PART ONE by James Fire; PART TWO by Sonny Islas
PART ONE-HOLY CHILD, DIVINE CHRIST
LUKE 1:26-45
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled [disturbed, alarmed] at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was [I.O.W. “what could this possibly mean??”]. 30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name JESUS.
32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." 34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" 35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
36 "Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
37 "For with God nothing will be impossible." 38 Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. 39 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that [her] babe leaped in [the] womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 "But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 "For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord."
Now let’s break this down a bit and examine a few points in the text:
29 But when [Mary] saw [Gabriel], she was troubled [disturbed, alarmed] at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was [I.O.W. “what could this possibly mean??”].
Imagine if an angel suddenly appeared to you with a hand-delivered message from the LORD GOD Almighty? Angels didn’t regularly appear in those days any more than they do today, so as shocked as you would be were this to happen to you, so was she! And she couldn’t make heads or tails of this angelic message!
30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name JESUS.
GOD’s favor came upon this young Jewish woman of faith. Why? On GOD’s side, it’s an act purely of grace, and on Mary’s side, her humble heart, for she recognized the “lowly state of His maidservant” (vs. 48) and acknowledged that GOD will “exalt the lowly” (vs. 52).
The LORD’s parents didn’t choose His name like they did His step-brothers (Jacob, Joseph, Simon and Judah) and His step-sisters. His Name was given to Him by His Father in heaven! Names were important in biblical days, that more often than not had significant meaning for the bearer.
Abraham: “father of many nations”; Isaac: “laughter”; Jacob: “supplanter, deceiver”/Israel “prince of GOD”; David “beloved of GOD”; Cephas/Peter: “a stone” or “a small rock”.
For the child of Mary, the Son of the Father – His Name in Hebrew is Y’shua, which is a contraction of YHWH’shua which literally means, “Our GOD is our Salvation”. That was His Name, that is His mission!
32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
Her Son is “the Son of the Highest” which is a clear declaration of His Deity. How’s that? Just as any human father is a member of the human race, so also is their son a member. In the same way, the Father is a member of the Trinity (“Godhead”) just like the only begotten Son of the Highest is a member of the Godhead (COL 2:9).
We’re in the season of gift-giving – but no one outgives GOD the Father Who gave His Son the Name Y’shua, and He will also give His Son “the throne of His father David” as well as the Gentile nations (PSA 2:8).
Question: the throne of David – is that figurative or literal? Why then do so many so-called Bible scholars claim that this expression is only figurative, not to be taken literally?
2 SAM 7:10-13 specifically tells us that GOD is establishing His people Israel (vs. 10) and a House of David (royal lineage) that shall endure (vs. 11); the Messiah who is David’s descendent as well as GOD made flesh, and His kingdom aka the kingdom of Israel (ACTS 1:6-7), will be established “FOREVER” (vss. 12-13) with the throne of David set in the holy city of Jerusalem.
33 "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
The LORD Jesus Christ provided ample proof that He is the Messiah-King of Israel, and that He will establish His Millennial Reign after the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (the Seven Year Tribulation; FYI, on the SBC YouTube channel you can find these two teachings I did on The Millennial Reign of Christ and Messianic Miracles).
34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" 35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
Gabriel visited Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist six months prior to this point and with similar news of GOD’s miraculous plans. Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth who were “well advanced in years.” (vs. 7) – nevertheless they were going to have a son!
Zacharias’s response? It seemed similar to Mary’s:
LUKE 1:18
"…How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years."
So why did the angel strike Zacharias dumb, unable to speak until John was born, but not Mary? You can tell by Gabriel’s response to their questions, their attitude.
Zacharias was struck dumb because “[he] did not believe” that they could have a son in their old age.
The way that Gabriel responds to Mary reveals that she is simply baffled about how she would conceive a child when she hadn’t had any relations with a man (she was virgin – that is, “a young maiden” AND “not yet coupled together with a man”). So Gabriel explains the procedure by which the Spirit of GOD created a body for Y’shua.
Christ fulfilled more than 300 Old Testament prophecies recorded hundreds, if not thousands of years before His birth. Such as these words from the prophet Isaiah:
ISAIAH 7:14
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel.
Now here is something noteworthy about this prophecy. These words spoken by Isaiah the prophet were given during the reign of King Ahaz and spoken initially to this irreverent king.
He and all the house of David were given some bad news that set their hearts pounding:
"Syria's forces are deployed in Ephraim." (ISA 7:1-2).
But the LORD spoke to His people the following word of assurance:
ISAIAH 7:4-9
"4 and say to him: 'Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah.” 5 'Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, 6 "Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel" - 7 'thus says the Lord GOD: "It shall not stand, Nor shall it come to pass. 8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, And the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken, So that it will not be a people. 9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, Surely you shall not be established."'
