Luke 1:39-46 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. 46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord ..

I have a video from Homicide Detective J. Warner Wallace. He is a Senior Fellow at the Colson Center and an Adjunct Professor of Apologetics at the Talbot School of Theology. It’s only about three minutes – but it answers the question “Are there many ways to God?”

What makes Christianity unique is Christ Jesus Himself.

He was uniquely born into this world, unlike anyone who has ever been born. It was prophesied of God in the Old Testament that the Messiah or the Christ was going to come into this world uniquely through the Prophet Isaiah. Of all the Prophets of the Old Covenant, ALL heard the Voice of God but very few looked into Heaven. Ezekiel saw into Heaven, and Elijah was snatched up by a chariot of fire. I may be wrong, but the only other Prophet I can think of who saw into Heaven in the Old Testament was Isaiah. Having seen into Heaven, Isaiah was given a special glimpse at the coming Messiah or Christ. He saw the Messiah as the Coming King in:

Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

The “CHILD” would be born, but the “SON” would be given. As the co-eternal Son of God Jesus could never be “born”, as God is never born but has always existed. The Scripture equates Jesus with God. He is “The mighty God”, God become Perfect Man. Jesus is “The everlasting Father”. He said “If you have seen ME, you have seen THE FATHER” (John 14:9). Jesus said, “I and the Father are ONE” (John 10:30). Jesus prayed for His Church, prayed to the Father that “the Church MAY BE ONE and WE ARE ONE” (John 17:22). The Father recognizes the Son as God, saying:

Hebrews 1:8 … THY THRONE, O GOD is forever and ever: the scepter of Thy Kingdom is a right scepter …

And as God is the Great “I AM”, the Eternal Present Tense, the Scripture says of Jesus,

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Isaiah also saw Jesus coming through a virgin named Mary. He wrote of this in:

Isaiah 7:14 (ESV) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The King James renders the Greek ʿalmâ as “A virgin”, but the New American Standard, the Holman Christian Standard, the English Standard, the New International Version, the New King James Version, and the Amplified Bible all render it as “THE virgin”. I think the latter is better. God hand chose Mary to be the mother of Christ’s humanity. The child born of the virgin would be called “Immanuel”, which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

When the Angel came to Mary to tell her that she would have a unique Child – the Messiah – she was told that her cousin Elisabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy. Following the announcement that

Luke 1:39-43 And Mary AROSE in those days, and WENT INTO THE HILL country WITH HASTE, into a city of Juda; 40 … entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

As Mary left Gabriel and traveled to her cousin’s home, the Messiah within her was but a tiny thing – no bigger than the dot at the end of a sentence. God uses little things to do great works!

The fertilized egg begins to divide into groups of cells. There are no distinguishing features to that future child as of yet. And yet when Mary walks into Elisabeth’s home, and as soon as she says “Hello” tiny John the Baptist – six months old still in his mother’s womb – leaps! Elisabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of God overflows her life. And immediately Elisabeth begins to worship God. She recognizes that God has blessed Mary.

Luke 1:42 Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

Elisabeth does not exalt Mary, but recognizes that God has blessed her by using her to fulfill Messianic Prophecy.

Why did God choose Mary?

First, God chose Mary to fulfill the promise He made through Isaiah and to King David. We have already seen that God promised in Isaiah that the Messiah would come of a Virgin. But God also promised King David as well as Isaiah that the Messiah would come through his lineage:

To David God said (2 Samuel 7:12-13, ESV) “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever”.

To the Prophet Isaiah God said, (Isaiah 11:1, ESV) “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”

And to the Prophet Jeremiah God said, (Jeremiah 23:5-6, ESV) “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”

The Messiah MUST come from the lineage of David.

But here is the problem. Among the Jews, the lineage of the children was traced through the male line. Yet the Messiah would be born of a virgin, so there would be NO MALE LINE. How would God resolve this? He did so through BOTH Mary as well as Joseph her fiancee.

My commentary notes that the lineage of Christ in Matthew 1:1-16 is traced through Joseph’s line, the man who would be our Lord’s stepfather. The lineage of Christ in Luke 3:23-38 traces Jesus’ ancestry from MARY’S line.

Second, I believe that God chose both Mary as well as her relative Elisabeth to fulfill Bible Prophecy because both women were humble, God fearing people. Elisabeth, though she will bear a Nazarite Priest from her womb, was not pride filled. She was humbled that God would use her so. God outlined the strict requirements that the Nazarite Priest had to follow (Numbers 6:1-21), but

To my knowledge, there were only THREE Nazarite Priests from the womb: Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist.

It would be easy to be prideful over what God had done with Elisabeth, but she was not so. She recognized that God had blessed Mary, and humbly asked:

Luke 1:43 …. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

God will not save the arrogant, nor will He bless the pride filled. Elisabeth humbled herself before God as all Christians should do. She said:

Luke 1:44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

Elisabeth not only recognized Mary as the mother of the Messiah, but encouraged Mary to believe that God was faithful, and would do as He has said. When believers come together, we do so to encourage one another in our faith. We are to point to the faithfulness of God, just as Elisabeth did with Mary.

Mary Sings In Response To Her Faith

Luke 1:46-47 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.

This portion of Scripture is often called “Mary’s Song” or “The Magnificat” (Which means “My Soul Magnifies”). The books The History and Use of Hymns and Hymn Tunes David R. Breed, 2009 & Favorite Hymns Marjorie Reeves, 2006 states that the following Scriptures were one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns.

Singing is not just a time filler in a service, but is a part of Christian worship. The Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 100:1-2 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!

