Christmas Connections

Excellent or Praiseworthy is posted on Monday and Thursday nights.

“And Mary said:  ‘My soul praises the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior . . .” — Luke 1:46,47

One of the fun things to do in Bible study (yes, fun!) is to make the Scripture connections between the Old and New Testaments. For example, when I read the apostle John’s account of John the Baptist seeing Jesus, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) I think back to Genesis 22:8 when Abraham declares, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son” in response to Isaac’s question concerning the sacrifice that is about to be made. That verse, in turn, leads me to think of the Passover Lamb in Exodus 12: “Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe . . . . When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and He will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants.” (Exodus 12:21-23)

Then my thoughts take me to the prophecy in Isaiah 53:7, “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter . . .” and on to Acts 8:32, where we find Philip in his encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch. The eunuch is reading that very prophecy from Isaiah (Isaiah 53:7,8) when Philip approaches him, explains it to him and leads him to a belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior. The account concludes with the eunuch’s baptism in the waters beside the road.

But the Scriptural connections of Jesus being referred to as the lamb continue further into the New Testament. For example, in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 we read: “Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.”

And finally we find Jesus as the Lamb of God in numerous passages in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 5:6-9 we read, “Then I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders . . . And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased me for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.’” Continuing in verse 12, “In a loud voice they sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” That’s worship!

And at the end of Revelation we read, “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Revelation 21:22-27)

But if that seems like a lot of connections, please join me at Luke 1:46-55. These verses are sometimes called “The First Christmas Carol,” “Mary’s Song,” “The Gospel According to Mary,” “The Hymn of the Incarnation” or “Mary’s Magnificat.” If you were to connect these verses with similar ones in the Old Testament, perhaps you would go to 1 Samuel 2 to find Hannah’s song.

What Mary does, from deep within her heart and with much humility, is pronounce one of the most profound statements of faith. I have read from Warren Wiersbe that she weaves as many as fifteen Scripture references from the Old Testament together with her praises. Mary knew her Scripture, had it memorized, and recalled it at a time when she was perhaps lonely, scared, and needed to be encouraged for the future challenges that she would face. She worshiped!

John MacArthur, a great Bible scholar and contemporary preacher of the Bible says:

“Mary starts out in verse 46 by saying. “My soul doth magnify the Lord,” which is an echo of Psalm 34:2, “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord.” In verse 47 she says, “And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,” which echoes Isaiah 45:21, “There is no God else beside Me, a just God and a Savior.” And in verse 48 she says, “He has regarded the lowest state of His handmaid,” which echoes 1 Samuel 1:11, “If Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thine handmaid and remember me and not forget Thy handmaid,” the words of Hannah. It also is reminiscent of Psalm 136:23, “Who remembered us in our low estate, for His mercy endures forever.” Again in verse 48 she says, “Behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed,” which echoes the words of Leah in Genesis 30 verse 13, “Happy am I for the daughters will call me blessed.” In verse 49 she says, “He that is mighty has done to me great things,” which echoes Psalm 126:3, “The Lord has done great things for us whereof we are glad.” And then in verse 49 she says, “Holy is His name,” directly quoting Psalm 111:9, “Holy and reverend is His name.” And so it goes that she is very well versed in the Old Testament as she unfolds her familiarity with Scripture and applies it to her own situation.

“She also understands the history of Israel.  She understands how God has exercised His mighty arm in verse 51 and how in the past He has scattered the proud. He has brought down rulers. He exalts the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, sent the rich empty handed. She understands how through the history of Israel God has helped Israel, verse 54, and done so in remembrance of His mercy promised, in verse 55, by the Abrahamic covenant. She is not just familiar with Scripture, she knows covenant theology. She understands the theology of the Abrahamic covenant. She understands that it was an eternal pledge made to Abraham by which generations would be blessed. She is knowledgeable of Scripture and she is familiar with theology.  She had read, she had heard, she had memorized, she had meditated on the sacred Scripture and when her heart burst out in praise it wasn’t trivial and it wasn’t sort of self-invented. Scripture just poured out of her mouth. It was the language of Scripture showing her alacrity, her facility and her familiarity with the text. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, as Matthew 12:34 and when she spoke it reflected that her heart was filled with God’s Word.”

Whether you are deployed or at home, whether new in the military or experienced in its demands, whether alone or surrounded by others . . . please take these Scriptures and its connections seriously.  Connect them where it really counts—in your heart. In this day and age when the tendency is to “dumb down” so many things, consider studying Scripture, committing it to memory, and recalling it when you are lonely, scared, and need encouragement to face challenges. This Christmas, take the words of Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Luke, Mary, Paul, and John and realize that they are for you. They are truth . . . and may they bring comfort to you as you defend our nation against enemies, seen and unseen.

You will read of Jesus throughout the entire Bible, and He wants to be your Savior just as Mary knew that He would be her Savior. She would be the mother of the Lord . . . who would redeem her.

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:11-14)

Work Cited:

John MacArthur’s sermon was from March 28, 1999.(www.gty.org)

Questions to Share:

1. This Christmas, would you take the time to re-read Mary’s song in Luke 2:46-55?  Consider that she was a young girl who knew Scripture well. She also trusted what the Lord had said to her concerning the task ahead—carrying the Son of God in her womb.

2. Take these verses and where it says “my” insert your name. Pray these verses to the Lord.