THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
July 2
SERMON ON THE HOLY GOSPEL – ST LUKE 1:39-56
By Johann Gerhard
When we compare these two songs, we find that many of the words and phrases are very similar. Israel sang: “I will sing to the Lord. The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.” In the holy Gospel Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Moses and the people declared: “Thy right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, Thy right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.” Mary sang: “He has shown strength with His arm, He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.” Israel: “In the greatness of Thy majesty Thou overthrowest Thy adversaries.” Mary: “He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree.” Israel: “Who is like Thee, majestic in holiness, terrible in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” Mary: “He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.” Israel: “Thou hast led in Thy steadfast love the people whom Thou hast redeemed.” Mary: “He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy.”
Mary’s beautiful Magnificat we shall explain further, after we have spoken of her journey and her conversation with Elizabeth. For the holy Gospel presents three points:
I. Mary’s Journey
II. Her Conversation with Elizabeth
III. Her Magnificat
I
“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.” What days are meant becomes clear when we remember that earlier in this first chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel the angel of the Lord came to Mary and announced to her that she was to be the mother of the Lord, of the Messiah. To confirm his message the angel informed Mary that Elizabeth, her kinswoman, barren until then, had conceived in her old age. This prompted Mary to travel to Hebron.
One purpose of this journey was to strengthen her faith by seeing with her own eyes the miraculous grace of God; also to congratulate her kinswoman that the Lord had taken away the disgrace of barrenness, and to wish her well. Another purpose was to have holy and friendly conversation with Elizabeth regarding the angel’s wonderful message. A third purpose was to be of service and to assist her kinswoman at this time. At the close of the holy Gospel, the Evangelist reports that she remained about three months. When Elizabeth’s confinement drew near, Mary, as a modest maiden would, returned to Nazareth.
When Mary reached her destination and entered the house of Zechariah, she greeted her kinswoman. As she did so, a miracle occurred and John in his mother’s womb leaped for joy and so witnessed to the Messiah whose forerunner he was to be.
We see here what the Holy Spirit works in those whom He has chosen for His temple and dwelling. The angel had said to Mary that the Holy Spirit would come upon her. This is not to be understood as though He was to come upon her only to perform this particular and unique operation of forming and preparing Christ’s body from Mary’s sanctified and purified blood without affecting her virginity, but He was to dwell and work in her also in the ordinary manner although in a different degree. What were such results of the Spirit’s gracious indwelling?
First, there was fervency of the spirit. After the angel had drawn her attention to her kinswoman Elizabeth, Mary did not rest until she saw with her own eyes the seemingly impossible thing God had done. St. Paul admonishes us all to show such ardor and diligence: “Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit” (Rom. 12:11). This expression refers to leaven, which works and swells and heaves, and raises the dough. The Apostle means that sin is in our flesh, the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil (1 Cor. 5:8). This ferments and rises in us in the form of evil lusts and desires. Therefore we are to cleanse out the old leaven, be fresh dough, and be fervent in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the heavenly leaven. If He dwells in us, He will make our heart glow with warmth and make us zealous in the works of righteousness, so that we obey God’s Commandments not only outwardly but with inner joy and fervency. “All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). This urging of the Spirit led Mary to travel into the hill country. In this fervor we too are to direct our eyes to the hills of heavenly things, that we raise our hearts from the deep valleys of this earth to the eternal and heavenly things.
Another work of the indwelling Spirit was gracious friendliness. When Mary entered Elizabeth’s home, she greeted her with cordial friendliness. This kindliness is also a fruit of the Spirit, as St. Paul says Gal. 5:22. Christ requires it of His disciples: “As you enter the house, salute it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it” (Matt. 10:12,13). It flows from sincere love. If our heart is kindly disposed toward our neighbor, we shall wish him well and speak kindly to him. It flows from sincere humility that we “outdo one another in showing honor” (Rom. 12:10), whereas anger and vindictive behavior results from pride. Where this kindly friendliness is not apparent there is no upright love and genuine humility, and the Holy Spirit cannot dwell there.
