Topic: Virgin Mother Mary
In Luke 1, there are two songs recorded, Mary and Zechariah’s songs. These two songs were dedicated to the coming of the Messiah. Their songs were praising to God. A song is an expression to give thanks and praises to God. It is the most powerful tool to write a letter to Him. Psalm 144:9-10 says, “I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you, to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David from the deadly sword.”
Before we look to the song of Mary, let’s turn to I Samuel 2:1-10. In this text, we see that Hannah’s prayer to give an expression to God for her son, Samuel.
Then Hanna prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. There is no holy one like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. The bows of warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry hunger no more. She who was barren has borne seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away.
“The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor.
“For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s; upon them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. It is not by strength that one prevails; those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder against them from heaven; the LORD will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” (I Samuel 2:1-10.)
From I Samuel 2:1-10, we see that Hanna was rejoicing over her unborn child. It was not just because she wanted to be a mother of child, but because God loved her and her action toward Him was filled with a great amount of faith to trust Him (see I Samuel 1:5-20). The relationship between Hanna and Mary is trusting God faithfully and thanking and praising Him for the answer.
In this session of the life and teachings of Jesus, we are going to take in-depth of Mary’s prayer or song. Let’s read in Luke 1:46-56.
And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever."
And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house. (Luke 1:46-56 NKJV.)
This prayer hasn’t related to the kind of the religious ritual prayer, but it was prayer for giving thanks to God, the Creator. Of course, some churches may take this passage or The Lord’s Prayer into their ritual traditional service since the early AD. Begin in 300 AD, the Roman Catholic Church prayed for the dead. In 394 AD, the Catholic Church started to have Mass as a daily service. In 600 AD, the Catholic Church started to pray for Mary and saints and so on. These events are not in our history books, because of the religious doctrine that the Paganism practiced over many years before there were the Roman Catholicism developed and it arrived to the Christianity. Even Jesus predicted these kinds of activities to Christianize them. Jesus said in John 14:30, “I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming.” The prince of this world is Satan. As he is in the world, he can try to make many Christian designations and confuse them with creating many new ritual traditions. But he can’t control those who are truly saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ.
In Luke 1:46-47, Mary began her prayer by praising God and rejoicing with Him. This verse of the passage is the most important scene of portraying Mary. She said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” Her soul was beginning to overflow with glorifying and rejoicing in God, because the Holy Spirit touched her life.
Romans 8:26-27 says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us to groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”
You and I can sing a song as Mary if we let the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in accordance with the will of God. As we see in today’s Christian evangelists and churches, many people want to have answers to their prayers and needs by going to Christian convention events, such as Billy Graham Evangelism Crusade and the Promise Keepers. Why do many people depend on the church and evangelism leaders than God the Almighty? Do they think human can heal them? Although they seem to praising God at the convention events, people are so caught up with the leaders. If you want to have more exploration on Christian convention events, then consider reading Revelation 17-18 and the Cutting Edge Ministries Website. You may find the behind the plan of the Christian convention event and the New World Order Plan.
Read Luke 1:48 carefully. This verse may cause us to confuse to come up with the statement. In the pass eight months, I read and studied on the Roman Catholicism. As some Christians know little about this Christian denominational group and Mary as the Mother of God or Queen Heaven. If you read Luke 1:48, the phrase “He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant.” In the NIV says, “…he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.” This is what the phrase means. God has selected one very person who could serve Him by taking care of His Son, Jesus. As He saw Mary, He chose her to do His given task. In Luke 1:48b, Mary said that all the generations would call her blessed because God’s Son came to us through her divine appointment with God. But not as blessed through Mary, it’s blessed through God. God had been planning for this young woman, Mary, that she may obey Him and to involve with His plan.
Mary indicated that God had been working His plan for her life (Luke 1:49). Unlike Mary, today’s world indicated that getting a miracle is working through our efforts. Even humanist teaches us that there is no other gods than ourselves. The Bible said clear that someday some of us fall from the faith and follow the demon teaching (I Timothy 4:1). If we look at October 31, noticed that many people are celebrating the Halloween night, which has been forebidden by God, and it’s related to the Paganism and Satanism. But in the case of Mary, she was celebrating the birth of the Messah with God the Father of the universe.
“And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation (Luke 1:50).” Since the beginning of the world, God didn’t loose His loving character to His people. Yet, over the years, after the death of Moses, God’s children have forgotten the mercy of God in them. Throughout the Old Testament, God had been testing His people to trust Him. Exodus 34:6-7 says, “THE LORD, THE LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”
Mary knew that God provided everything in His power (Luke 1:51-53). She didn’t need to be afraid because of the power of God. Nor she didn’t need to be hidden herself from an angel of the Lord because she understood that God has been faithful to her. If there is the one thing missing from today’s people’s need. It is because some of us may have closed the door from hearing God. We have all the resources that we need to survive on earth, but we may don’t know what we have missed in our spiritual lives. Paul declared that he can do anything through Jesus Christ who gave him the strength (Philippians 4:13). The angel said to Mary, “with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37).
You and I can do anything possible if we trust God through Jesus Christ. There is only way to have successful life, that is trusting in God and His power. The Lord said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways [than] my ways” (Isaiah 55:8, emphasize is mine).
The angel said to Mary, “He [God] has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.” And Mary remained with her [Elizabeth] about three months, and returned to her house. (Luke 1:54-56.)
Are you saved? Are your love ones and friends saved in the grace of God through Jesus Christ? The purpose of this ministry is to share with you how much God loves you and me and wants to come in our own life to take us through any obstacles in our daily life. As Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:1-3.)
If you are lukewarm in your relationship with Jesus Christ and want to know Him as your personal Savior and Lord of your life, please consider asking Him to forgive your sins and invite Him into your life. Paul says, "That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believed and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." (Romans 10:9-10.) If you have done in your private room or workplace, then you need to tell to your friends or love ones about what you have done, so they may rejoice with you and want to have that relationship with Christ in their own life. There are many occultisms in the world, which do not know the love of God and His great plan for those who believe in Him. As it is written in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
