Luke 1:46-56
46 And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
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 seed forever.”
56 And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.
And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” (vss. 46-47)
Mary, in being the mother of our brother Jesus, is, in a sense, the mother of us all. Mary was not proud and puffed as she carried Christ-God in her womb. Instead she was awed by the grace of God shown to her. She made no claim to holiness, but rejoiced in God her Savior. Her joy was not that she had done great things, but that God has done great things for her. She knew she was not worthy. She knew she was a sinner. We do well, then to follow her example.
Like Mary, we too need a Savior. We, brothers and sisters of the One born of the Virgin, have nothing of which to boast in ourselves. We have not kept God’s Law. On the contrary, we break it daily. But God, according to His eternal promise made so long ago, is merciful and sent Jesus to live, die, and rise again for us. God could not die for us, nor could he live for us. But taking the human nature into Himself in Christ, He could live under God’s Law and die under God’s Law — and He did! Therefore Jesus is God our savior, having fulfilled God’s Law and having died to pay for our sin.
A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth, The guilt of sinners bearing
And, laden with the sins of earth, None else the burden sharing;
Goes patient on, grows weak and faint, To slaughter led without complaint
That spotless life to offer,
He bears the stripes, the wounds, the lies, The mockery, and yet replies,
“All this I gladly suffer.” (TLH 142, LSB 438)
Let us pray: Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come and help us by Your might, that the sins which weigh us down may be quickly lifted by Your grace and mercy; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
