Luke 1:46-48
I have so far been focusing on how difficult it must have been for Mary to be given the job as mother of the Messiah, but I'd hate to lose out on another element--joy!
"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior..." (Luke 1:47). It's the second part of the sentence catches me off guard. Her spirit rejoices IN God. Her happiness is not a frothy bubbly wave of emotion that crests then rescinds; it is not a positive attitude based on her own success--it is a rejoicing in God. Her joy is shared with God, her joy draws her closer to God--her joy has a sweet intimacy to it.
Years before Mary, there was another woman who rejoiced IN the Lord. After Hannah dedicated Samuel, she said, "My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD my horn is lifted high" (1 Samuel 2:1). Samuel was the fulfillment of Hannah's long prayers and profoundest dreams.
How was Jesus a fulfillment of Mary's prayers? What had Mary longed for up until the day that Gabriel appeared to her? Had she prayed for a Messiah? Had she seen the suffering of her people? Had she wondered when it would all end?
In Mary's song she says: "He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty" (Luke 1:52,53). She is echoing Hannah's prayer here. She sees that when God steps into history something changes. The world will not always be cruel, unjust,and heart breaking. The poor will become rich, the hungry will be fed, the humble will be exalted.
This is a prayer that is still being answered. It's still be unfolded and woven into human history, but when Christ comes again the prayer will ultimately be answered. Then all of our hearts will rejoice in the Lord.
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