MARY’S SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD
Luke 1:46-56 And Mary said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” And my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Savior. For he hath regarded the low estate of this handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done me great things, and Holy is His Name. And His mercy Is on them that fear Him from generation to generation. He hath shewed great strength with His arm. He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put the almighty down from their seats and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy. As He spake to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever. And Mary abode with her (Elizabeth), about three months, and returned to her own house.
Mary recognizes that her very ”soul,” is being used as the vessel in which the “Spirit”, the very essence of our Heavenly Father, is being, “magnified,” and manifested In her womb, and as a result her “spirit” is rejoicing in ”God”.
Luke also tells us that Mary remained with Elizabeth, ”about three months,” and then returned to her own house. Scripture makes it clear that Mary left Elizabeth’s house prior to the birth of John and returned to her home in Nazareth. Mary and Joseph were not as yet living together, and of course, when Mary left her home to go and visit Elizabeth it would not have been known that she was with child. Now, three months later, the fact that she was pregnant, would have become rather more obvious.
JOHN IS BORN AND NAMED AND ZACHARIAS’ SPEECH RETURNS
Luke 1:57-66 Now Elizabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered, and she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her, and they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, “Not so, but he shall be called John.” And they said unto her, “There is none of thy kindred that Is called by this name.” And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing table, and wrote saying, “His name is John.”And they marveled all. And his mouth was opened Immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. And fear came upon all that dwelt round about them, and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What manner of child this be!” And the hand of the Lord was with him.
John the Baptist is born and on the day he Is circumcised, they called him, “Zacharias, after the name of his father.” Clearly, this was not the name Gabriel had told Zacharias he was to be called. Zacharias, John’s father, knew full well that he had been directed to name the child, John. The instant he complied, and wrote, “saying, His name is John”, his ability to speak returned. As a result, everyone knew that “John” was a very special child.
THE PROPHECY OF ZACHARIAS
Luke 1:67-80 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied, saying, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed his people. “And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David. As He spake by the mouth of His Holy prophets which have been since the world began. That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us. To perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His Holy Covenant. The oath which He sware to our father Abraham. That He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear. In holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life. And thou child shall be called the prophet of the Highest for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways. To give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins. Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us. To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of His shewing unto Israel.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit, Zacharias begins to prophesy about the plan that God has for both our Lord and John the Baptist. These fourteen verses in the Gospel of Luke provide us with an underlying understanding of why God is bringing about the births of Our Lord and John the Baptist. First of all, God will “visit and redeem His people.”God will do it in the form of His Only Begotten Son, as He becomes the “horn” or power of “salvation,” in the lineage of the “house of His servant David”.
John the Baptist “shall be called the prophet of the Highest“, and John’s responsibility will be to go in advance “of the Lord to prepare His ways.” John will lead the people to understand that they may have “salvation” by “the remission of their sins”. In order to accomplish this, they must repent and be baptized, in the name of He who is to come, Jesus Christ. In so doing, John would prepare the way for Jesus, who would, “give light” to those who “sit in darkness and in the shadow of death”, with no hope of salvation, and life eternal. Finally, in verse eighty, Luke tells us that John “grew and waxed strong in spirit”, obviously in the Incredibly powerful “spirit of Elijah,” and he lived in the deserts and the wilderness until God called him to prepare the way for Jesus.
THE ANGEL OF THE LORD TELLS JOSEPH OF MARY’S “IMMACULATE CONCEPTION”
Matt 1:18-25 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this wise. When His mother, Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee, Mary for thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.”Now, all this was done, that It might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophets, saying, Behold a virgin shall bear a child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, Is God with us.Then Joseph, being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden and took unto him his wife. And knew her not until she had brought forth her firstborn son and he called his name Jesus
In order to keep the sequence of events In the Bible in chronological order, we now move to the Gospel of Matthew. Mary has returned home to Nazareth and Joseph, much to his dismay, discovers that Mary is with child. The Angel of the Lord comes to Joseph in a dream, explains that what Mary is carrying in her womb is not of man, but is of God, through the Holy Spirit, that It was prophesied that “Emmanuel”(God with us) would be born of a virgin, and as a result, Joseph took Mary as his wife,” but knew her not.” He did not consummate the marriage “until” after Jesus was born.
