Joyful Obedience | Luke 1:36-56
Read Luke 1:36-45
Luke starts off in Chapters 1 and 2 introducing a couple of people to the reader. This book was written to a gentile audience (non-Jewish audience). Luke is making it very clear to the reader of his gospel that Jesus is God, that God has a sovereign plan to save humanity for their sin by coming down into the world as the Christ Messiah. We are introduced to John the Baptist being born through Zachariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:1-25) which is the fulfillment of prophecy given in the OT three times (Isaiah 40:3-5, Malachi 3:1, Malachi 4:5)
“’Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,’ says the LORD of hosts.” –Malachi 3:1
The Point: Mary obeys God’s call in her life and by doing that is filled with Joy—She gets to be the mother of God Himself, to raise Him and to have His glory shining through her life.
- Mary gives her life to God’s service. She calls herself a bondslave to God. She submits to her perfect master in obedience.
God calls Mary to be obedient, to have faith in Him, God also has great faith in Mary, knowing that Mary will obey His call. This moment with the angel isn’t for God rather it is for Mary to grow closer to God and to receive His joy as she obeys His call.
–Luke 1:36-38
– Romans 6:16-18
“As a matter of fact, the believer must face the fact that his salvation means a change of bondage. As he once served sin, he is now committed to a life of practical righteousness.”
--Frank E. Gaebelein
Mary’s faith didn’t come from her obedience rather her obedience came from her faith. Mary had faith in God which led her to being obedient to God.
- Mary finds joy in visiting her cousin. Both women are God’s servants, God is fulfilling His promise through these two women, and they find unexplainable joy in serving God.
“One of the tests of maturing love is our personal attitude toward God and the bible, because in the Bible we find God’s will for our lives revealed. An unsaved man considers the Bible an impossible book…An immature Christian considers the demands of the Bible to be burdensome…but a Christian who experiences God’s perfecting love finds himself enjoying the Word of God and truly loving it. He does not read the Bible as a textbook but as a love letter.”
--Bible Exposition Commentary
Mary and Elizabeth find an unexplainable joy in serving God.
– Luke 1:41-44
Mary is foretold of what is about to happen as she carries Jesus to birth and will raise Him. Her next reaction is to run to Elizabeth. To hurry off to see her cousin. Mary does this for two reasons:
A). Mary feared being killed (stoned) for being pregnant out of wedlock—she is looking for a safe retreat
B). Mary recognizes that she wants to be with someone she knows, someone who loves her, she runs to her community to find help and solace as she carries out God’s call in her life.
The Greek word for “Joy.” ἀγαλλίασις agallíasis, ag-al-lee'-as-is; exultation; specially, welcome: —gladness, (exceeding) joy.
At feasts, people were anointed with the "oil of gladness". Hbr 1:9 alludes to this inaugural ceremony of anointing and uses it as an emblem of the divine power and majesty to which the Son of God has been exalted.
“But of the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above your companions.” – Hebrews 1:8-9 (this is quoting Psalm 45:7 pointing this anointing directly to Jesus Christ)
“We now come, however, more closely to the text. The Spirit of God is here considered in one of his influences or operations as “the oil of gladness”: we shall speak of this in the following way. First, the Saviour’s anointing with gladness; secondly, the reason for the bestowal of this oil of joy upon him; and, thirdly, the manner of the operation of this sacred anointing upon ourselves.”--The Spurgeon Library
Elizabeth’s baby leaped for joy at the meeting of Mary and her baby Jesus (in the womb) because the “oil of gladness” was already anointing Jesus Christ as Lord, as God. This is yet another recognition of Jesus being spotless, blameless, being the perfect lamb of God. This gives Elizabeth great joy, great gladness.
Mary and Elizabeth are filled with joy because they know that their saviour has come to the world to save them, to bring them into eternal hope and glory with Him.
- Mary’s joy overflows within her soul; she worships God with a song of thanksgiving because she has the privilege of being a servant in God’s ministry.
Luke 1:46-55 is called “The Magnificat” or “Mary’s Song of Praise.” Magnificat comes form the latin word “magnificare” which means “To Magnify.”
Mary is literally magnifying the Lord in this calling. She is raising God to a greater esteem or respect, she aims to increase God in significance. As she bears God’s call in her life she if given great joy in doing the Lord’s work—she is giving all the glory to God who is in her womb as Jesus.
--Luke 1:46-56
Mary is calling back to those past prophecies that she would have learned as Jewish girl. She is recognizing the history of God’s people being saved through Moses, the exodus form Egypt and God toppling Pharaoh through the ten plagues (Exodus 7-12) She is recognizing the promise of Abraham’s seed bringing blessing after blessing to future generations (Gen. 22:18) Of How God fed his people manna while they wandered in the desert for 40 years (Exodus 16) Of all the lowly prophets who came passing God’s prophecies and judgements upon His people; proclaiming that God will one day save them (Isaiah, Moses, Jeremiah, Micah, Malachi, Amos, Joel etc).
Mary is worshiping the baby in womb as the saviour of the world, the provision of salvation for the souls of Jews and Gentiles. Mary is recognizing that the birth of Jesus will be the ultimate and perfect salvation for all who repent, who change their mind, who choose to follow Jesus Christ. Mary becomes joyfully obedient to God; God’s glory literally shines through Mary’s womb and she is filled with joy.
Questions:
- Is there a time in your life where you had to trust in God in a very hard situation?
- Mary ran to Elizabeth for help; how can we be in community with one another like this?
- What comes to mind when you read Mary’s song of praise?