Show notes
If the Mother of Jesus Needed a Savior, You Do Too | Luke 1:39-56
Mary's song is one of the most beautiful things in all of Scripture, and I don't want us to rush past what she says in the second line. She calls God her Savior. The young woman God chose to carry His Son understood that she needed rescuing just like the rest of us, and she said it out loud in the middle of her own worship. That tells us something about her, and it tells us something about us too.
Today we're in Luke 1:39-56, where Mary travels to see Elizabeth and two miraculous pregnancies end up in the same room. We'll talk about why John leaped in the womb, why Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, what the Magnificat actually is, and what it tells us that a poor teenage girl from Nazareth could weave twelve Old Testament references into a song she made up on the spot.
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Why did Mary go to see Elizabeth right away?
Look at the timing here, because it matters. Gabriel has just delivered his message, and the very next thing we read is that Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country. She left right away.
Based on the locations Luke names, scholars think that journey was about fifty to seventy miles. She was likely traveling alone, and it probably took her three to five days. That's not running over to a relative's house for the afternoon. That's a serious trip for a young girl carrying news that nobody was going to believe.
Why did the baby leap in Elizabeth's womb?
Because in Scripture, leaping is an expression of joy. We see it in Malachi, and we see David leaping and dancing before the Lord in 2 Samuel. So when Luke tells us the baby leaped, he's telling us John responded with joy.
Which means John is already doing the very thing he was created to do. His role was to be the forerunner, the witness to Christ. And he's bearing witness to Jesus before either one of them has even been born.
Why was Elizabeth filled with the Holy Spirit?
Notice the order of what happens. The baby witnesses to Jesus, and that witness leads the way for the Holy Spirit to fill Elizabeth.
This detail is worth slowing down for. We already know who Elizabeth was. She and Zechariah came from the priestly line, Scripture calls them righteous, and it says they walked blamelessly before the Lord. They already believed in God. They were already serving Him. And still, when the presence of Jesus comes into the room, Elizabeth gets filled with the Holy Spirit. Scripture teaches that there is an indwelling and there is a filling, and we're seeing evidence of that right here.
Notice too what the filling produces. It's the prophetic gift. Remember, we have just come out of four hundred years with no prophets in Israel. Now that Jesus is on the scene, that spirit of prophecy is showing up again.
What is the Magnificat?
It's the song Mary sings in verses 46 through 55, and it gets its name from the first word of the Latin version. The word carries the idea of enlarging or magnifying. One translation puts that opening line as telling out the greatness of the Lord, which I think is a beautiful way to describe what she's doing. She is overflowing with the greatness of God.
The song walks through the mighty acts of God, not only what He's done for Mary but what He's done for His people, and eventually that includes you and me. And running all the way through it is this theme of joy and rejoicing at the arrival of God's salvation. Watch for that, because it comes up again and again in Luke.
How did a teenage girl know this much Scripture?
This is the part that gets me every time. Go through the Magnificat and count the Old Testament references. There are twelve.
Scholars believe Mary was around fourteen. She was from Nazareth, a rural town nobody paid much attention to. She describes herself as being of humble estate, which is another way of saying she was poor. And she was likely not well educated at all.
She also had three to five days alone on that road to think. We learned in the last episode that Mary was a deep thinker, the kind of person who pondered things in her heart and kept turning them over. So this young woman had days to sit with what God had just told her and trace it back through the Scriptures she already knew.
What comes out of her is her own theological song, naming what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will do. That puts her right alongside worship leaders like Hannah and Miriam.
And it means something else too. In that culture, the early theological training of children was the mother's responsibility. So at some point, Mary was teaching the Hebrew Scriptures to the Son of God. Now, I know some of you want to push back and say He knew things only God could have taught Him, and that's absolutely true. But Scripture also says He grew in wisdom, and growing in wisdom means learning. Mary was part of how He learned.
Why does Mary call God her Savior?
Because she needed one.
Verse 47 is Mary's own testimony about herself. My spirit rejoices in God my Savior. By her own admission, in her own words, she is recognizing her need for rescue. She understood that she was a sinner who needed a Savior, the same as anyone else who has ever lived.
I want to be clear here, even at the risk of stepping on toes. Jesus is the only person who has ever lived without sin, past, present, or future. The teaching that Mary was conceived free from original sin is not found anywhere in Scripture. That's a tradition of man, not the word of God, and Mary herself tells us otherwise in her own song.
And here's why that matters so much for you. If the woman God chose to carry Jesus needed a Savior, then you need one. So do I.
What does "those who fear Him" mean?
Verse 50 says His mercy is for those who fear Him, from generation to generation. That can be confusing coming right off the last episode, where we watched fear become the thing that paralyzed Zechariah and drowned out the voice of God.
Different word, different meaning. Here it's talking about reverence, awe, honoring God the way He deserves to be honored. It's what happens when you're standing in front of something so much bigger than you are that you find yourself leaning in instead of backing away.
What is the upside-down kingdom?
Mary's song describes a kingdom that runs on reversal. The proud get scattered. The humble get lifted. The hungry get filled and the rich get sent away empty. What that does is redefine whose life actually counts as significant. What man elevates, God humbles. What man overlooks, God promotes. We see that all through Scripture, and we're seeing it here.
Then she takes her own pregnancy and ties it directly to the covenant God made with Abraham. She isn't just excited that God picked her. She understands that she is part of a story that has been centuries in the making.
Friend, so are you. It is not by accident that you're listening to this. You are part of a much larger story, and there's an invitation inside of that.
Featured quote
"If Mary, the mother of Jesus, needed a Savior, you and I need a Savior."
Scripture referenced
Luke 1:39-56 (ESV), 2 Samuel, Malachi, 1 Samuel (Hannah)
Timestamps
- 00:00 Where we are in the Luke study, and going at your own pace
- 00:49 The Bible I'm using for this series
- 01:50 Reading Luke 1:39-56
- 03:30 Prayer
- 04:00 Two pregnant women in one room
- 04:30 Asking why, and what the color method slows down
- 05:25 With haste: fifty to seventy miles, alone
- 06:20 Why leaping means joy
- 06:40 John is already doing what he was created for
- 07:00 Elizabeth filled with the Holy Spirit
- 07:30 Righteous and blameless, and still filled
- 08:25 Indwelling and filling
- 08:55 Four hundred years of silence, and prophecy returning
- 09:45 What the Magnificat is and what the word means
- 10:40 Joy as a theme in Luke
- 11:25 Twelve Old Testament references
- 11:55 Who Mary actually was
- 12:25 Three to five days alone to think
- 12:55 Alongside Hannah and Miriam
- 13:50 God my Savior
- 14:55 Why Mary was not without sin
- 15:45 Mary knew the word and taught the word to the Son of God
- 17:15 Two kinds of fear in one chapter
- 18:25 Standing over the Great Rift Valley
- 19:25 Power and mercy together
- 19:55 The kingdom that runs on reversal
- 20:50 Mary ties her pregnancy to the covenant
- 21:50 You are part of a much larger story
- 22:45 The invitation
- 23:45 Prayer
- 26:30 My own story at fifteen
- 28:45 None of us is promised tomorrow
Frequently asked questions
Did Mary need a savior?
By her own words, yes. In Luke 1:47 she calls God her Savior, recognizing her own need for rescue.
Why did the baby leap in Elizabeth's womb?
Leaping is a biblical expression of joy. John was bearing witness to Jesus before either child was born.
How old was Mary?
Scholars generally place her around fourteen.
What does the word Magnificat mean?
It comes from the first word of the Latin version of the song and carries the idea of magnifying or enlarging. Mary is telling out the greatness of the Lord.
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