psalm-like

in its form.

And so I'm comfortable

calling it a psalm.

Whether Mary spoke

this aloud

in the moments

immediately following

her arrival

at Elizabeth's house

or composed this

a little bit later,

personally,

I don't see why

either couldn't

be the case.

But some of the

discussion around this,

some have a hard time

imagining how Mary

could utter

something so

wonderfully poetic

and true

of this length

on the spot,

spontaneously.

Others suggest

that, well,

maybe she's been

crafting this expression

of praise

in her mind

from the time

that she heard

the word

from Gabriel

till now,

which I guess

would mean

that she's been

composing this

during her trip

down from Nazareth.

Others notice

that this psalm

of Mary's

is just rich

with allusions

to the Old Testament.

And some wonder

how Mary,

being so young,

could know

the scriptures

that well.

or is it

possible

that just like

Elizabeth

moments ago,

Mary herself

is also filled

with the Spirit

of God

and that God's

Spirit gives

her these words

just like he did

for the psalmists

long ago.

Whatever the case,

here it is,

the very words

of Mary

which describe

something of

what she was

feeling and thinking

at the time

when she became

pregnant

with the Son

of God.

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.

From now on

all generations

will call me

blessed

for the mighty

one has done

great things

for me.

Holy

is his name.

His mercy

extends to those

who fear him

from generation

to generation.

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.

He has filled

the hungry

with good

things

but has sent

the rich

away empty.

He has helped

his servant

Israel

remembering

to be merciful

to Abraham

and his descendants

forever

just as he

promised

our ancestors.

In the first

lines of this

psalm

Mary describes

her own

response

to all

that's

happening

with her.

She says

my soul

glorifies

the Lord

and my

spirit

rejoices

in God

my Savior.

The parallelism

is quite obvious

here.

My soul

and my

spirit

both refer

to Mary's

inner

inner being.

The Lord

and God

are both

referring to

the same

person.

But notice

the words

glorifies

and rejoice

which are

parallels

but slightly

different.

What is

Mary's

response

in all

this?

It is

both

worship

and

rejoicing.

It's a

joyful

worship

that's just

flowing out

of the

very depths

of her

being.

Her soul

her very

spirit

is just

joyfully

praising

God

giving glory

to him.

We get

the sense

that this

is not

a difficult

thing for

Mary to

say.

These

words

declare the

worthiness

and greatness

of God

but it's not

as though

she had to

sit down

and think

about what

do I

write about

him?

They're just

ready to

burst

forth from

deep down

inside of

her

like a

fountain.

Notice

that Mary

calls God

her savior.

Why that?

At this

point in the

story she

likely has

very little

understanding

of the

idea of

God

saving her

from the

penalty of

her sins.

God

but if we

look back

into the

Old Testament

we see

that God

is referred

to many

times as

my savior

or our

savior.

King David

was one

who referred

to God

many times

in the

Psalms

this way

and for

David it

was often

salvation

from enemies

or from

troubles

that he

found himself

in.

God

himself even

takes up

this title

of savior

as he

speaks later

on through

the prophet

Isaiah.

Isaiah 43

Isaiah 43:3

verse 3

For I am

the Lord

your God

the Holy

One of

Israel

your savior.

A little

further down

in verse 11

of the same

chapter

I

even I

am the

Lord

and apart

from me

there is

no savior.

In

chapter 45

verse 15

Truly

you are a

God who

has been

hiding himself

the God

and savior

of Israel.

All the

makers of

idols

will be

put to

shame

and

disgraced.

They will

go off

into

disgrace

together

but Israel

will be

saved

by the

Lord

with an

everlasting

salvation.

You will

never be

put to

shame

or

disgraced

to

ages

everlasting.

And what's

interesting about

all of these

mentions of

God as

savior is

that they're

not so much

focused on

the sin

and atoning

part.

They're

focused on

the plight

of Israel

at this

time.

There are

nations that

are coming

against them.

