My Soul Magnifies the Lord: Luke 1:39-56 | Rejoicing in God's Mercy
How do you respond to the good news of the gospel? Joy is a natural reaction when we realize what God has done for us in Christ. In Luke 1:39-56, we witness two remarkable women—Elizabeth and Mary—overflowing with joy at the coming of the promised Messiah. Their response is one of praise, gratitude, and faith, reminding us that God’s mercy extends to those who trust in Him. In this sermon, we explore the beautiful encounter between Mary and Elizabeth, the leaping of John the Baptist in the womb, and Mary’s song of praise, the Magnificat. Through these events, we see God’s covenant faithfulness, His grace to the humble, and the fulfillment of His redemptive promises in Jesus Christ. As a Confessional Presbyterian and Reformed church, we are committed to Christ-centered preaching and scriptural fidelity. We proclaim the gospel with clarity and conviction, encouraging believers to rejoice in God’s mercy and live in the hope of His promises.
Sermon Text:
📖 Luke 1:39-56
✝️ Sermon Points:
📌Elizabeth’s Joy and the Confirmation of God’s Promise – The baby John leaps in the womb, recognizing the presence of the Savior. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, declares Mary as blessed.
📌Mary’s Song of Praise (The Magnificat) – Mary magnifies the Lord, rejoicing in God’s mercy and faithfulness to His covenant people.
📌The Gospel in the Joy of These Women – The joy of Mary and Elizabeth points us to the greater joy we have in Christ, who came to bring salvation to the world.
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Full Sermon Transcript:
There's something about joy that is often difficult to bottle up, right? Even some of the most quiet and reserved people will often break out in an expression of joy when they've received news that makes them happy. Now, I'm not a quiet or reserved person necessarily. But last Last week on Sunday morning at about 7: 30 in the morning, if you were in the church building, you would have heard from me an expression of joy. For a few weeks, I'd been looking for a specific old CD that I thought I had converted to digital files so I could listen to it, but they weren't there and I couldn't find it. Well, last week I was looking for an electrical adapter for one of my guitar pedals to plug in so that my guitar would sound better. I was digging through a in the basement here, and instead of finding the electrical adapter, I happened upon this CD. Now, I was overjoyed because I'd been looking for a while and it really yelled, yes, came out of my mouth without me even think about it. It left the closet. It reverberated on that hard floor off the walls.
If somebody was coming in that early last week to get their bulletin, I'm sorry if I scared you. I really am. But it was a research that had been happening for quite a while, and I'd come across it in the least likely of places. A rare CD in a box full of books that house a collection of strange prophecy books that I keep down there, books that have all these predictions that never came to pass. That's a weird spot to have a CD I'm looking for. And so I was surprised by this. I didn't plan to have such an exclamation finding something so simple, but it just came out of me. Now, if I have a reaction such as that for something so trivial and silly, we can understand the expressions of joy that come from the two amazing women that we read about in our passage today. This is such an amazing text. I know I've read it many times, but as with what happens when you have to preach on a passage, you realize how little you pay attention to the story sometimes. Often when I read the Bible, and maybe it's the same way for you, I'm looking forward to the next big thing in the story, and I just find myself skimming over some pretty important stuff.
It's like referring to the middle of the country as flyover states, right? People think nothing happens in them, but when you drive through and you take the time to look and to pay attention, what do you find? You find unbelievable beauty. You find hard working people that make the country work. And you find the same thing as we come to this story today. It might be something we read over hoping to get to the birth of Jesus, but it is a beautiful expression of God's mercy in God's grace, and it sets the stage for who Jesus is and how he fulfills what was promised about is coming. As we look at this passage this morning, we're going to just break it down into two points. Just looking at the way that the text is physically laid out on the page, I'm sure you probably guessed how this is going to be separated. First, we are going to see Elizabeth's reaction to her blessing from God. Mary has been told by the angel Gabriel that her relative Elizabeth is pregnant at her advanced age, and so she goes to visit her. From this visit comes multiple expressions of praise, and we see that the big story in the gospel of Luke is the coming of Jesus.
