“Magnificat”

Sunday, January 26, 2025

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

               and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

               For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

               and holy is his name.

And 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 mighty from their thrones

               and exalted those of humble estate;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

               and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

               in remembrance of his mercy,

as he spoke to our fathers,

               to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

(Luke 1.46-55)

While it may sound to us like the title of an early-90s straight-to-video animated Disney film about a feline magician, magnificat is actually Latin for “it praises,” or “glorifies.” As with many other poetic sections of the Bible, for many centuries this passage was read in the Western world from the Latin Vulgate Bible, and so it became known by the first word in that translation, just as we today refer to hymns like “All People That on Earth Do Dwell,” using the first line whether or not it suitably summarizes the whole. This is the oldest New Testament hymn to God, and has remained a favorite in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, and Anglican traditions, but is largely ignored by the rest of Protestants. Why?

Well, the answer to that is wrapped up in the unhealthy obsession with Mary shared among those older denominations. If you ask a serious Catholic why they worship Mary, instead of an answer you’ll receive a protest that they do not worship Mary. We should be inclined to believe their profession; but it’s really hard to do so, when so much of their worship is so focused on her.

Mary certainly deserves honor. As she herself said, “from now on all generations will call me blessed” (v48). She is one of a bare handful whose lives are recorded in any detail in the Bible, on whom we cannot pin credible accusations of any particular sins! In Mary we see an ideal young woman—chaste, moral, willingly submissive, and clinging tightly to her God and the duties he assigns her. She’s a wonderful example! Despite the made-up doctrine of the immaculate conception, she was guilty of sin like the rest of us (cf. Ro 3.23), but unlike Abraham, David, or Peter, whom we can justly label adulterer, murderer, and denier, Mary’s manner of life leaves us without any specific complaints.

As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

(Luke 11.27-28)

Of course, veneration of Mary can clearly go too far. The fact that an ecumenical council was called in AD 431 at Ephesus, largely to decide whether Mary was “Theotokos” (Mother of G0d) or “Christotokos” (Mother of Christ) illustrates that the obsession had jumped the shark. After the 16^th century’s Protestant Reformation, Mary’s significance was so downplayed, that if anything most American Christians today don’t give her enough credit! Perhaps it’s time to remember the real reasons to honor Mary.

In her hymn, we see her response to God’s grace. Not only had he sent his Son into the world bringing forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life—but he’d chosen to make Mary a vessel for dispensing that gift. How did she react? Not by elevating herself, but by highlighting her own “humble estate” and status as a “servant” (v48)! By ascribing salvation to God and not herself (vv47, 49, 50, 53, & 54)! And by acknowledging God’s fulfillment of his promise, “as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever” (v55). She thinks of generations past and future, rather than only herself, and praises God for his power and his mercy.

This poem is far more meaningful than most of the hymns Christians sing today. Whereas most popular modern hymns express thanks for our “Blessed Assurance,” Mary expressed shock that God would be so gracious to her, of all people. Whereas we like to sing songs today about our close, intimate relationship with God and ask others, “Do You Know My Jesus?” Mary— carrying God incarnate in her womb—praised God in such a respectful tone that she stopped short of even addressing him directly. Whereas we extol God for helping us to do great things, telling him “You Are My Strength,” Mary said, “he who is mighty has done great things for me” (v49), and that “he has filled the hungry with good things” (v53). Whereas we cope with the troubles of life by reminding ourselves that “Heaven Will Surely Be Worth It All,” Mary feels “blessed” (v48), “exalted” (v52), and “filled” (v53) already, despite being a poor girl from a hated village, unmarried and yet pregnant, by a method almost no one would believe (cf. Jn 8.41).

To be clear, it’s not that the modern hymns have no value, or that they should never be sung. Rather, the differences between the ancient hymns and modern ones can tell us something about ourselves, filling in a blind spot by looking from another perspective. In Mary’s hymn, the most striking feature is her humility. It was good to stop making Mary out to be semi-divine; now, let’s take ourselves off that same pedestal, and follow the example provided by one who was richly blessed, yet remained lowly in spirit.

Jeremy Nettles

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