Another fruit of the Spirit in Mary was inner spiritual joy. As John, filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb, leaped for joy, so Mary’s joy burst forth and she also leaped in the spirit. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” she exclaims. This inner joy of the heart is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22), and the immediate result of our tasting and seeing that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8). “My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God” (Ps. 84:2). “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God” (Is. 61:10). “I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:18). This joy of the spirit is a foretaste of life eternal, the endless, boundless joy of heaven. It is our soul’s rest in God. This inner joy is followed by heartfelt praise. “Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart” (Eph. 5:18,19). It is the seal which the Holy Spirit impresses. “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). This Kingdom is a kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). Such joy is the inner refreshing of the soul; for as the body is nourished by food, so our soul is fed by this heavenly manna. By faith Christ dwells in us (Eph. 3:1), and the Holy Spirit also has His temple within us (1 Cor. 6:9). That rays of heavenly joy are kindled in us is inevitable. If this were to happen in full measure, we would be in heaven even now. But this light of joy is darkened by desires of the flesh, by temptations, by sorrows, and the like. Our life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). Nevertheless, again and again a ray breaks through and brings genuine joy to the heart, whereas the joy of this world cannot actually affect the heart. This joy of the spirit is the kiss of which we read: “Oh, that you would kiss me with the kisses of your mouth” (Song of Solomon 1:2). Words cannot express what it is, but he who has felt and tasted it knows. He longs for it but does not find it except it is given him by God.
Finally we find in Mary also this fruit of the Holy Spirit that she is ready to render service, for she remains with her kinswoman Elizabeth for about three months to do for her whatever she is able. We, too, are to show such willingness to serve others. “Through love be servants of one another” (Col. 5:13). Although Mary was exalted above all women, she did not shrink from serving her kinswoman in humility and love. Our eagerness to serve others is slight because love has grown cold in our hearts. O heavenly fire, enlighten and warm us!
II
In the second part of the holy Gospel we have an account of the conversation between Mary and Elizabeth. “Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” Therefore we must consider all she said to Mary as words spoken by the Spirit. That she was filled with the Holy Spirit does not surprise us, for He was present who was conceived in the body of the Virgin by the overshadowing of the Spirit, on whom the Spirit of the Lord rested (Is. 11:2), and to whom the Holy Spirit was given not by measure but without limit (John 3:34). Elizabeth carried within her body a fruit who even then was filled with the Holy Spirit and by His impulse leaped in the womb. Full of the Spirit she exclaimed with a loud voice: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” These words echoed the greeting of the angel in Nazareth, which she had not heard but which had probably been revealed to her by the Spirit. She contrasts these words with the curse that had come upon the human race through Eve and calls Mary the blessed one because she had conceived Him through whom we are blessed. She continues: “And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.” Elizabeth knew that the Son of God, the Lord from on high, had assumed the true human nature in Mary; therefore she called her the mother of the Lord and humbled herself before her. She also extolled the great miracle she herself experienced, and concluded: “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” She refers to her husband’s unbelief and commends Mary for believing the words of the angel.
This was the first convention of the Church in the New Testament. The most prominent persons assembled. Present were: Mary, the blessed among women, carrying within her the Son of God; Elizabeth, full of the Holy Spirit; the priest Zechariah, who was unable to speak at this time but of whom we soon hear that he too was filled with the Spirit; and John in his mother’s womb, who affirmed the pronouncements of the assembly by his leaping for joy.
What were these declarations? They embody the foundation of our faith. In the first place, the assembly declared that Christ is true man, for He was called the fruit of Mary’s body. This was according to Ps. 132:11, where the Messiah is called one of the sons of David’s body. By this declaration the assembly condemned all who deny the true humanity of Christ.
Another was that Christ is true God. “Why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” The Messiah is called the Lord from heaven. This declaration was according to Jer. 23:5, 6: “Behold, the days are coming when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch. . . . And this is the name by which He will be called: the Lord is our righteousness.” Thereby the assembly condemned all heretics who deny the true deity of Christ.
A third declaration was that the two natures, the divine and the human, are united in the Person of Christ, for Mary is called the mother of the Lord. There is not one person who is the Son of God and another person who is the son of Mary, but there is only One, who is the Son of God and that same One is also the son of Mary in the unity of Person. This pronouncement was according to Jer. 31:22: “The Lord has created a new thing on earth: a woman protects a man.” This man is Christ, the valiant Hero, the Man gotten with the help of the Lord (Gen. 4:1), who was born of the Virgin Mary, because He received the human nature, which He took from the Virgin, into His Person. By this personal union the human nature was united with the divine nature, so that Christ was made Lord also according to His human nature (Acts 2:36). At this first convention all were condemned who abrogate or obscure the Personal Union, especially Nestorius, who would not agree that Mary be called mother of God.
Fourthly, the assembly declared that Christ is the blessed fruit of the body, for Mary was called the blessed among women because she received the heavenly blessing and benediction. We too are blessed in Him and have all received from His fullness grace upon grace (John 1:16). This declaration is according to Gen. 12:3: “By you all the families of the earth will bless themselves (will be blessed).” In the Messiah all the families of the earth will be blessed. This declaration condemns all who seek elsewhere for the heavenly blessing, the grace of God, and life. For Christ alone has redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon us (Gal. 3:13,14).