The Apostles taught the Church to sing. Paul said:

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Ephesians 5:18-20 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Singing does not have to be perfect, but it is to be “to the Lord with your heart”. God does not care if your singing is perfect, Pharisaical perfect, but that you sing to Him WITH YOUR HEART. One Author noted:

“We’re not called to sing because we’re great singers. We sing because God is great and greatly to be praised! And, by God’s design, one of the chief ways we praise him is through song. He is worthy of our song, so we sing! And as we sing, especially for those not naturally gifted, we exercise faith. As we open our mouths to sing, we must believe the truth that God is pleased with us. We trust that because of Jesus’s work for us, our Father loves us and wants to hear our voices. Because he is good and tender and faithful, he won’t turn away if we can’t carry a tune. In a world where we rely on our senses and instincts, this will take some adjustment. We must believe the Bible over our impulse to hide. We need to trust God that our relationship with him does not depend on our performance.”

There will be many things NOT in Heaven. There will be no SIN, no PRIDE, no DEATH, no GRAVES nor HOSPITALS. But most of all, there will be NO DISOBEDIENCE to God. Singing is an act of obedience to God. The Bible says:

Psalm 95:1-2 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

Singing spiritually strengthens us, reminding us that our circumstances are not outside the control of God.

When Paul and Silas were imprisoned for preaching Christ in Philippi, the Bible says:

Acts 16:25 (ESV) About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them …

It was when they were PRAYING AND SINGING HYMNS TO GOD that God sent an angel to knock down the prison doors. Even released, Paul and Silas stayed where they were, ministering to the other prisoners.

Mary Praised God With All She Had. Mary was raised in a poor but God fearing home. She didn’t have much to give God, but she gave God what she had. She gave herself.

Mary honored the Lord with her BODY. Our text says “And MARY SAID”. You ARE what you DO. A lot of people SAY they are Christian, but their actions do not back up their words. MARY SAID. She spoke her faith. She was NOT ASHAMED. When God blesses you, you are NOT ASHAMED of what He has given.

King David was NOT ASHAMED of God’s statutes and laws (Psalm 119:80)
The Apostle Paul was NOT ASHAMED of the Gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16)
The Christian is NOT ASHAMED to proclaim Christ (1 Peter 4:16)

Mary’s song of praise was not just external, but INTERNAL. She said:

Luke 1:46-47 … My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.

Mary humbled herself before the Lord Who blessed her so. Mary took no credit for her blessings. She said:

Luke 1:48-49 For {God} hath regarded the LOW estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

Word Study: Mary sang of her LOW ESTATE, the Greek tapeinōsis. The word tapeinōsis means “spiritual abasement, moral poverty, the fact that she was, in her eyes, unworthy and filled with guilt before Almighty God. The Apostle Paul used the same word in:

Philippians 3:21 Who shall change our VILE (tapeinōsis) body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

And James used it to describe the eventual humiliation of the proud but rich person who will stand before God unjustified and lost:

James 1:10 But the rich, in that he is made low: (tapeinōsis) because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

The Catholics consider Mary the Mother of Christ to be the “Queen of Heaven”, saying:

“Understanding Mary as queen mother sheds light on her important intercessory role in the Christian life. Just like the queen mother of the Davidic kingdom, Mary serves as advocate for the people in the Kingdom of God today. Thus, we should approach our queen mother with confidence, knowing that she carries our petitions to her royal son and that he responds to her as Solomon did to Bathsheba: “I will never refuse you.”

Any student of Christ knows that our Lord Jesus taught us to pray not to Mary, but to say:

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

The Scripture says that we have “peace with God THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THROUGH WHOM WE ALSO HAVE ACCESS” (Romans 5:1-2). Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). We are told in Ephesians 2:18, “THROUGH JESUS we both HAVE ACCESS in one Spirit TO THE FATHER”. The concept that we address God through anyone … ANYONE outside of Christ … is foreign to the Scripture, a fabrication of religion. It is Jesus Christ Who is our “HIGH PRIEST FOREVER” (Hebrews 6:19-20). We as believer-priests “have confidence to enter the Holy Place BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS … we HAVE A GREAT HIGH PRIEST over the House of God” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

Mary added nothing to her calling, but honored God for it. We need not add a layer of intercessors – Mary or the Saints – that the Scripture never added. Mary was blessed not because she was sinless, the “Queen of Heaven” so called of Christ. Mary was blessed because God – in His infinite Grace – is pleased to use the humble but broken who will heed His word and His glory.

Mary Acknowledges The Proper State Of The Christian

Luke 1:50-53 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.

God blesses only those who HUMBLE themselves before Him. Jesus came for whosoever will humble themselves to Him and His Gospel.He “scatters the proud” and “puts down the mighty”. Those who self sufficient, “rich in themselves” God “sends away empty”. But those who humbly follow Him will be blessed.

Illustrate A husband wanted to give his wife the perfect gift for Christmas, so he bought her the finest diamond ring he could afford. He knew she would guess what the gift was if he just wrapped the jewelry box and put it under the tree, so he put her gift inside a box of cereal and wrapped it up. The Monday before Christmas while her husband was at work she picked up the box that held her gift. Shaking it she heard what sounded like cereal. Quickly tearing the box open she saw “Kellogg’s Corn Flakes” and she went livid. Without opening the box, she took it outside, tossed it in the trash, and went inside fuming Outside she heard the sound of the garbage truck making it’s pickup. She had no idea what she had done.

Mary humbly followed God and was blessed with His mercy and grace. God uses the little things. He uses the broken, the humble, the willing but weak. Will you follow Jesus? Oh, how I pray you will! Oh Holy Spirit, drive Your wedge into the heart, and bring all souls to Christ. For God’s glory I pray. Amen and Amen. May God touch your hearts with His Word.