The women are overjoyed and the Holy spirit is at work. Secondly, we see Mary's expression of praise at the statement of Elizabeth. She is overcome with joy and she acknowledges what has happened to her. God has visited her in grace, and he is going to do a wondrous work through the child that is now in her womb. This is the one. This is the one that we've been waiting for. It's the Messiah. It's Jesus, the one who will crush the head of the servant. We find ourselves in this story of these two amazing women who've been blessed by amazing news from the angel Gabriel. And we see that Mary arose and quickly made her way to the town in Judah where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived. Now, it doesn't tell us exactly where they lived, but it must have been somewhere near Jerusalem because as we read a couple of weeks ago, Zechariah serves as a priest in the temple. And considering the limitations of travel in the first century, they wouldn't have lived too far away because commuting wouldn't have enabled him to get on a train to go into the city or to get in on a carpool and take the high occupancy vehicle lane to get there faster and to save gas, right?
That's not the way things work. And so we can imagine just how close they must have lived to Jerusalem. As we think about Mary in this journey, you can see on this map, I've circled the cities that we're talking about. The top circle is Nazareth, the bottom one is Jerusalem. They aren't too close to each other. They're roughly 65 miles away. That doesn't seem like much to you and I. Many of you put in that many miles on a daily basis, maybe more. But imagine walking that far. This would be a substantial journey. Going to Sioux Falls from here doesn't seem like a big deal. But what if you had to walk it? You'd have to plan meals and places to stay and to rest. For Mary, this was likely a three or four day journey, and this journey is ordained by God. But when we think about why Mary went through this effort, we can really understand why she goes to see this relative that she has likely, rarely ever seen in her life. Given the distance between them and thinking about the significant age gap between the two women, it's likely they probably didn't know each other all that well.
Mary is a relatively young lady, and Elizabeth is quite old. But Mary and Elizabeth have a unique bond, don't they? With these children that they're carrying, they have a very distinct and unique bond. Elizabeth Elizabeth. Who else is going to understand what's happening here? She's an old, barren woman who now is pregnant. People will be overjoyed with her that this is happening, but they don't understand. And think about Mary. It won't be long until Mary is showing, and she's not married. Her honor will be questioned, and she has to know this is coming. She has to know this is going to happen. Who will believe her and understand her like Elizabeth can. Their bond is more than just being relatives. Their greater bond is the fact that they are favored servants of the Lord who know that God is at work to save his people and that they are instruments for his glory and for his purposes. And so after the journey to spend time with this relative that she would have had a unique bond with, Mary would have likely have been weary from her travels. And she made her way into the home of Elizabeth and Zechariah.
But we see that the response that she receives from her greeting will elicit a response of praise from Elizabeth and from Mary. This all starts with a reaction from an unlikely source. Elizabeth, here's the greeting from Mary, and something happens. The baby leaps in her womb. She's roughly six months along, and surely she has felt movement before. But this is described as the baby be leaping. Remember what we were told about John the Baptist two weeks ago when we were told of his coming? The baby that Elizabeth is going to have is going to be filled with the Holy spirit from the room. I mentioned then that this It didn't surprise us because the Holy spirit coming upon us has nothing to do with us. It doesn't have to do with our actions. It has to do with God's grace, his election of us. So if the Holy spirit so wishes that a baby in the womb would be filled with his presence, it will be so. That's how God works. We get proof of this truth as we see what happens here at merely the sound of the voice of Mary, the child leaps within his mother's womb.
This is significant because the child not only knows that Mary is present with the Messiah within here, but it tells us something about how God values the lives of the unborn and of children. There's a recurring theme about the value of children and the importance of being fruitful and multiplying. There is a repeating theme of the blessing of children in scripture and the responsibility of raising them in the faith. We value life because God values life. We value children. God displays this not only by bringing salvation to his people through the birth of a child, but by showing here the activity of the unborn, John the Baptist, when he comes into contact with Mary, who is carrying the yet unborn savior of the world. With this activity from the unborn child in her womb, we see that Elizabeth is filled with the Holy spirit. She makes some extraordinary statements here. She says that Mary is blessed among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. We don't know what Elizabeth knows and when she knows it, but now we can see that she understands. This truth is being revealed through her. Mary is carrying the promised one, and God has shown Mary great favor.
Remember, there is no indication in Luke that God was looking down and looking for the best woman to pick for this job of carrying the savior. That's not how it worked. Mary is blessed because God has bestowed his favor and his grace and his mercy upon her. We also see that the fruit of the womb is blessed. She knows who the child is because she says, And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord, should come to me. What an amazing, unbelievable statement. Elizabeth gets it, doesn't she? She knows that the child in Mary's womb is her Lord. The sense in the story is that Mary left very soon after the announcement from the angel. She's not showing. And yet Elizabeth knows all this about the baby. She knows that this unborn child is her Lord. There are many who claim that Jesus is merely a good teacher and that the Bible doesn't teach that he is God or that Jesus had a specific purpose in coming, that he would accomplish our salvation. Now, they are free to believe such things. I reject that. I think it's foolish, but they're free to believe it.
