Luke 1:39-56; The Fourth Sunday in Advent; December 22, 2024;

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” 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.” And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.” (Luke 1:39–56, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Mary, the mother of Jesus is a singular person in human history. The idea that God would choose a singular female, likely a teenager, to bear the Son of God, that God would even come into the world has a human being, is remarkable. Mary displays all the hallmarks of faith. All you have to do is read the Magnificat to see it. Luther said of this wonderful hymn:

“She [Mary] is not filled with pride by the great honor bestowed upon her, but in true humility gives all the praise to God alone, to whom it belongs.” Martin Luther

And

“She [Mary] does not boast of her worthiness, but gives all the glory to God alone, to whom she ascribes all that she has.” Martin Luther

Mary is a picture of faith. She is faithful. She shows an unwavering faith in God’s plan of salvation, no matter where it leads her. She is humble. She calls herself “servant of the Lord”. She is blessed beyond measure. The angel Gabriel and Elizibeth, both call her “blessed among women.” And she "treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." She reflects on God’s word and actions in her life.

But there is one thing I know about Mary. If she was here today among us, sitting beside any one of you, she would confess her sin. Yes, Mary was a sinner. She would confess boldly that she had indeed “sinned against [God] in thought, word and deed.” She would confess that she had done nothing to deserve forgiveness, or the special place that God had given her. She would beg for the forgiveness of her Son, her Savior. She would revel in that forgiveness brought by his death on the cross.

In the church, over the ages, Mary has been called, Theotokos. It is Greek word meaning God-bearer, or mother of God. It may seem like a very high title. One that elevates her to a higher status than ordinary human beings. But it doesn’t. She is theotokos because of her son. It says nothing about her, and everything about Jesus. To be very clear, Mary is Jesus’ mother. Jesus is God. Everything Jesus is, is tied up in his identity. You can’t separate Jesus’ humanity from his divinity. Everything he does, he does as God, and man. When he is born, he is God, born of Mary.



When you hear our text for today, you might think it is about Mary. After all it says that Mary went to visit Elizabeth. That Mary sang the Magnificat. But at the center of the text is Jesus.

Elizabeth, and the unborn John, rejoice at Mary’s coming to them. But, not because of Mary, but because of Jesus. John leaped in Elizabeth’s womb at the presence of his Lord. John’s mother rejoices at Mary’s coming because she brings “the fruit of your womb”. In Mary’s womb is “her Lord.” And, in fact, nothing that is said, done, or sung here, would have happened if God’s Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the World, was not present.

What we have here, in the Magnificat, after Elizabeth’s greeting and John’s leaping, is, in essence, Mary’s personal testimony. Underlying it all is what Jesus had done and not what Mary had done. Think about it, Mary was singular in human history, not because of what she did, but because of what Jesus did. All she did was what billions of mothers throughout history have done. She gave birth, raised, cared for, and nurtured a child.

Mary’s testimony is full of what God is doing. He “Looked on the humble estate of his servant.” All generations will call her blessed because, “he who is mighty has done great things for me.” But she doesn’t stop there. She continues to “magnify the Lord”. The rest of the song says nothing about her. God’s mercy, through Jesus is, “for those who fear him from generation to generation.” He brings down the mighty and lifts up the ones of humble estate. He remembers his mercy, as he promised Abraham.



When Jesus was brought, by faithful Joseph and Mary, to present their child to the Lord and offer the prescribed sacrifices, they came across a prophet, Simeon. He told of what Jesus would do. He also told of what Mary would suffer.

and a sword will pierce through your own soul also (Luke 2:35a, ESV)

He was speaking about the death of her son. I’m sure, for Mary, it felt just like that, a burning sword going right through her. The is no greater anguish for a mother than to see their child die. But here again, Mary is not unique. From Eve to many mothers today, that pain continues.

It is Jesus who is unique. Mary’s son, God’s son, died. Mary’s pain was nothing like his. Hers was human and temporal. His was eternal and spiritual. He suffered literal hell for his mother, and for all of us. He was rejected by God, his true father. That is what hell is. His death on the cross was more than physical, it was also spiritual. God turned his back and allowed him to die. That is the punishment for sin. But it was not his sin, it was ours. We deserved God’s back. But instead, God embraces us in love, because Jesus took our punishment. That punishment was hung on Jesus as he hung on the cross. That punishment was paid in full when he died in our place. That is what Mary’s son had come to do.



Mary was an extraordinary woman, just like many extraordinary women over the course of time. She had great faith. It was God’s gift to her. It prepared her for what was to come. Her pain and suffering was the same as so many. And eventually, she suffered the wages of sin in her own death. Mary was an extraordinary woman, worthy of remembering and even call her blessed among women. Not because of who she was, her deeds where ordinary human things, but because of who God is.



Jesus Christ is the extra-ordinary one. Mary is the woman God chose to come into our world as a human being. Mary suffered all the normal human suffering of motherhood. Morning sickness, birth pain, skinned knees, and the death of her child. God, himself, came through Mary’s womb as a complete human being. Jesus did marvelous things without number (Job 5:9). His life, perfectly lived without sin. His suffering and death. Which sets aside our verdict of death and hell. And his resurrection. A promise of a day in our future when we will rise from death.



When the story of my life is told, yours also, and Mary’s for that matter, we will all have one thing in common.

…we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. (Confession, Divine Service Setting One, LSB)

And that would be it, full stop, if not for what Jesus did extraordinarily for all of us. Our lives are full of ordinary things. In fact, everything we do is ordinary. We may break an addiction, but millions have done that. We may give sacrificially, but millions do that. We may change our lives from evil to good, it’s been done by millions. Even if we save a life, or many lives, millions have done that, too. The overarching thing about everything we do is sin. It so permeates all we do that it corrupts even the best. And in God’s eyes,

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” (Isaiah 64:6, ESV)

But, extraordinary Jesus, does his extraordinary thing and brings forgiveness. Our sin, though it plagues us daily, will not have the last word. Jesus saves us from sin’s eternal punishment. How extraordinary is that! How amazing that God, himself, loves me in such a way that he, himself, in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, is has paid the debt of sin I owe.

So, what about Mary’s personal testimony. What about mine, and yours? Let it be about Jesus, not shaded by the ordinary things we do, but by the marvelous, extraordinary, things he has done.

Luther’s last words, scribble on a piece of paper on his death bed were,

Wir sind Bettler, das ist wahr. We are beggars, this is true.

It is sometimes considered his epitaph. It highlights his understanding of our place before God, and Jesus’ work to save us.

Maybe our epitaph should be.

I did ordinary things. Jesus did extraordinary things for me.

Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.