Mary, The Mother Of God

Yes, even to this day, we are to honor Mary as one whom God has blessed above all other women. We know she isn’t blessed and holy because of her own holiness or purity. She’s not good enough, just like you and I aren’t good enough. She is blessed because of the holy Child conceived in her by the Holy Spirit. She is our Lord’s instrument of His incarnation. That’s why she is to be blessed by all who believe in her Son for their salvation.

But here’s the best thing about Mary. Her soul magnifies the Lord, and her spirit rejoices in God her Savior. She directs our attention to the same place--to her Child, to her God, to our God! She teaches us to worship God in humility and fear. For as she sang, “His mercy extends to those who fear Him.”

Mary teaches us not to take our place with the proud and the powerful, the ruling and the rich of this world. For the Lord is the one who topples the mighty from their thrones. He puts the powerful in their place.

And yet God is a God of mercy. His arm is mighty to save. His arm lifts those who are humbled and bowed down. God helps those who cannot help themselves. His arm reaches out to fill the hungry with good things. His arm extended from the heights of heaven to a frightened girl named Mary. He reached down to embrace the world, to join Himself with us. He extended His arms on a cross to save us. He extends His arm to us now, as we hear His Word and receive His gifts.

Mary teaches us to receive God’s gifts in the way of faith. She reminds us that God keeps His Word. He remembers “to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as He spoke to our fathers.”

Indeed, God keeps His promises. He kept the promise He made to Adam and Eve after they were expelled from Eden. He kept the promise He made to the patriarchs and prophets of Israel. He kept the promise He made to you when you were baptized. And He renews His promise whenever you hear His Word and receive His forgiveness.

God is faithful. He sent His Son, born of Mary, born under the Law, to suffer and die under the Law. And even more, He rose again and rules, so that through His dying and rising, the world would be blessed with forgiveness, with peace, with eternal life.

Conclusion

Mary is a picture of all baptized believers in Christ. Through faith, you magnify the Lord. Through faith, you rejoice in God whom you know to be your Savior. The Mighty One has done great things for you. His mighty arm has worked great deeds--keeping the Law for you, dying and rising for you, baptizing and preaching to you, and filling you with His sacrifice, His own body and blood. He has scattered the pride of your sin, and toppled the old Adam from His throne. Yes, He has kept His promise to you. For He is faithful, and so He will keep His promise to you even when He calls you home.

Through the presence of Christ, we, like Mary, have become carriers of Jesus, the only true God. His blood has been poured out into us, and we have been washed clean of our sins. His sacrificed body has become a part of us, so that our lives beat with the pulse of God. And so we rejoice in finding ourselves numbered among “the hungry” whom the Lord fills “with good things.” May it ever be so! Amen.