|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
For the past three years, I’ve been writing Psalms On Saturday in Interruptions.
Today, I’ve changed the title to “Psalms On Saturday ~ A Magnificat Song,” featuring Mary’s Psalm (song) about her pregnancy and the upcoming birth of Jesus in Luke 1:46-55.
Mary sang, “My soul magnifies the Lord” (Luke 1:46b, ESV).
Reading the section heading for Mary’s song in most translations, we note Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat. It’s called Magnificat or Latin for Magnificent! And from this word, we understand the inspiration for Mary’s Song.
Mary was fifteen years old when she became pregnant with Jesus. During the time of Jesus, women could attend synagogue and learn Scripture. She, along with the rest of Israel, knew the Old Testament prophecies of a coming Messiah.
She, along with the rest of Israel, had been waiting hundreds of years for the prophecies to be fulfilled.
And when Mary said to the angel Gabriel, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38), she understood completely the significance of her pregnancy!
Soon after her conversation with Gabriel, Mary traveled to visit her cousin Elizabeth, the soon-to-be mother of John the Baptist. When Mary arrived, Elizabeth said to her, “Behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44).
Magnificat! Mary sings. . .
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed (Luke 1:47b-48).
N.T. Wright, an Oxford scholar and one of my favorite Bible scholars, writes less-than-scholarly commentaries under the less-than-scholarly name of Tom Wright. These commentaries are more easily understood by the even lesser scholar, Pastor Grant, and perhaps by you as well.
N.T. or Tom writes about Mary’s song. . .
It’s the gospel before the gospel, a fierce bright shout of triumph thirty weeks before Bethlehem, thirty years before Calvary and Easter. It goes with a swing and a clap and a stamp. It’s all about God, and it’s all about revolution. And it’s all because of Jesus – Jesus who’s only just been conceived, not yet born, but who has made Elisabeth’s baby leap for joy in her womb and has made Mary giddy with excitement and hope and triumph.
There’s no way N.T. Wright would use the word “giddy” in his scholastic tomes, but I’m glad he used it as Tom Wright because the word explains how a 15-year-old girl would feel upon realizing that she, as a virgin, would soon give birth to the Messiah.
For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation (Luke 1:49-50).
Whether we are scholarly or giddy or both scholarly and giddy — all of us from generation to generation — should sing Mary’s Song.
It’s Magnificat!
Amen. Peace out!