But to do that, they have to reject the clear teaching of God's Holy word, and specifically what Luke is showing us here. This child that we've been waiting for isn't just a wise sage who is going to be born to teach us a better way to be human. Right here, before it's even apparent that his mother is pregnant, we can't even tell that this is happening. We have a Elizabeth, through the inspiration of the Holy spirit, confessing Jesus as Lord. How amazing is that? This isn't the only thing that Elizabeth has to tell us, though. We also see that she says that Mary is blessed for believing the promise. Now, we've seen some recurring themes so far in the Book of Luke, going back to what we've seen in Genesis. This has already been some stuff that we have seen. Here's another one. We read that Mary is blessed for believing God. Remember back to Abraham and other Old Testament characters. Remember what it says about them, and specifically, Abraham. Holy scripture says that he believed God, and it was credited him as righteousness. The same idea is here. Mary has faith and believes God, just as Abraham had faith and believed the promise of God.
The same theme is happening. Mary has faith. She believes God. So far, we've seen this arrival of Mary to the home of Elizabeth and the response of the child in Elizabeth's womb. Now, by the words of Elizabeth, we see the confirmation of who this child is And now we find Mary's response to the confirmation of what the angel had revealed to her as we move on to our second point and see Mary's response. And this is a well-known part of scripture known as the Magnificat. As we read it, we see this is the same important theme that I've been mentioning that's going on throughout Luke and throughout the passage. God's mercy and grace is on display here. It's because God is going to do a great thing to redeem his people. And we see it right away. The soul of Mary magnifies the Lord. And notice in who her spirit rejoices. God, her savior. Again, she is not expecting that this is going to be a wise age that is going to be born from her. That's not what she thinks the angel came to tell her about. The angel didn't say, Mary, you're going to have a wise guy who's going to be born from you and give you good advice.
No, she understands that this is a savior The one that is developing right now within her is the one who will save the people of God. In this, she understands that it's by his grace that he has come to her, because look what she says, that God looked upon his servant in her humble estate. She knows that this isn't because of her own high level of stature before God. The favor that she has been shown by God is just like the favor that God has always shown to his people. God's people do not rise up to him. We don't climb the ladder to God. God stoops down. He rescues us, and he brings us to himself. In her song of praise here, she acknowledges changes the significance of what God has done and is doing. All generations will call her blessed. God's work in here is not just for the moment. It's such an important thing that people will speak of it for generations and know how God has worked in Mary going forward. In these words, what do we continue to see? This is about more than just the miraculous birth that's coming. It's about God's mercy, a mercy that is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
Notice how this idea of mercy flies in the face of many of the people who have expected the Messiah for so long. They were expecting, and we see this as we continue through Luke, we see that they're expecting a political leader, someone who will restore the Kingdom of Israel and give the Romans the boot, send them right out the door. That's what they're expecting in the Messiah. Messiah. But what is Mary more concerned about here? She talks about the mercy of the individual, the mercy that God has for people. It's for those who fear him, and it continues from generation to generation. And so with this language, it's really important that we understand the covenantal nature of what is being stated here. This phrase echoes a lot of statements from the Old Testament about the promises of God being for generation to generation. God is going to keep his promise, and it isn't just for you, it's for your children. This is saying more than just, it's going to last for a long time. When Mary is saying from generation to generation, she's not saying a long time. The idea is that this is going to be passed down, that God is going to be faithful, that this is covenantal.
As we continue down through Mary's song of praise, we continue to see that she is using imagery and language that would have been very familiar to her as a young, faithful Hebrew woman. Remember back to God leading his people out of Egypt. The Old Testament refers to him leading with his mighty arm. This isn't the only past event being called upon. We're told that God scatters the proud. He brought down mighty from thrones. He exaltet those in humble estate. Mary is recalling the mighty works of God that she knows from knowing her Old Testament as a young, faithful woman. And you and I can remember the stories that she's probably recalling. There's so many examples of these things. God scattered his people many times in judgment, and he brought mighty down from their positions of power. We can remember those who were weak being lifted up from their humble estates. God does all of these things for the purpose of bringing salvation to his people. And Mary calls upon this merciful God and the promises he has made as her song concludes here. In Listening in this promise to her with the coming of Jesus, she looks to the past, right?
