"My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior." Luke 1:46, 47. Thus begins the beautiful song of praise that burst from the lips of a young maiden of Nazareth under very exceptional circumstances.
She had been the recipient of a wonderful, divine communication brought from God by the angel Gabriel. She, a lowly virgin, had been addressed by her heavenly visitor as "highly favored" and "blessed... among women." Her nervous anxiety caused by this unusual visit had been set at rest by his comforting "Fear not, Mary," and then she meekly listened to the wonderful revelation, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
Marvelous and personal as the revelation was, she accepted it in faith and answered it in a spirit of quiet subjection. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy word." Did Mary fully realize at once the import of the weighty message that she was to become in a miraculous way, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the honored mother of the long-looked-for Messiah of the Jews-Jesus the Savior? Gabriel had told her about her aged cousin Elizabeth, and reminded her that "with God nothing is impossible."
The similarity of the angel's mission to each formed a bond of attraction and fellowship between them, and Mary felt impelled to travel the seventy miles between Nazareth and the hill country of Hebron to visit her relative. Here in the rest and seclusion of the priest's home, with the companionship of Elizabeth, who could fully understand, she spent three quiet months.
It was upon her arrival here too, the first greetings over, that Mary voiced her feelings in the beautiful song with which we started. She had a rejoicing spirit not brought about by earthly circumstances, for they must have been specially trying (see Matt. 1:19), but her soul's vision was filled with the Lord-God her Savior-whom she magnified and exalted. Occupied with Him she fully realized then, if she had not before, the depth of the Lord's dealings with her, and thus beautifully and simply expressed it: "He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is His name." Her faith in God is very evident here, and she continued to speak of His mercy, always active for those that fear Him, His strength exerted in righteousness in the earth, and His help which was at the disposal of His favored people (vv. 50-54).
Six months had passed away and Joseph followed the angelic injunction to take his espoused wife Mary under his protection. Together they traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be enrolled in the census according to the decree of Caesar Augustus.
A deeper reason no doubt lay behind this journey. Micah's beautiful prophecy was about to be fulfilled, "Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting." Mic. 5:2. While Mary was there, sheltering in a stable belonging to an overcrowded inn, this wonderful "ruler" prophesied of above-the sent One of God-was born!
With her own hands, as in her poverty she probably had none to help her, she wrapped her precious Babe in the customary swathes of linen, and cradled Him in a manger. There was "no room" for God's Christ, Israel's true King, in this world. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." John 1:11. But though He was unrecognized by men, angelic hosts heralded His advent and proclaimed to some lowly shepherds keeping watch over their flocks during the darkness of night God's "good tidings of great joy." "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."
After the heavenly messengers left, the shepherds agreed to go immediately to see that which the Lord had made known to them, so they were the first visitors received by Mary to see her holy Child. Convinced of the truth of all they saw, they spread abroad the "good tidings," so that they who heard wondered at what the shepherds told them. Mary, on the contrary, "kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19.
Wonderful truths to keep and ponder, and how they must have strengthened her faith and her rejoicing in God her Savior!