God is

handing them

over

in judgment

and he is

promising to

bring them

back and

to save

them from

exile,

to bring

them back

into the

land.

And there's

even an

ultimate

kind of

finality to

it as well.

we see

that

Israel

will be

saved

by the

Lord

with an

everlasting

salvation.

The

prophet

Habakkuk,

he also

refers to

God as

savior in

this

familiar

passage,

Habakkuk

317,

though the

fig tree

does not

bud and

there are

no grapes

on the

vines,

though the

olive crop

fails and

the fields

produce no

food,

though there

are no

sheep in

the pen

and no

cattle in

the stalls,

yet I

will rejoice

in the

Lord,

I will

be joyful

in God

my savior.

I don't

think it's

a stretch

to say

that Mary

probably

borrowed

from

Habakkuk's

words,

just the

way it's

phrased,

it has the

same

parallelism

as she

made her

own

statement

of praise.

But we

notice in

all these

passages that

the title

of savior

or deliverer

is just

loaded with

meaning.

God is

the great

savior and

deliverer of

Israel.

both in

times past

and through

the words

of the

prophets,

we see

that he

will be

the savior

and deliverer

in the

ultimate

future

and the

end times.

The main

thrust of

God as

savior up

until this

point in

the story

is in

relation to

trouble

and calamity,

personal

hardship,

the attacks

of enemies,

oppression

by foreign

powers.

sinners.

And the

sin and

that stuff,

the guilt,

that's

coming.

We're

going to

hear more

about that

from Jesus.

But let's

go on to

the next

verse and

see how

Mary is

thinking

here.

My spirit

rejoices in

God my

savior for

he has

been mindful

of the

humble

state of

his

servant.

He has

been mindful

of the

humble

state of

his

servant.

Quite

literally,

he has

looked upon

the humble

or low

state of

his slave.

And from

now on,

all generations

will call

me blessed.

What does

Mary have

in mind

when she

says that

God has

been mindful

of her

humble

state,

state?

Her

low

state.

Now I

don't think

she's just

saying something

out of

false humility

here or

just saying

some kind

of a

humble

word just

to be

spiritual.

She's

deeply

moved in

the core

of her

being that

God would

choose her

in her

humble,

low,

nothing

state to

be the

bearer of

his son.

It's like

Mary is

saying,

God,

you're

taking me

from the

very bottom

and now

you're

lifting me

up,

exalting

me.

Even the

next

generations

of people

will consider

me

specially

blessed

by you.

And so

Mary,

according to

her own

words,

has just

now experienced

this great

reversal in

her life

from down

here to

now up

here.

And this

is not

something that

a lot of

people tend

to talk

about,

but could

it be that

up until

now,

Mary has

known a

hard life,

a life

of poverty

perhaps,

or some

other

hardship?

Is that

what she's

alluding to

when she

says,

for he

has been

mindful of

the humble

state of

his servant?

think about

where Mary

has been

living,

in

Nazareth,

that little

town in

the hill

country of

Galilee

about which

Nathaniel

would later

say,

Nazareth,

can anything

good come

from Nazareth?

Now,

we don't know

anything about

Mary's life

before all

this,

but perhaps

Mary's words

here are a

veiled reference

to how difficult

things have

been for her.

Could it be

that Mary

is calling

God her

savior,

deliverer,

not just

because that's

who he is

and has been

throughout all

of history,

but because

that's what

she feels

like is

happening in

her life

right now.

God's

lifting her

up from

the dust

of whatever

low and

humble and

hard things

she's lived

through,

to now

knowing one

of the

greatest

gifts ever

given to

a woman,

to be the

mother of

the Messiah,

to carry

and give

birth to

the very

son of

God.

One thing

is for

certain,

do you see

any sort

of hint

here that

Mary thinks

God is

doing this

for her

because of

how good

she's been?

No.

It's a

total opposite.

Like,

despite my

humble,

low estate,

he has

done great

things for

me.

Mary calls

God the

mighty one,

which is

another name

ascribed to

God in the

Old Testament

times.