And the LORD didn’t stop there!
ISAIAH 7:10-11
10 Moreover the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 "Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above."
In other words, GOD was saying to this king, “the skies the limit!” I’ll give the most amazing miraculous sign you could ever imagine. Just name it!”
But Ahaz feigned piety and said he would never test the LORD – and you can tell that this attitude wearied GOD (vs.13), so He then turns to the entire house of David and pronounces this wildly incredible prophecy (beyond the skies and into the stellar!)!
Can you just picture the Almighty rolling up His sleeves as He pronounces this revelation? “A virgin shall conceive and bear a son”!! How’s that going to happen??!
Liberal scholars who deny the virgin birth are quick to point out that the Hebrew word used here for “virgin” is not betulah (which just means “virgin”) but rather, the word almah is used (which can mean “virgin” but also “young maiden, or unmarried”). They focus on these aspects of almah and disregard the other that speaks of a virgin.
But how many have seen young, unmarried women giving birth to a newborn baby as an unbelievable miracle?? That doesn’t fit our text does it? So why then isn’t betulah used instead of almah? Because Mary was the perfect fulfillment of “almah” for she was a young maiden (not a fully mature or old woman) and unmarried (she was only the betrothed of Joseph) and she also happened to be virgin!
What’s the big deal about a virgin birth? Why do people (like us) who claim to take the Bible seriously make such a big deal about it?
For the answer to that question, check this out FROM The MIND Of FIRE Blog: A TRUE VIRGIN – MOTHER Of The MESSIAH, GOD The SON!
These hundreds of Messianic prophecies, like biblical threads, form a tapestry of truth woven by the LORD presenting the portrait for us of the Son of GOD. Born with a body small enough to fit in a manger and yet He grew up as the GOD-Man with a heart big enough to hold us, His dear ones, forever and ever in His grace and truth!
PART TWO by Sonny Islas-MARY SINGS TO HER SAVIOR
Not long after Gabriel the angel told Mary the good news about her being chosen by God the Father to supernaturally bear His Son, Mary breaks forth in song - she erupts in poetry and praise. She couldn’t help but sing to her Savior.
And as we read her beautiful song together (The Magnificat - pointing to Mary magnifying God through song) we will learn a lot from her. We can learn a whole lot about someone by their words - by what they say or in this case by what they sing.
And while most girls of Mary's age sang the godless songs of Rome, Mary sang the Scriptures!
LUKE 1:46-55
46 And Mary said “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has looked upon the humble state of His slave, For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed. 49 For the Mighty One has done great things for me, And holy is His Name. 50 And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. 51 He has done a mighty deed with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty-handed. 54 He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, 55 As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his seed forever.”
The first thing that is evident about Mary’s song or poem is that it is filled with Old Testament scripture and thought (such as Hannah’s prayer in 1 SAMUEL 2, and PSALM 103:17 and DEUTERONOMY 7:9 and others). This tells us that Mary was a young women of the Word. She was so well versed that she couldn’t help but sing the scriptures!
Are we men, women and children of the Word? Do we read it enough to recite it with joy like Mary did here?
The more we read God’s Word the more it will flow out from our hearts and mouths. I know a little something about singing the Scriptures like Mary. When I write songs, I can’t help but think of Scripture. One of the most recent songs I wrote is called “Closer,” and it resembles JOHN 15 where Jesus says that He is the Vine and we are the branches.
Charles Spurgeon once said of John Bunyan, “If you prick him anywhere, he will bleed Bible.” I think the same can be said of Mary (and I hope that we all aim for that).
Bible loving people are just the kind of people that grab God’s attention.
ISAIAH 66:2b says,
“…But to this one I will look, to him [or her] who is humble and contrite [or repentant] of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”
This speaks of having a humble heart of obedience and a serious interest and reverence for God’s Word. In other words - When you have your eyes in the Book of books, Jesus has His eyes on you!
Just so that we know where Mary is coming from here in this spontaneous musical outburst of joy, Mary is magnifying God for His faithfulness to humanity and to the Nation of Israel.
For example, here in LUKE 1, verses 54 and 55 says:
54 He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, 55 As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his seed forever.”
God promised Adam and Eve that the women’s seed would someday crush the serpent's head (Satan; GEN 3:15) – the “Seed” spoken of here was none other than Jesus the Savior (GAL 3:16). God promised Abraham that through his seed (again namely through Emmanual - God with us), all nations would be blessed (GEN 18:18; 22:18) – meaning that Jesus is the only Savior the entire world has.
God also promised King David that the Eternal King would come from his lineage – from the tribe of Judah (2 SAM 7) – and it came to pass as Jesus was born to Mary and his stepdad Joseph. Mary’s song is a song directed at God being true to His Word. God promised to send a Savior and now He’s present in her womb! So she sings!
