“𝗠𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿, 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱; 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗛𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗺; 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀; 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲; 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝘆. 𝗛𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹, 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝘆, 𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿.” —𝗟𝘂𝗸𝗲 𝟭:𝟰𝟲–𝟱𝟱

Mary sees clearly a most remarkable thing about God: He is about to change the course of all human history. The most important three decades in all of time are about to begin.

And where is God? Occupying himself with two obscure, humble women—one old and barren (Elizabeth), one young and virginal (Mary). And Mary is so moved by this vision of God, the lover of the lowly, that she breaks out in song — a song that has come to be known as “the Magnificat” (Luke 1:46–55).

Mary and Elizabeth are wonderful heroines in Luke’s account. He loves the faith of these women. The thing that impresses him most, it appears, and the thing he wants to impress on Theophilus, his noble reader, is the lowliness and cheerful humility of Elizabeth and Mary

Elizabeth says,“Why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me?” (Luke 1:43). And Mary says, “He has looked on the humble estate of his servant” (Luke 1:48).

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙀𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙮—𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙂𝙤𝙙.

SOURCE: Taken from Good News of Great Joy (Daily Readings for Advent) by John Piper. © 2013