In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
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And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
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And Mary said, “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.”
But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
…
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
…
And Mary said, “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 1:26-33, 38, 46-55
Mary’s “Magnificat” (v46-55) is so humbling. No wonder Gabriel addressed her as “O favored one.” The Greek root for the word translated “favored one” is charis, which is the same root word translated “grace” in James 4:6 “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
God is especially gracious to the humble.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
- Micah 6:8
Humility is commanded by the Lord; and yet those who have it seem unperturbed by the possibility of not having it. In this sense, their humility keeps them from looking at their humility with any sense of persistent self-awareness or self-righteousness. In other words, truly humble people aren’t “trying” to be humble, they just are. Through this estate, they are obeying God’s command and, in being so, they are ultimately blessed.How blessed was Mary, having been bestowed the honor of giving birth to and mothering Jesus? As her relative, Elizabeth “exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!’” (Luke 1:42). If we seek to understand anything about Mary, we’d do well by first understanding her humility and the resultant grace God gave to her.
The Bible speaks volumes on this topic: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
- James 4:10
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.
- Proverbs 16:18-19
The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life.
- Proverbs 22:4
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
- Proverbs 11:2
Before destruction a man's heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.
- Proverbs 18:12
Consider the honor of being the one woman chosen by God Almighty to bear His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. What kind of humility does that imply? It’s humbling to think about, isn’t it?
Stepping back a little…
We’re past Thanksgiving 2023 and rolling into the Christmas season, so I’m not surprised the Holy Spirit had me up at 4am this morning to write this blog for you. We’re going to hear “Tis the season” more and more as we get closer to Christmas. As we do, I guess a good question to ask is, “For what?” Maybe we spend a little extra time this year pondering Mary’s humility, and then our own.
This Christmas season let’s be humble and see where that takes us. If you lose your focus, remember Mary’s heart towards the Lord as He blessed her. She didn’t say, “I deserve this” – not even close. She was overwhelmed with gratitude. It’s funny how that works, huh?
The same person who never expects to receive grace is the one who God gives it to. I submit this just may be the simplest definition of true humility. Thanks for teaching me this, Mary.
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins
