Awesome God - A Reflection on Luke 1:39-56



In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” 

And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

This song of praise that Mary said is called a canticle. It is referred to as the “Magnificat”, which is Latin for “magnify”.  This is one of four hymns taken from a collection of early Jewish-Christian canticles that complement Luke’s narrative of the birth of Jesus. The other three are Zechariah’s “Benedictus”, the angel Gabriel’s “Gloria in Excelsis Deo”, and Simeon’s “Nunc Dimittis”. Now, I want you to understand the power that is inherent in these songs of praise, because what they do is make us look at God, and recognize him as somebody awesome! And when we acknowledge his power, he moves in power in our lives.

Consider Mary. I know that most pictures you see of her portray her with this calm, serene face, just as we see in the pictures of Jesus. However, I am certain her brow was furrowed quite often, because she went through a lot of struggles beginning early in her life. Remember, she got pregnant while she was still betrothed. Consequently, she faced an uncertain future with the very real possibility that she would have to raise her child alone. But not just that, she could also suffer terrible retribution from a people of an unforgiving culture. She could very well be stoned for adultery. But she kept her focus on God, and sang praises to his name. 

Many years earlier, a certain man did the same thing. His name was David, and he faced challenges from lions, giants, armies, and also a king who was hell bent on killing him. Yet, he kept singing praises to God through it all. He once wrote: “Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea—the Lord on high is mighty” (Psalms 93:4). And not only did his mighty God get him through his struggles, he had his Son come from the king’s lineage.

Many years later, another man sang praises to God as he was locked up in a dungeon and secured in stocks. His name was Paul. Before he was locked down in jail, he and his friend Silas, had been stripped and beaten with rods. However, they didn’t let this get them down. They kept praising God. Wanna know what happened? This is what Scripture says: “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose” (Acts 16:25-26).

Such is the power of praise. It would help all of us who are going through struggles of our own to remember this. I am sure we are all going through all kinds of difficulties. While it doesn’t hurt to speak about what we are going through, we must always remember — and declare — the greatness of our God. We can write our own songs of praise, our own canticles, and while generations may not call us blessed, we can be assured that God will. Here is a song that I wrote a few years ago that declares the awesomeness of our God. 

I hope you enjoy it.    https://youtu.be/2uttGZyAXoU

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here:  https://youtu.be/EmY4zCaI-lY

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