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11/17 Reading Portions: 1 Chronicles 9-10; Hebrews 12; Amos 6; Luke 1:39-80
Luke 1:46
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,”
MAGNIFIED
Upon hearing her cousin Elizabeth’s salutation and her praising the Lord, Mary responds with the modest yet magnificent praise, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” Although the stigma of her conception out of wedlock would be a sorrow to her, her soul must magnify the Lord. It was the Lord’s doing and it was marvelous in our eyes (Psa 118:23). Although the events of her child’s birth, life, and death would pierce her own soul (Luke 2:35), Mary’s soul still magnifies the Lord. The greatest tragedy of all human history, the grief, afflictions, wrath, judgment, ridicule, rejection, etc., suffered by Jesus Christ at the hands of fallen men, becomes the triumph of the ages for all those who by grace believe; and thus, we must magnify the Lord. Our situations and circumstances in this lifetime are fraught with difficulty for we follow our Master in death and life. His was a death-resurrection victory in His ministry sojourn, and therefore, our pilgrimage on the planet is likewise. Jesus,
for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2
Our salvation is the joy set before our King. Our King Jesus is the joy set before us. He despised the shame of sin and the hardened hearts of sinful men, yet He endured the cross, never once denying our guilt and iniquity He bore as if they were His very own. In following our Master while we live in this God-hating, Christ-rejecting, sin-cursed world, our…
…light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 2 Corinthians 4:17
By faith, Mary saw ahead to her prize and joy, which was Christ, so her soul magnified the Lord. We may suffer the ravages of a strange diseases or the onslaught or terrorism, yet our eyes are upon the mark of our high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and we magnify the Lord. We may face shame, death, pain, or imprisonment, yet our souls will joyfully and humbly magnify the Lord Jesus Christ.
may we never be too busy or too distracted to magnify the Lord. Good words.