THE ACTUAL BIRTH OF OUR LORD
Luke 2:1-7 And It came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, (because he was of the house and the lineage of David.) To be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him In a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke Is telling us that Caesar Augustus, the adopted son and successor of Julius Caesar, who came to power in 29 B.C. and reigned for 43 years – until 14 A.D. – had ordered every person living In the Roman Empire, to be taxed. Caesar’s order demanded that each person be registered for the tax, in the city where they were born. In Joseph’s case, since he was born In Bethlehem, “his own city,” both he and Mary had to travel over 80 miles – from Nazareth to Bethlehem -in the final days of Mary’s pregnancy – an arduous journey. Moreover, prophecy had to be fulfilled which mandated that our Lord be born In Bethlehem.
By telling us that Jesus was “laid in a manger,” uke speaks volumes, since the Greek word translated “manger,” is “phatne” which means ,“ a feeding trough.” The fact that Jesus was lying in a feeding trough, is stated by Luke three times, in this chapter. Its spiritual meaning is clearly evident. The “Word” has now been made flesh. The “Word” is the “Bread of Life.” Jesus tells us In the Gospel of John, Chapter six, verse fifty four, “Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day, for My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink Indeed.” Right from the beginning, the Holy Spirit sees to it, through the Gospel of Luke, that our Lord is Introduced to us as “lying in a manger,” in order that we have, from the outset, the understanding, that our Lord Is the food that we are to eat, for, “he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me, and shall live forever. “We can rest assured that our Heavenly Father made certain that ”there was no room for them at the inn”, for if our Lord had been born at the ”Inn”, He would not have been, “laid in a manger”.
THE LORD’S ANGEL ANNOUNCES JESUS’BIRTH TO THE SHEPHERDS
Luke 2:8-14 And there were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which Is Christ the Lord. For this is a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying In a manger.” And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men.”
Once again, Luke witnesses in his Gospel that the Angel of the Lord told the shepherds that they would find our Lord “lying in a manger.”In addition, we learn that the shepherds were watching over their flocks, “in the field, by night”. In so doing Luke Is telling us that our Lord was definitely not born in December. Shepherds never kept flocks in the open, in the winter. Hebrew custom was to only put the sheep out to pasture, with shepherds tending them, from the middle of March, until the middle of October.
Bethlehem itself is 6 miles south of Jerusalem, sitting atop the same ridge of the mountains that Jerusalem Is built upon, at approximately 2500 feet above sea level. As a result, it gets quite cold, and in our Lord’s time, quite wet, in the winter time. It is highly doubtful that our Heavenly Father, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, would have subjected either Mary or His infant Son, to the inclement weather of Bethlehem in December.
THE SHEPHERDS BEAR WITNESS TO THE BABY JESUS
Luke 2:15-20 And it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into Heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which Is come to pass, which the Lord has made known unto us. And they came in haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen, they made known abroad the saying which was told than concerning this child. And all they that heard, wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
No sooner has the Heavenly host departed, than the shepherds leave their flocks and go Into Bethlehem and find Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. The shepherds have born witness to the birth of the Lord and make, “known abroad,” what the Angel of the Lord and the Heavenly host have told them “concerning this child.”They are bearing witness that our Lord was born, as prophesied, in Bethlehem of Judea. Luke also tells us that Mary “kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.”Mary knew, from the Arch Angel Gabriel, that her firstborn was the Son of God. However, she finds herself, giving birth to the Son of God, in a stable. Has she misunderstood the words of Gabriel? Has God forgotten her? Suddenly the shepherds appear, telling Mary of the visitation of the Angel of the Lord and the Heavenly host. Is it any wonder that Mary,” pondered these things in her heart?”