Luke 1:49 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Luke 1:49

Comments

‘He that is mighty’ – Mary rehearses the wonderful attributes of God. She wants to exalt the Lord in her heart and speak of his perfections. This is true praise, when we admire God for who he is. He is mighty. He has no equal in might. When we think of the mightiest of powers on earth, he is more so, and that power works for the good of his people. The might that Mary is thinking of is the might that has given her such a great gift, and exalted one who is so lowly to such a position of blessedness. This is the proof of his mightiness. The proud are reluctant to praise God, but the humble pour out their praise freely. ‘Holy is his name.’ Mary selects this attribute, because if there is one attribute God means to be publicly known, it is his holiness. He cannot do evil, and he cannot allow evil to exist in his presence. Therefore it is amazing that I, who am immersed in sin, should be accepted as his child. He cannot leave me in that state. He must transform me in order to bring me to heaven. This is the progressive life-long work of sanctification, which will be completed at the moment we pass from this world, when we put off the body of this death. I long for greater holiness and for greater advance, and our attitude must be trust him as we fight against the flesh.

Application

He has done great things for Mary, and he has done great things for us also. They are great things because of the difficulty of doing them, because of all the obstacles that lay in the way of doing them. We have been given spiritual life, eternal life, but in the way of that lay an obstacle so great that it took the Son of God coming into the world and giving his life on Calvary to remove it. Our sin has been paid for by our surety. Our dead hearts have been brought to praise and love the Lord. We now long to obey him, whereas before we hated his commandments and they were grievous to us. At conversion we began to appreciate the might of God; we sensed it in our own lives. But we have sensed it ever since. So we come to the Lord and lay these things before him. The mighty omnipotent God has stooped to come down into our world and taken back his people to glory.

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Luke 1:49 Commentary and Bible Study