At an evening of musical entertainment one of the guests was not impressed with the woman who
was singing. He leaned over to the man next to him and said, "What an awful voice. I wonder who
she is?" "She is my wife," was the stiff reply." "Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized. "Of course its really
not her voice but that terrible stuff she has to sing. I wonder who wrote that ghastly song?" "I did,"
was the even stiffer reply. This singer was apparently something other than the one Shakespeare had
in mind when he wrote, "The rude sea grew civil at her song, and certain stars shot madly from their
spheres to hear the sea-maids music."
She certainly had less to offer than the singer of whom Hawthorne wrote: "She poured out the
liquid music of her voice to quench the thirst of his spirit." Her category was probably more fittingly
described by Coleridge when he said, "Swans sing before they die-Twere no bad thing should certain
persons die before they sing." It is with qualifications, and with an awareness of exceptions that we
can agree with William Stidger who said, "Music is the voice of God." The facts of life and
revelation compel us to recognize that God is a God of harmony and song. He has built music into
the very nature of His creation. The angel sang at the commencement of creation, and the whole
company of the redeemed will join in a triumphant chorus at the consummation of creation. In
between these two universal concerts the pathway of God's providence in history is crowded with the
saints singing songs of praise and thanksgiving. God supplies the music, and John Drinkwater
pictures all of creation as the great organ of God when he writes, "God is at the organ. I can hear a
mighty music echoing far and near."
For those whose eyes and ears are open to the wonder, beauty and harmony of creation, music is
ever present, and they can sing, "This is my father's world and to my listening ears all nature sings
and round me rings the music of the spheres." The greatest songs arise, however, when God plays
the music of redemption. The songs of salvation are the sweetest and the ones most filled with joy.
When Israel was delivered out of Egypt we read in Ex. 15:1, "Then sang Moses and the children of
Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed
gloriously..." The Old Testament is filled with songs of praise, and this music not only carries over
into the New Testament but is lifted to an even higher pitch. The songs of the saints for salvation far
surpass the tunes of nature. Drinkwater wrote, "The universe is God's full organ; human lips and
human lives are the solo stops."
One of the greatest soloists of all is one we seldom think of as a singer, and yet she is the author
and singer of the first great song of the New Testament, and the first pre-Christmas song. This is an
honor few of us have ever thought of in connection with the Virgin Mary. For 14 centuries this song
has been used in liturgies for public worship. Luke is the scholar who has done much research to
open up to us insights and truths, which the other Gospel writers do not have. As a doctor he is
naturally interested in digging back into family history. He is especially fascinated by the events
surrounding births. He may have specialized in babies. He is the only one who tells us of the
background of the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus. He even gives remarkable facts concerning
the pre-natal leaping of John in his mother's womb. Luke is not just satisfying his professional
curiosity. It is obvious that one of his major purposes is to show that Christianity was born in a
burst of sacred song. He alone, as the educated and cultured Greek, preserved for us the songs of
those directly connected with the coming of Christ.
We can consider this Dr. Luke's prescription for a sick and needy world. He knew the value of
song for the health of the soul, and his first chapters are filled with the spiritual medicine of music.
The song of the angels is the best known because it is most often used in Christmas events. The first
pre-Christmas songs, however, came from earth, and Mary's song called the Magnificate is the
greatest. Ross said, "For sheer overflowing gladness, there is scarcely any hymn, ancient or modern,
to compare with it." This is probably an overstatement, for all agree that Mary's song is almost
totally grounded in the Old Testament. The sun of righteousness has not yet risen. He is still below
the horizon. The joy expressed is due to the fact that he is near, but at this point no one knows of the
cross and resurrection. Mary can only magnify the Lord according to the light which she had, and
the full light of the Gospel was still hidden. This subtracted nothing from the ecstasy of her song,
however, for she had been chosen to bear the Messiah. Joy filled her to the peak of her capacity, and
she bursts into song.
Before we look at this great solo of praise we want to consider the background that leads up to it.
Mary had received the revelation from the angel that she was to be the mother of the Messiah. He
also told her of Elizabeth her kinsmen being 6 months pregnant with a son in her old age. Verses 39
and 40 reveal Mary to be the first person in history to be caught up in a pre-Christmas rush as she
makes haste to the hill country to visit Elizabeth. The timing here reveals God's love and concern for
Mary as she faced a very trying and sensitive situation. God was not insensitive to the problems
created for her by the reality of the virgin birth. He chose a relative of Mary's to give birth to John
the Baptist, who would be the forerunner of Jesus. Imagine what this meant to Mary to have
someone to talk to who would understand her situation. She was able to stay with Elizabeth until the
birth of John and see the fulfillment of the first miracle.
