Mary Magnified

 

Praise 17

 

          In Luke 1.46-55, we find what is commonly known as Mary's Magnificat, her paean of praise to God after she received word from Heaven that she would bear the Christ-child. It reminds me of Hannah's hymn to the Lord in I Samuel 2 after the birth of her son, Samuel. Like Hannah, Mary is here praising God for her Son, who was Himself the fulfillment of so many Old Testament promises and prophecies.

          Contrary to what the Roman Catholic Church teaches, Mary was not perpetually a virgin; Jesus had siblings. She was not the mother of God; Jesus was eternally pre-existent. She was a sinner. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is a bunch of bologna, as evidenced in this passage in which she plainly calls God her Saviour. She was not received bodily into Heaven, ala the Assumption of Mary; there is zero scriptural support for such. She is not the mediatrix of the church, bringing prayers directed toward her to her Son; Scripture is clear that Jesus Himself is the only mediator between God and man. She is not the Queen of Heaven; Scripture clearly states that God's bride is the church and is now only espoused, not yet married. Nor has she appeared in Lourdes, Guadalupe, Fatima, or on Fullerton Street underneath the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago.

          As Bible-believing Baptists, we deny the foolishness of Mariology and Mariolatry, yet at the same time, we strongly affirm the Virgin Birth. Further, we assert she was a tremendously spiritual woman. Yes, she was a sinner, but a saved one, and one who clearly knew the Lord well and loved Him very much.

          The title of today's post does not mean I intend to magnify Mary. I believe I have a respectful, balanced view of her. No, the title of today's post indicates that I intend to point out she, too, magnified the Lord. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord. (Luke 1.46)

          So she did. But what does that mean?

          Negatively speaking, to magnify the Lord is not to make God bigger. That cannot be done. He measures Heaven with a span, holds oceans in His palm, and counts the dust. (Isaiah 40.12) He has never been taught anything. (Isaiah 40.13) The world’s nations are like a drop in a bucket to Him. (Isaiah 40.15) The cedars of Lebanon entire would not be enough to fire His altar, nor would all the cattle in the world be sufficient to fill it. (Isaiah 40.16) No image can capture His likeness. (Isaiah 40.18) He sits on the earth, and we are so far beneath Him that we are like grasshoppers. (Isaiah 40.22)

          In addition, you and I cannot make God do anything. I believe in prayer and the promises about prayer in the Bible, but the only reason we have influence with Him is because He allows us. In point of fact, no human being, however powerful, rational, emotional, argumentative, persuasive, or slick, can make God do anything. He is the First Cause. He is El Elyon, the Most High God. Before Him, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. I cannot make a God like that do anything, let alone become bigger.

          So if magnifying God is not making Him bigger, what is it then?

          What will you do if I point out to you a beautiful blue jay and hand you a pair of binoculars? As you lift them to your eyes, you will magnify that blue jay. You will not make the beautiful blue bird any larger, yet you will see it better than ever. As Mary walked with God, she drew closer to Him. As she drew closer to Him, He began to fill more and more of her vision.

          Our God is a great, big God. And as we walk with Him, He fills more and more of our vision. He fills our priorities, our daydreams, our thinking, our focus, our emphasis, our goals, our marriages, our families, our minds, our hearts, yea, our entire lives. We see that it all begins with God. We know that it all ends with God. We begin to view everything – amusements, pop culture, music, friends, social media, news, politics, money, sex, hobbies, relationships – through a lens as to how it relates to God. In short, to magnify the Lord is to have Him fill our vision.

          How wonderful this is. It is wonderful, first, because it produces in us those very qualities we see now so clearly in Him. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (I John 3.2) What fills our vision influences us to act in the same way, to be the same as it is. You see this in the hip-hop culture, for example. The boys who magnify it reflect it in their clothes, their walk, their talk, and their value system. God does the same but with the opposite effect. He fills our vision and produces in us Christ-likeness.

          It is wonderful, second, for it fulfills God’s plan for my life. In other words, God intends for me to magnify Him. This is why He created me. Paul gave fervent voice to this desire. According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. (Philippians 1.20)

          It is wonderful, third, in that it fulfills God’s plans for Himself. Thus I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 38.23) When I magnify the Lord, I become more like Him, I fulfill His plan for my life, and I help Him to achieve His own mission. Could anything be more wonderful?

          No, Mary should not be magnified, but Mary did magnify. She magnified her Saviour. Such was not just for the Virgin Mary two millennia agone. It is for each of us in every age as well. Let thy name be magnified for ever. (II Samuel 7.26) Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever. (I Chronicles 17.24) O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. (Psalm 34.3) Let the Lord be magnified. (Psalm 35.27) The Lord be magnified. (Psalm 40.16)

          When Mary receives the staggering news of her supernatural pregnancy, it is not thoughts of her perilous condition that fill her mind. Yes, she is espoused and risks a marriage preceding divorce. Yes, after Joseph's rejection, she may be rejected by her own family as well. No, they could not be expected to believe her story. She probably had precious little means of financial support. This means she would have to face this pregnancy alone, raise this child alone, and be alone for the rest of her life, an outcast in her own village. Yet it was not thoughts of herself that filled her vision in those days of travel from Nazareth to Judea on her way to visit Elizabeth. It was thoughts of God. He filled her vision until her heart, mind, and voice broke out into this beautiful song of praise to the Lord for fulfilling His promises to His people, Israel.

          Mary magnified the Lord. And what a precious example she here sets for us.