Mary, who is a pregnant teenager without a husband and living in a small town, starts off this song by saying "My soul glorifies the Lord" (verse 46). That is a sermon in itself--praising God for our circumstances, even when they look quite bleak.
But verses 54 and 55 of this song are our focus today. In these verses, Mary remembers the promise made to Abraham (see Day 2) and asserts that Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise. What God promises, He will do, even if it takes a few thousand years...
Another passage I want to point to today references Jesus' own assessment of Abraham. A lot of people today would argue that Jesus never claimed to be God. I've heard many folks say that Jesus never thought of himself as anything other than a rabbi, and the idea of him as God, or as the promised Messiah, was something that the early church invented about him. But, when we look at John 8, we see a verse that very clearly tells us what Jesus thought of himself. Jesus is arguing with some Pharisees about who he is. They claim he is demon-posessed. His response:
56Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."
57"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"
58"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"
Jesus is not a rabbi with bad grammar, He is in fact the I Am, of the same essence as God, who spoke those same words to Moses at the Burning Bush (see Exodus 3:14).
As Christmas draws closer, let's prepare our hearts to receive Christ and His promised redemption.
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