Scripture: St. Luke 1:46-56 (NKJV)
46 And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit has rejoiced in
God my Savior. 48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For
behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who is
mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. 50 And His mercy is
on those who fear Him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength
with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52
He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. 53 He has
filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. 54 He
has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, 55 as He spoke to
our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.” 56 And Mary remained with her
about three months, and returned to her house.
Devotion
The beautiful song of Mary (which we know as the Magnificat in our Vespers
services) amazingly proclaims the glory of God the Father, testifies to the
wonders that the child in her womb, God the Son, will accomplish, and is
entirely the divine work of God the Holy Spirit. This song is one more of the
profound gifts that the Lord gives to His Church for the sake of teaching us
and all nations about His merciful salvation.
Like Jesus, the Magnificat was born through Mary by the power of the Holy
Spirit. And every aspect of this song testifies to our Lord Jesus Christ. From
His promises to Adam and Eve that are fulfilled in Mary’s Son, to the fact that
she was favored by God to be the channel through which the Savior would come to
the world, to the fact that all the history and prophesy of Israel are
culminated in Him, and ultimately to His victory of the evil one, these Words
testify of Him.
These glorious words further emphasize that God’s work of salvation in Jesus
Christ is not fickle decrees or vain abstractions. His work is His very real
intervention into the created order that He established. He has been present
with man from the beginning, has continued to mercifully work for our good
throughout real historical events, and truly became a man of flesh and blood to
earn our forgiveness. Because He has benevolently done all these things, our
salvation is truly real and is the greatest blessing we have in our present
life in this world.
We pray: Lord God, endless thanks and praise be to You on account of Your mercy
shown to us in the flesh and blood reality of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
The Lutheran Herald is a publication of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of
North America. These daily devotions are authored by the bishop, pastors, and
deacons of the diocese. Daily posts are provided by The Reverend Jeffrey A.
Ahonen.
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