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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJohn Kitto Evening Bible Devotions: July 9
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Luk_1:39-56
They were separated by the extent of more than half the kingdom, and we know not precisely how the journey was made—except that we are quite of opinion that it was not in company with her affianced husband, although the painters so represent it. This would have been adverse to the usages of the time and people. But the journey might, nevertheless, be easily accomplished. Our impression is that she went in a party of friends and neighbors to one of the festivals at Jerusalem; of which party Joseph, as well as her own immediate relatives, may have been. At Jerusalem she would meet Zacharias, who, as a priest, would certainly attend the festival, even if not on actual duty; and having made known her wish to him, would accompany him when he returned to his home.
When she arrived, she was hailed by Elisabeth with a most unexpected greeting. Much had that aged lady pondered who might be that one of David’s line, greater than her own great son, whose path he was to prepare. And when this lowly daughter of that royal house approached her, the singular emotion evinced by the babe in her womb, which a light from heaven enabled her rightly to interpret, convinced her that she whose womb contained that Mighty One stood there before her. To this conviction she gave instant utterance in the joyful salutation—“Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Both had been highly favored—but Mary most; and recognizing in her the mother of Him who was the hope of Israel—that exalted her young relative so highly in her eyes, that although in actual condition of life superior, Elisabeth felt her comparative lowliness. The lesser visits the greater; but here the greater—the mother of the Lord—that unborn Lord, to whose presence her unborn son renders homage, visits her. One cannot but compare her declaration with that of her son, when Jesus came to be baptized of him in the Jordan: “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me!”
This ample and cheering recognition, on the part of one whose counsel she had come to seek, and who could not yet have known what had happened to her—stirred the depths of Mary’s soul within her, and caused her to give vent to her feelings in a fine hymn of thankfulness and triumph. It is full of phrases and images drawn from the Old Testament, and showing how well she had stored her mind from that holy book. Especially does it resemble the song of Hannah, showing that her mind naturally reverted to it, as affording much that was suited to her own condition, and that afforded adequate expression to her own feelings.
She declares her joy, that from her low estate she had been exalted to this high honor. “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” And why? not for what she had done, but for what had been done to her; not for her own perfections and excellences, but because the Lord had given to her the happiness for which so many sighed—because his favor had distinguished her. She was a pious and virtuous woman, endowed with that lowliness of mind which God delights to honor. But she thought not, nor did the angel think, nor did Elisabeth think, that on this account she had been chosen to honor. She felt that she was a sinner before God, and knew that she needed a Savior. She dreamed not therefore of her deservings, but of the favor bestowed upon her. This is the burden of all the utterances that are heard in connection with this great matter. The angel hails her as one “highly favored;” and all her blessedness she herself claims to hold by no other tenure than the sinner who writes, and the sinner who reads, these lines. It was because the Lord had “regarded her low estate.” It was because “He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.” It was all the Lord’s doing, marvellous in her eyes, and she gives Him all the glory of it. If she had set herself down to find out what good thing there was in her, for which she had been thus honored, she would have shown herself but little worthy of the distinction. But she had no such thought—it is all what He has done for her and to her, that engages her thoughts. “It is not in me—it is in Thee,” is the burden of all she says and all she feels.
From her part in this great blessing, her mind reaches forth to its infinite and enduring concernment to the world. She sees that through this event with which her name is for ever connected, the Lord’s mercy will come “upon all them that fear Him from generation to generation.”
In many past times had God equally manifested his almightiness; but never so signally as now had He “shown strength with his arm,” scattering in the imagination of their hearts the proud Jews who were looking anxiously among the great families of Judah for a Messiah leading them to earthly glories, and to the conquest of nations—and little thinking that He was to appear from among the humblest dwellings of the humblest town in Galilee. But this agreed with his ancient dealings with the house of David, where He had “put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree;” and still when the hungry come as suppliants to be fed by Him, their hands are filled with good things—the hungry, to whom bread is life, are fed—while those who come with pretensive claims, as already rich, and who ask without the sharp earnestness of real hunger, are “sent empty away.”
Having glanced at the Lord’s goodness to herself individually, at his goodness to all men, she proceeded to celebrate his special goodness to his people, a man at last appearing for the help of his people according to the ancient promises made to the patriarchs.
Whether she bore in mind that these promises were of larger scope than was usually given to them in her time—and that in Abraham, not only his natural but his spiritual descendants—“all the families of the earth,” were to be blessed, has been somewhat questioned. Some contend that she took the narrow Jewish view of the Messiah’s functions; while others allege that her view, spiritually enlightened, was enabled to see the utmost consequences of the Messiah’s advent. It is hard to say. Most of her words will fall in with either interpretation, and some of them lean strongly to the peculiar Jewish view of the Messiah’s functions. There is no reason why Mary should be expected to have clearer views than the apostles, who did not till after the resurrection entertain any clear notions of their Lord’s spiritual kingdom. It is reasonable to suppose that her knowledge; like theirs, was progressively acquired. It is true she was taught by an angel; but the disciples, who were taught by Christ himself, continued to retain substantially the common Jewish notions of the kingdom He was to establish over the earth, restoring the house of David, and making the Israelites the ruling people of the world.
However interpreted in this respect, the language used by Mary is that of a humble, thankful, and pious heart, praising God in very beautiful poetry—for the piece is poetry, and, as usually defined, almost the only poetry that the New Testament contains.