Magnifying the Name of the Lord.—Luke 1:46-66

Notes

1. "He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree." This is true in the present tense, but as the work is not yet complete, it is also spoken prophetically. Compare James 4:6, "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble;" and, "unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Eph. 4:7. It is this grace that exalts those who receive it, but the truth is that we are exalted only while we continue humble. If we have humility and grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ, there is no limit to the exaltation that we may receive, for it is all in Christ. For "God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened [made alive] us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Eph. 2:4-6.

2. "He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich hath he sent empty away." To supply the needy is what God always does. To bestow nothing on those who are already rich, is but reasonable. Such do not feel the need of anything. Now none are actually rich, but many think that they are, and it has the same effect in their action as though they did not need anything. Thinking that they need nothing, they will not accept anything, and so they go away empty. Because they are "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked," although claiming to be "rich and increased with goods," and having need of nothing, God counsels them to buy of him gold tried in the fire, and white raiment. Rev. 3:17, 18. He calls them to buy food "without money and without price." Isa. 55:1, 2. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled." Matt. 5:6. There is no need, therefore, for any to go away hungry.

3. "He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever." The specific promise to Abraham was one concerning land, namely, that he and his seed should possess the whole earth as an everlasting inheritance of righteousness. See Gen. 13:14-17; 17:6-8; Rom. 4:13. It was, in short, the gospel. This of course involved the first advent of Christ, for he was the surety of the covenant with Abraham,—the Seed to whom the promise was made. Gal. 3:16, 17. The birth of Christ, however, like that of Isaac, was not the ultimate fulfillment of the promise to the fathers, but was only in the line of its fulfillment. The fulfillment of the promise will be only at the coming of Christ and the resurrection. It was to this, as the hope of the promise made of God unto the fathers, that Paul, in common with all the true Israelites, hoped to come. Acts 26:6-8. If we are Christ's, we are heirs of the promise made to Abraham. The oath of God to Abraham is to us strong assurance that the promise will be fulfilled. Heb. 6:13-18. In Christ our faith may grasp the promise as an actually accomplished fact. See Eph. 1:10, 11; Heb. 4:3.

4. All the circumstances of John's birth being noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea, tended to call the people to him, so that when John came in the wilderness of Judea, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," the people were ready to receive him as a prophet from God. Unfortunately, they rejoiced only for a season in the light that he brought.