A fifth declaration was that the blessings of the Messiah are given us through faith. “Blessed is she who believed that there would be (for there will be) a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord,” Elizabeth said to Mary. By faith Mary conceived Christ. So Christ is born in us in a spiritual manner by faith. Faith makes us partakers of the heavenly blessing. Men of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham (Gal. 3:9). By faith God’s promises are fulfilled in us when faith lays hold on what God says in His word of promise. This declaration is in accordance with the word: “He (Abraham) believed the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). Therefore all are condemned who look for means other than faith to receive Christ’s blessings.
In the sixth place the assembly agreed that it is the nature of true faith to appropriate personally the blessings offered in Christ. Elizabeth called Christ her Lord and later Mary spoke of Him as her Savior. “My Lord and my God,” said St. Thomas (John 20:28), and St. Paul, “The Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). This declaration of the first assembly was based on Zech. 9:9: “Lo, your King comes to you, triumphant and victorious.” In answer, faith says: “Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength” (Is. 45:24). In the first meeting of the Church all are condemned who teach that there must always be doubt of God’s grace and forgiveness.
These are the fundamental truths agreed upon by this first convention of the Church under the influence of the Holy Spirit. They are definitely to be preferred to declarations of subsequent assemblies. St. Augustine said that later conventions are to be improved and corrected from previous conventions.
Significant observations result from the consideration of the scene of this first council. The home of the priest Zechariah was in the city of Hebron, where lived the holy patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom the promise of the blessed Woman’s Seed was given (Acts 7:4). In this locality Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah, and John gathered and gave witness that this promise was about to be fulfilled. The holy patriarchs preached here that the Messiah was to be born of their seed and descendants. Elizabeth called the Messiah the fruit of Mary’s body, who was a daughter of Abraham. The holy patriarch proclaimed here that in this Seed all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. Elizabeth called the Messiah the blessed fruit of Mary’s womb. Of Abraham it was written that he believed God and this was reckoned to him as righteousness. Elizabeth declared that Mary was blessed because she believed.
III
In the third part of the holy Gospel, Mary’s glorious hymn of praise is recorded, the Magnificat which always has been regarded highly in the Christian Church. The first words are: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Mary had been confirmed in faith and filled with the Holy Spirit. Therefore her heart overflowed and her lips poured forth praises to God. This teaches us that we are to give back to God in gratitude and praise all the good and all the blessings He has given us and not to attribute anything to ourselves nor presume upon these gifts, but rejoice in God and extol Him alone. How can we magnify Him? He is the Most High and neither gains nor loses anything by our praise. But we magnify Him when we acknowledge His boundless grace and blessings, boast in Him, and exalt His Name (Ps. 34:2, 3), so that He is highly regarded and extolled by us and by others. To be pleasing to Him, this praise must proceed from a joyful heart that rests in God, so that there is always more joy and praise in the heart than the mouth expresses. We cannot attain to such fervent praise but by sincere contemplation of the divine blessings as we consider that God is our Savior and that we are reconciled to God in Christ and that we receive forgiveness through faith in Him. This faith results in peace of conscience (Rom. 5:1); peace of conscience brings joy to the heart; joy of heart issues in praise of God. This we see in Mary here, but also in Christ, of whom we read: “In that same hour He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth” (Luke 10:21). (See also Matt. 11:25.) From the joy of the Spirit came sincere praise of God.
Next, Mary gave the reasons for magnifying the Lord. Some of the reasons are purely personal, others apply to the whole Church in general. The faithful consider not only the blessings they have received for themselves but rejoice in and praise God for the good He has done for others. True love regards the neighbor’s welfare as though it were its own and makes us all members of one body.
Of the great things God had done for her in particular Mary said: “He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden.” She contrasts with her own lowliness the high estate of Him who is mighty. She acknowledges that she was chosen to be the mother of the Messiah in grace and mercy, not because of any worthiness or merit in her but solely because of God’s gracious regard and mercy. When we contemplate God’s great goodness, we too are to acknowledge our wretchedness and say with Jacob: “I am not worthy of the least of all Thy steadfast love and all the faithfulness which Thou hast shown Thy servant” (Gen. 32:10). The more we debase ourselves and recognize our wretchedness, the more will we magnify God. But he who attributes anything to himself does not and cannot magnify God properly and fully. He who counts himself nothing, attributes all to God, and to him David’s words apply: “For though the Lord is high, He regards the lowly” (Ps. 138:6).