As far back

as the book

of Genesis,

God is called

the mighty

one of

Jacob,

the mighty

one of

Israel.

Holy is

his name,

she says.

It's another

expression also

found in the

Psalms in the

Old Testament.

Testament.

There's

nobody like

you,

Lord.

Verse 50.

His mercy

extends to

those who

fear him

from generation

to generation.

It's another

truth that's

been spoken in

the Old

Testament before

about God.

But there's a

sense maybe in

which Mary just

feels and

understands and

appreciates this

even more

deeply.

All these

generations and

years later,

here she is,

a little girl

in Nazareth

and she

fears the

Lord and

now God

has extended

his kindness,

his mercy,

his love

to her.

Verse 51.

He has

performed mighty

deeds with

his arm.

He has

scattered those

who are proud

in their inmost

thoughts.

hearts.

At this

point,

Mary now

begins to

speak about

the mighty

acts of

God and

specifically how

God often

deals with

different kinds

of people.

And the whole

Old Testament

is really the

story of God

doing mighty

deeds with

his arm.

With his arm

is a poetic

figure of

speech.

But all

through the

scriptures up

until now,

we see these

kind of great

moments in

Israel's history.

history, the

parting of

the Red Sea

and deliverance

for Israel

from the

once powerful

and great

Egyptian

Pharaoh and

his horde of

chariots

comes to

mind.

Other great

deliverances

and big

battles and

times when

his people

were in need

come to

mind throughout

the centuries.

And then

Mary specifically

puts words to

how God has

dealt with

the proud.

She says,

he has

scattered those

who are proud

in their

inmost thoughts.

The Tower

of Babel

comes to

mind.

He has

scattered

those who

are proud

in their

inmost thoughts.

The Philistines

fleeing for

their lives

after the

shepherd boy

David

slew Goliath

comes to

mind.

And again,

there are so

many of these

moments in

history in

which God

has displayed

his might

and his

power by

scattering

the proud.

Mary goes

on with

this.

Verse 52,

he has

brought down

rulers from

their thrones,

but has

lifted up

the humble.

This is an

amazing

thing that

we see

God do

again and

again in

the Old

Testament.

He brings

down proud

rulers.

Think of the

four kings

who conquered

Sodom and

Gomorrah.

God brought

them and

their armies

down before

Abraham,

the shepherd,

in Genesis

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14.

He brought

the kings of

Sodom and

Gomorrah

down in

Genesis

19 when

he destroyed

those two

cities with

fire and

brimstone from

heaven.

He brought

Pharaoh and

his mighty

armies down

at the Red

Sea.

All of

Pharaoh's

proud boasts

against God

came to

nothing.

He brought

the kings

east of the

Jordan River

down before

his people

after 40

years of

them wandering

in the desert.

he brought

31 kings of

the Canaanite

peoples down

before the

children of

Israel when

they entered

the promised

land as

detailed in

the book of

Joshua.

He brought

down the

kings of

the Moabites

and the

Midianites

and the

Ammonites

and the

Amorites

and through

all these

delivers that

he raised

up through

the period

of the

judges.

He brought

the kings

of the

Philistines

to their

knees before

his anointed

king David

and Solomon

and even

the kings

of Israel

the northern

kingdom

the wicked

ones.

He brought

them down

too.

Men like

Ahab

Jeroboam

even the

wicked kings

of Judah.

God brought

the proud

Babylonian

king

Nebuchadnezzar

down in

spectacular fashion

as detailed

in the book

of Daniel.

He brought

down the

arrogant

Belshazzar

and the

list just

goes on

and on

and on.

This is

one of

God's

signature

acts of

power.

He will

only permit

an arrogant

or proud

ruler to

hold sway

for so

long and

then he

brings them

down.

But the

flip side

of this

there's a

flip side

to this

signature

act of

God.

God

has brought

down

rulers

from their

thrones

but has

lifted

up

the

humble.

