My soul exalts the Lord

Luke 1:26-56 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. ³⁰ And 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 give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; 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 His kingdom will have no end.” ³⁴ But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the holy Child will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, even your relative Elizabeth herself has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called infertile is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

³⁹ Now at this time Mary set out and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And how has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

“My soul exalts the Lord,
⁴⁷ And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
⁴⁸ For He has had regard for the humble state of His bond-servant;
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
⁴⁹ For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
⁵⁰ And His mercy is to generation after generation
Toward those who fear Him.
⁵¹ He has done mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
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 the rich away empty-handed.
⁵⁴ He has given help to His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy,
⁵⁵ Just as He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and his descendants forever.”

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

As believers it is probably nearly impossible to count the times we have prayed as Jesus taught us to pray saying: Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Are we really willing though to seek and follow God’s will? In today’s text it says: Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the holy Child will be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth herself has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called infertile is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.  How many of us, if we were just told that our whole life was going to be turned upside down, would answer: Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word?

In Matthew 16:24 Jesus says: “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.”  Keep in mind that when He was on the cross, Jesus said: “It is finished!” (John 19:30) He has fully paid and fully accomplished all that we need for our forgiveness and for all of God’s promises for us. Our cross then is not a cross of sacrifice and suffering, but rather it is denying self; selfishness and self will. It is prioritizing the will of God above our own will. Here’s the thing, submitting to God’s will is not difficult. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says: “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”  On the other hand, when the Lord met Saul on the road to Damascus, in Acts 26:14-15, it says: When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.’  Goads are sharp pointed sticks used to keep working animal going in the right direction. Our struggling and striving is an indication that we are kicking against the goads. It is better and easier to be yoked to Christ, to willingly submit to Him and so to God’s will, than to kick against the goads. Consider Jonah, who because he resisted God’s will, found himself in the belly of a whale. Walking and working with God, we will find rest.

Regardless of what things we may be struggling and striving with, may we not strive against the will of God. May our response be like Mary’s. May our declaration be: “My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bond-servant; For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. And His mercy is to generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, And sent the rich away empty-handed. He has given help to His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, Just as He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”   Amen.