Looking at verses 46 and 47 again, 46 And Mary said
“My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
Notice Mary says, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced…”
This points to Mary praising God from the bottom of her heart, from the core of her being, from the inmost part of her person. Her praise was not surfacy, superficial or hypocritical, it was the real deal – pure sincerity and genuineness.
Mary was the exact kind of person that God looks for as Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well in JOHN 4
JOHN 4:23
“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.”
Mary was the total opposite of the Pharisees and many other common people in First Century Jerusalem, of whom Jesus said in:
MARK 7:6 …This people honors me with their lips, BUT their hearts are far from away Me.”
Notice in verse 47 that Mary calls “God my Savior.”
This clearly shows us that Mary knew these truths:
That she was not immaculate (or sinless). She too was a sinner in need of the Savior.
And her baby boy was also her Creator, her God and Redeemer Who came to rescue her from the penalty of breaking the Laws of God which is eternal torment. She also understood this from what Joseph was told by the angel Gabriel as stated in:
MATTHEW 1:21
“And she will bear a Son; and you will call His Name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins [this includes Mary].”
By the way, this is one of the main reasons why so many of the Jewish people in Jesus’ day rejected Him, because they didn’t want salvation (or freedom) from the power of sin (remember – “He will save His people from their sins”), but rather they wanted salvation (or freedom) from the Roman Empire!
They just wanted a better quality of temporary life, not eternal life in Christ (much like the majority in our broken world today – just give me some temporary relief… who needs Jesus?!”). While Jesus wanted their names written in the Lambs Book of Life, they just wanted their names erased from Rome’s census (or registration)!
Looking now at verse 48 which says,
“For He has looked upon the humble state of His slave, For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed. 49 For the Mighty One has done great things for me, And holy is His name.”
When Mary says that God took notice of her “humble state” as His slave, this could imply that Mary was most likely in a tough situation in life where she was rejected by others for some reason (maybe due to her godliness?) because God loves to bless those who are rejected and mocked!
As when Hannah couldn’t have children, Peninnah, her rival, mocked her - BUT GOD chose to exalt Hannah by blessing her with baby Samuel, one of the greatest prophets of old.
(Note from James: Incidentally you can read a similar ‘Magnificat’ by Hannah in 1 SAMUEL 2! And the LORD blessed her with five more children after her first born, Samuel!)
When Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah because Rachal was a hottie (better looking) - GOD chose to bless Leah with her son Judah, where the Kings of Israel come from – such as King David AND King Jesus.! I have a hunch that young Mary was somehow unjustly mistreated.
Keep in mind that when you choose to belittle other people, the LORD may bless them in a way that teaches you a painful lesson.
In verse 48 Mary says,
“For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed.”
And this is true! It’s been 2,000 years and we’re still counting her blessed today.
It’s typical for mother’s to take pride in their children:
One mom may say, “I gave birth to a U.S President!” Another mom may say, “I gave birth to a top medical surgeon!” Another mom may say, “I gave birth to an ‘A-list’ movie star!” But what mom can say with a humble and happy attitude, “I gave birth to the Savior of the World!” and “I gave birth to God (wrapped in human flesh)!” – only Mary!
In verse 50 Mary says,
“And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him.”
In this song, Mary highlights three of God’s awesome attributes or characteristics:
She calls Him Mighty, Holy and Merciful.
And listen, these three attributes should cause us to sing for joy because if God was mighty and holy, but not merciful, He would be absolutely terrifying and unapproachable - BUT! He is mighty, He is holy and He is merciful!
And He’s been showing saving mercy to millions of lost and undeserving sinners from generation to generation!
And God only shows mercy to those who truly fear Him – who always turn from sinning and are in awe of His great grace.
Lastly verses 51-53 say,
“51 He has done a mighty deed with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart (arm swing gesture). 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty-handed.”
This reminds us of what the prophet Daniel said:
DANIEL 2:21a
“…He removes kings and establishes kings…”
And it’s true! Where is Nimrod and his tower/castle? Where are the Pharaohs? Where are the Nebuchadnezzars? Where are the prominent Greek Philosophers? Where are the Caesars? Where are the Herods? Where are the Chief Priests and Pharisees of Jesus’ day – oh yeah, they were replaced with 12 insignificant men Jesus called His disciples and Apostles!
These nobodies were so exalted that their names are engraved on the 12 foundation stones of the New Jerusalem!
The day is coming when all unsaved political and so-called “spiritual leaders who are now powerful, influential, rich, and prideful” will be replaced with the Church of Christ! Only those who have humbled themselves and have fully yielded to Jesus as LORD will rule and reign with Him during the Millennial Reign and beyond.
Mary basically sang about all of this!
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