Day 3: Magnificat

I can already tell that having an eight-month-old son is going to make this study all the more real to me. Yesterday I was eating lunch with my 90-year-old grandmother (just hold on... these two sentences will tie together in the end. I promise.), and she asked my how many years I had turned on my birthday. "Thirty-three," I said. She just shook her head and said, "It's hard to believe my first little granddaughter is thirty-three years old." I told her about what I had been thinking about... about Jesus dying at thirty-three. Her response: "He died so young. But the one I always think about is Mary."

You see, my grandmother's identity is completely intertwined with her children and grandchildren. She is a mother. She is a grandmother. And even though she has an idea of what Jesus went through for her, she has an even better grasp of what Mary must have faced.

Now that have my own little boy, I can understand her perspective a little better. And the thing is, as far as I can tell, Mary never questions God or His purposes. I don't know whether Jesus warned her what was going to happen, but I have a funny feeling that he did. He warns the apostles, he talks about it in public settings, and Mary's been pondering all this in her heart since the day he was born. I believe she knew. And she was there at every step.

One of my favorite passages in the entirety of Scripture is Mary's conversation with Elizabeth in Luke 1. Chances are that Mary is a young teenager when she says these words, which makes it all the more evident why the Lord chose her above every other woman who has ever lived. May we all have the faith of Mary, to understand that His ways are higher than our ways, and to say:

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation." Luke 1: 46-50