A pregnant Christmas song




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Everyone has their favorite Christmas songs. And the ones they dislike. The ones I like don’t get on the radio very often. As for the ones I don’t like…

I preached yesterday about the first Christmas song. And the best one. It dates back over 2000 years, and was authored by a young woman named Mary. The song is named The Magnificat, which is the first word in the Latin translation.

What sets this song apart from our Christmas songs? Everything, really.

The Magnificat was written by a woman who understood that the baby in her womb would be the Messiah, the deliverer, the revolutionary who would free his people. And like every other revolutionary who had lived before and would live after him, danger was involved.

My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.

Accepting this mission from God would put everything dear to Mary at risk. Her upcoming marriage. Her respect in the community. Her very own life.

And the birth was surrounded by events that would remind Mary of the dangerous territory she was treading upon. The tax of the occupying Romans, which forced her to travel by donkey when the baby was due to be born. The visit of the Magi, who left Judah secretly to avoid the threatening—and threatened—King Herod. The slaughter of the infants which forced Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to become refugees in Egypt.

He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.



And as Jesus grew, the danger grew greater. We need not recount all the episodes in which Jesus and his followers were in great danger. We need not retell the details of his torturous death.

Mary obviously knew that Jesus would turn the world upside down. She likely knew that this would come at great cost. She couldn’t have known how great the cost would be, nor could she have imagined the depth and richness of the redemption that Jesus would bring; more than just political, he brought freedom from all the powers and principalities, freedom from sin, freedom from hopelessness, freedom from fear, freedom from death.

He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.


We sing this song alongside Mary because we find ourselves in the same position as the blessed virgin. We carry within us the Messiah, who is waiting to burst forth into our world. He wants to subvert the powers and principalities, bringing everything into his dominion, through his humble, obedient, self-sacrificing love.

And like Mary, we know he is our redeemer, but we don’t know his specific purposes in our lives. We do not know if the world will receive him. We know not the danger we will face. We know not the pain we will feel.

And we can hardly imagine the redemption we will receive.