From the contemplation of her low estate Mary turned to the contemplation of divine mercy and said: “Henceforth all generations will call me blessed,” because I brought into this world Him in whom is the salvation and blessedness of all men, in whom all nations will be blessed. Therefore she left off speaking of herself and turned to the contemplation of divine greatness. “He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.” It was indeed a great thing that she, a virgin, conceived and was to become the mother of the Lord. Christ, the fruit of her body, was the Holy One who for our sake consecrated Himself. Therefore the angel said to Mary at the Annunciation: “The child to be born will be called holy.” So she adds “holy is His Name.” Here Mary herself shows us how we are to call her blessed and honor her, namely, that we praise God because of her (Gal. 1:24), because He did such great things for her and used her as a means to accomplish the great and wonderful deed of Christ’s conception.
From the good things God had done for her, Mary turns to the good things in general which God has done for all men in sending His Son, and she magnifies especially God’s mercy, God’s might, and God’s truth.
These three attributes were revealed in the great work of the Incarnation. For what greater proof of His love and mercy could God have given us than to have His Son become man? How could He have given loftier proof of His power than in the personal union of the two natures? What clearer evidence of divine truth could we have that God fulfilled the promise to the fathers by sending the Messiah? Therefore Mary speaks first of God’s mercy. “His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.” Divine mercy is an inexhaustible fountain, from which all good gifts flow upon us, also the gift of the Incarnation. But the gift of eternal life and the good things the Messiah brings are only for those who fear the Lord, who know God’s wrath incurred by sin, seek mercy in Christ, and live in the fear of God. They rest under God’s mercy as under a shield (Ps. 5:13). God’s mercy covers the righteous with favor, and He keeps them under the shadow of His wings.
Mary praises also God’s power and strength. “He has shown strength with His arm, He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart, He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away.” The Scriptures now and then ascribe to God a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, to indicate His power and strength, used especially against the proud who oppose Him. “He shatters the mighty” (Job 34:24). He puts down the mighty from their thrones, the mighty who presume on their power, but He exalts those of low degree. Those who hunger after righteousness, He feeds; but the rich who do not realize their need and poverty, He sends empty away. Mary here thought especially of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, for the mighty arm of the Lord is the Messiah (Is. 53:11,12), the power of God (1 Cor. 1:24). With mighty hand Christ delivered us from the power of the devil, and those whom He has redeemed He protects and defends against the proud, the mighty enemies. He exalts the righteous in this and the future life. He feeds their hungry souls with heavenly manna and fills them with eternal blessings.
Finally, Mary magnified God’s truthfulness. “He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever.” A truthful, faithful God has fulfilled the promise to the holy patriarchs by sending His Son, whereby He has restored His dejected and discouraged people by His helping hand.
This, then, is the beautiful Magnificat, whose phrases are all from the Old Testament. When Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” she echoed Hab. 3:18: “I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation,” and Is. 61:10, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exalt in my God.” When she said, “He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,” she had in mind 1 Samuel 1:11: “Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thy maidservant, and remember me.” When Mary said, “Henceforth all generations will call me blessed,” we are reminded of Leah, Jacob’s wife, exclaiming, “The women will call me happy” (Gen. 30:13). Perhaps Leah imagined that the Messiah would be born of Asher’s tribe. Mary applies this to herself and declares that not only the daughters of Israel but all men will call her blessed. When Mary said, “He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name,” she remembered the words, “Thou hast done great things” (Ps. 71:19), and “The high and lofty One, whose name is Holy” (Is. 57:15). Her words, “His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation,” repeat Ps. 103:17, “The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear Him.” When she said, “He has shown strength with His arm, He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts,” she rephrased Ps. 89:10,13: “Thou didst scatter Thy enemies with Thy mighty arm. Thou hast a mighty arm, strong is Thy hand,” and Job 34:24, “He shatters the mighty without investigation (King James Version: He shall break in pieces mighty men without number), and sets others in their place.” In Mary’s words, “He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree.” She reflects Ezek. 26:16, “Then all the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones,” and Ps. 113:7, “He raises the poor from the dust.” When she said, “He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away,” she recalled 1 Sam. 2:5, “Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.” The words “He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy,” were suggested by Ps. 98:3, “He has remembered His steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel,” and by Micah 7:20, “Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as Thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of old.” This should prompt us to regard the holy Scriptures as precious and to regard them highly, when we see that Mary, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, said nothing but what the holy prophets of the Old Testament had revealed. May God grant us the same spirit through Christ.
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