These are the familiar words of the virgin Mary. What she spoke when greeted by Elizabeth and told of the reaction of John the Baptist, still in her womb. He leapt when the voice of Mary was heard. And Mary, responded: “My soul magnifies the Lord.”
What does that mean?
An archaic meaning of the English word magnify is “to show honor to.” The Greek word used by Mary means “to extol,” or “to praise.” That does not seem like much, does it? That is, for Mary to say, “My soul praises God.” What does THAT get us?
Well much. Much if we realize what it means to be extolled, to be praised.
Every Sunday evening, after all the NFL games are played, there are recaps of the days action to be found everywhere. What do those recaps contain, but the best plays, the most significant moves, the greatest decisions in each game? The so-called “highlights” magnify those moments, declaring to the world how important a specific player’s play was to the victory of his team.
So for a few seconds, as a highlight is shown, of a specific player, making a specific play, that player is magnified, extolled, praised. All eyes on televisions and computers around the world are looking at and contemplating him. Just him.
The effect? The next day conversations everywhere begin with: “Did you see that play last night?”
The soul of Mary does the same: “Do you see what the Lord has done?” “Do you see how He caused our Savior to become a reality?” “Do you see how God is working in history and bringing to us a salvation greater than any we have ever experienced?” “Righteousness, holiness, blessedness through the forgiveness of sin?”
Now we know this. Forgotten however, is the context in which it happened. The region in which Mary lived had been under the Roman thumb for almost 60 years. Herod the Great (72-4 B.C.) had successfully removed the last vestiges of an independent Judean kingdom by eliminating its ruling family. Life was not easy. And it would get harder. Jerusalem would be completely destroyed and all Jews eventually expelled from the region.
And yet Mary magnified the Lord, proclaiming to Elizabeth the momentousness of what was being accomplished through the Son to be born to her, Jesus Christ.
As we look towards this year’s celebration of the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, on Christmas, let us do the same. Let us magnify the Lord—the One who is Mighty who in Jesus Christ, has done great things for us!