God

not only

uses his

great power

to humble

the proud

but he

also uses

it to

exalt

the lowly.

Who was

Abraham?

A

nomadic

shepherd

and foreigner

from the east

whose wife

was barren.

He had

no children

of his own

and God

promised to

make him

the father

of nations.

Who was

Moses?

A

Hebrew

baby

set adrift

in a

basket.

The

child of

a slave.

And God

rose him

up to be

the prince

of Egypt

and then

he went

back down

after committing

murder.

He fled

and he

became a

lowly

shepherd

in

Midian.

And then

God

raised him

up to be

a great

prophet

and deliverer

and leader

for the

whole

nation.

Who was

Hannah?

She was

the barren

wife of

Elkanah

who was

constantly

being provoked

by her

rival

and probably

other women

she knew

until one

day God

opened her

womb

and gave

her a son

and made

her the

mother of

the great

prophet

Samuel.

Who was

King David?

He was

the least

of Jesse's

sons.

He was

the one

that they

didn't even

invite

to come

meet

the prophet

Samuel

when he

came.

They left

him out

to look

after the

sheep

and yet

God

took him

from the

pasture

and raised

him up

to the

throne

of Israel.

Again

and again

we see

this tendency

of God

to use

his power

to lift

up the

humble

and to

exalt

them.

And why

is Mary

declaring this

wonderful thing

that God

does?

Because she

is one of

these lowly

people.

A nothing

girl from

Nazareth

now exalted

above all

women

with this

gift that

God has

given to

her

to be

the mother

of Jesus.

Verse 53

He has

filled the

hungry with

good things

but has

sent the

rich away

empty.

perhaps

this is

another

possible

hint

of what

Mary

has

known

up

until

now.

Has

she

known

hunger?

Has

she

known

poverty?

She

seems to

speak of

the rich

as though

she

isn't

one of

them.

Now

the promise

of the

angel

wasn't to

put more

food on

the table

or to

put more

money

in her

purse

but it

will be

something

even more

deeply

satisfying

and

wonderful

fulfilling

a deeper

hunger

hunger

of the

heart

and

soul

this

son

that

she

will

bear.

She

closes in

this way

He has

helped

his servant

Israel

remembering

to be

merciful

to Abraham

and his

descendants

forever

just as

he promised

our

ancestors.

here Mary

reflects on

how this

wonderful

gift of

God

the Messiah

whom she

will bear

is not

just a

gift to

her

but to

all

Israel.

God

hasn't

forgotten

us.

He has

not

forgotten

to show

mercy.

even

before

baby

Jesus

is

born

you

can

see

it

in

her

words

Mary

recognizes

her

son

as

the

one

through

whom

God

will

keep

the

promises

he

has

made

the

promises

which

first

started

coming

to

Abraham

and

then

were

added

to

later

to

Isaac

to

Jacob

to

Moses

to

David

and

on

this

is

it

Mary

sees

it

she

understands

just

who

her

son

is

and

will

be

she

really

did

take

those

words

of

Gabriel

to

heart

and

believe

them

Mary

stayed

with

Elizabeth

for

about

three

months

and

then

returned

home

there

are

so

many

ways

that

some

of

these

words

could

touch

us

or

speak

to

us

we

could

reflect

a lot

on

Mary's

life

we

could

compare

that

to

what

maybe

some

of

you

are

going

through

right

now

we

could

think

a lot

about

God's

mighty

deeds

and

how

he

humbles

the

proud

and

how

he

exalts

the

humble

these

things

relate

to us

in so

many

ways

but

more

than

anything

what

does

God

want

our

response

to

all

this

to

be

why

is

it

here

why

is

Luke

telling

us

this

he's

showing

us

what

Elizabeth's

response

to

all

this

was

he's

showing

us

what

Mary's

response

to

all

this

was

and

I

think

there's

a

question

for

us

in

this

do

we

realize

do

we

recognize

just

who

this

child

of

Mary's

was

and

is

do

we

know

that

this

baby

who

was

in