It is no wonder then that with the destiny of the world in her womb she rushed off to visit
Elizabeth to gain the understanding that only another woman could give her at such a time. Mary
could not have told her secret to anyone, let alone Joseph her betrothed. She needed a godly woman
like Elizabeth. What made it wonderful is that Elizabeth would understand, for she was a part of the
whole plan being unfolded. They were not only kinsman of the flesh, but of the spirit as well. Verse
41 indicates that the very air was electrified with expectation. No period in all of history has ever
been so pregnant with potential as when these two expectant mothers met and burst into song. Even
their fragmentary grasp of all that God was doing was more than they could contain. All Mary
needed to do was to greet Elizabeth and it had an explosive effect. The babe in Elizabeth's womb
leaped. John the Baptist is probably the only person to ever be physically effected by the coming of
Christ before He was even born. The fact that Luke records this detail indicates that Mary and
Elizabeth talked over their experiences and emotions thoroughly in the 3 months she was there, and
Mary passed it on to Luke.
These two women play a prominent role in Luke's pre-Christmas account. Even so, we have
only a brief few minutes record out of that 3 month visit. If we had it all our hymnbook could
probably not contain all of the words of their songs of joy. These 2 ladies would change the course
of history and transform the lives of millions. No two expectant mothers ever had so much to be
excited about. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaims with a loud cry in verse 42,
"Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb." She could only say this by
the power of the Holy Spirit, for how could she know Mary was to be the mother of the Messiah?
What a thrill to her to have this knowledge, and to have it be a relative of hers. It was just too much
for her to comprehend. How can God be doing all this and making me a central part of the whole
drama?
In verse 43 she asks why? Why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come
to me. Elizabeth feels Mary's visit is an honor of which she is not worthy. Her humility was passed
on to her son John, for he said he was not worthy of untying the shoelaces of Jesus. He felt
unworthy to baptize Jesus and said, "I must decrease, but He must increase." Every person God
used uniquely in connection with His Son's birth was a humble person. Elizabeth has the honor of
being the first person to refer to Jesus as her Lord. Jesus has just been conceived and already these
loyal servants of God were calling Him Lord. Whether He be on the throne of the universe, or a
microscopic being in the womb of Mary, He is Lord. Mary is of a lower social class than Elizabeth,
for she is the wife of a priest, but Elizabeth feels unworthy to have her in her home, for she has been
so honored of God.
In verse 44 the unusual fact of pre-natal activity is mentioned again. It is nothing new for two
pregnant women to get excited when they meet, but when even the baby gets excited, that is unique.
John the Baptist is the only person in the Bible that is revealed as being happy and capable of joy
before he was born. We can't pause to speculate, but this should cause us to refrain from writing off
pre-natal influence and experience as irrelevant. In verse 45 Mary is blessed because of her belief.
She did not laugh at the angel as did Sarah in the Old Testament. Elizabeth's husband was unable to
speak because of his unbelief, but she did not doubt , but submitted herself to the will of God. Mary
is one of the few chosen of God who did not make up some excuse for not wanting to cooperate with
God's plan. She did not urge God to look for someone else, but in pure faith accepted the Word of
God to her and went ahead in obedience. She receives confirmation that she is in the will of God by
the words of Elizabeth, and she lifts her voice in song and sings the magnificent Magnificate.
In v. 46 Mary magnifies the Lord. God forbid that we should reverse the theme of her song and
instead magnify Mary. No greater honor has ever been bestowed upon a woman. Mary reverses the
negatives brought upon women because of Eve, and she raised womanhood to the level of dignity
and the highest respect. All women have been exalted because of her. Mary's song does have
reference to the fact that all generations will call her blessed, but the theme of her song is God's
grace, strength, mercy and faithfulness. To magnify God sounds strange, for how can you magnify
God who is already infinite in every attribute? We need to understand that when God is magnified
there is no change in God, but in the one doing the magnifying. To magnify God is to give Him a
larger place in one's life and thought through adoration and service. God is magnified when He
becomes greater to us. Mary is simply saying that her soul has expanded its vision of God. He
alone is the object of her adoration. He is everything to her. Her song is great because her theme is
great. Sister Miriam, a 20th century poet, wrote,
Give me the sun, a bird, a flower,
And I will spin you a song
That will live an hour.
Give me a heart, a joy, a tear
And I shall weave you a song
That will live a year.
But give me a love death cannot sever
And I will build you a song
To live forever.
Mary's song will live forever because its theme is the eternal love and faithfulness of God.
Pre-Christmas singing should characterize us as believers. Even those who cannot carry a tune can
enjoy music, for love always produces some kind of song. F. W. Boreham wrote, "If a man is in
love he can no more help singing than a bird can help flying. You cannot love anything without
singing about it. Men love God; that is why we have hymnbooks. Men love women; that is why we
have ballads. Men love their country; that is why we have national anthems.."