God has helped Israel. He continually remembers his mercy. We see her remembering that God spoke to them. The nations around them were living lost in their pagan worship. They were lost in unbelief and idolatry. What was the difference between them and their lost pagan neighbors. What was the difference? God spoke to them. He revealed himself by speaking to them and making promises to them. It wasn't that they had discovered all the right stuff about God on their own. Instead, he came to them in his mercy and he spoke. He spoke to his people. That was the difference. That's why they were different from the world around them. He spoke to the Father's and to the offspring of Abraham forever. Mary is recalling the promise that God had made to Abraham's offspring, that they would be as numerous as the stars, and through Abraham, all the nations of the Earth will be blessed. God has spoken. He has revealed himself, and this is cause for praise. The child that is developing in the womb of the one who is singing this song is the fulfillment of the promise and the center of what God has spoken to his people.
As our passage for today closes up, we see that Mary hung around for about three months and then returned home. We aren't told why Mary remains for such a long time, but she spent a lot of time with Elizabeth. Again, there's this unique bond that these two women who are blessed have. This only could have grown. This bond that they have could have only grown as they spent time together contemplating the amazing work that God was doing to bring salvation to them. And so may you and I contemplate the amazing work of God and consider how we can apply this passage to our lives in the coming week. Now, the focus of this passage is the praise that is brought to God for what he has done and what he will do. That's where our application lies this morning. Let your soul magnify the Lord. When we look at the song of Mary, what do we see? That she is finding joy and praising God, her savior. Her soul magnifies the Lord. She looks back to the promises that were fulfilled, and now she looks forward to the promise that is to come in the Messiah in her womb.
This is what a life of praise looks like. It believes the promises that were and the promise yet to come. For us, we look to the past and the finished work of Christ for us, and we magnify the Lord as we look to the future and hope for our future redemption and the fulfillment of the full promise of salvation. As an example of this, I want to tell you about what I experienced on Friday night. It was a beautiful example of this. I led music and preached at Cornerstone Prison Church this past Friday. Now, one of the songs that chose to lead was Amazing Grace, My Chains are Gone. I'm guessing most of you are familiar with the song, but just in case you are not, it's the traditional words of Amazing Grace for the verses of the song, but a new chorus was added that says, My chains are gone. I've been set free. My God, my savior has ranced me. Now, if you've been to the prison church with us, maybe they've sang this song, and you've probably heard what it's like to have a primarily male audience singing. It's very good. Here are these prisoners singing, My chains are Gone.
All was a profound thing for me. It was one of the reasons I chose to have that song. I knew what to expect. I'd heard them sing it before, they belted out. But I'd never been up front before. Never before had I been up front. We got to the chorus, and I said, My chains are Gone, and it was over overwhelming, the sound coming from those men. I actually stepped back from the microphone, overcome. The first time through, I couldn't sing. The second time through the chorus, I just took it in. I just took it in. It was amazing. It was moving. And as I was thinking about this idea of letting our souls magnify the Lord as a part of how we live our lives, that we do this while we remember the mercy of God in the past and hope for the future to come, the man that were singing on that Friday night came to mind for me. Because for them, when they sing that song, they remember the grace that they have been shown to have their sins forgiven. But they also looked with joy to the future, to the hope that they have because they're singing about their chains being gone.
But for them, in a very real way, their chains are not gone. They're not gone. They live with them every day. I left there that night zapped my pink pass, turned in my pepper spray and my radio, and I went home. Those men went back to cells. But they sang that song with a conviction that I could only hope to have. They have an understanding not only of how God has forgiven their sins, but an understanding of future hope that's a beautiful example for you and I. It isn't just in singing as I preached And I proclaim the gospel of God in his mercy, sending Jesus to live for us and to die for us, to bear the wrath of God, and that he rose again to ensure us of eternal life. I can look out and there are certain faces in the crowd that I know to look at because the joy of that truth of the gospel radiates from those men. You know what the most amazing thing about that is? The guys I look at, I know they're lifers. They're lifers. They have an understanding of the gospel as being their only hope in a way that you and I can't.
But ultimately, you and I should be able to understand their hope because it's the same hope that you and I have. You and I have been set free from sinning Christ, but we still live with the consequences of our sin. We will not be truly free from sin until the 'The Lord returns or until we breathe our last. ' So as we live this life, how do we do it? We look to the truth that our sins have been forgiven, but we also look forward to the ultimate final salvation that one day our chains will be fully gone. So may we think about that truth. May our souls magnify the Lord because of the good news of Christ's life, death, resurrection, and us. May we find joy in our salvation as we live and love and serve in God's world. Amen.
