Luke 1:46-55--What Mary And Jesus Show Us About True Blessing

Two things jumped out at me from this reading (Luke 1:46-55)

First, both Mary and Jesus identify humility as a precondition to true blessing. The blessings Mary describes come to those who are “humble,” those who “fear” God, who regard themselves as His “servant,” and who are “hungry” apart from God. Luke 1:48, 50, 52. They are not available to those who are proud, who seek to control others for their own benefit, or view themselves as sufficient apart from God. Luke 1:51, 52, 53.

Jesus says the same things in his beatitudes. He tells us that the truly blessed are those who “poor,” “poor in spirit,” and “meek.”  Luke 6:20 ; Matthew 5:3; 5. The underlying Greek words (hyperlinked above) refer to folks who share the same attributes/attitudes Mary identified.  And like Mary, Jesus tells us that those blessing do not flow to those who are self-satisfied. Luke 6:24-26.

Second, prayer is an essential part of developing such humility. This is important because that level of surrender does not come naturally. Once again, Mary and Jesus provide parallel insights, this time from their examples.

Initially on this point, it is important to note that both Mary and Jesus exemplified that humility. Mary’s humility is shown by her surrendering her own life plans to do God’s will; her enduring the great difficulties involved in carrying out His will during Jesus’ gestation, birth, and early life; her continuing involvement in His ministry; standing by Him during His agony on the cross; and faithfulness after His ascension. Luke 1:26-56; 2:1-50;  Matthew 1:18-25; Matthew 2:13-23; John 2:1-5; 19:25; Acts 1:14.  Jesus likewise conformed His every action to the Father’s will and ultimately “emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant[.]” Philippians 2:7; John 4:34; 5:19; 6:38; 8:28. 

So how did they do that? After all, both were fully human and hence had the natural inclination to follow their own desires rather than God’s. How did they overcome that? 

Prayer seemed to be key. 

Luke’s Gospel tells us that Mary conversed with God (albeit through His angel) about how she was to accomplish what He was asking of her, a form of prayer. Luke 1:34-38. It also relays that she “treasured” and “pondered” what God was doing around her, which seemed to be a sort of prayer. Luke 2:19; 51. 

Jesus provides an even clearer example. Luke reports that Jesus prayed in connection with key events in His ministry, and those reports likely capture only a small portion of Jesus’ prayer life. Luke 3:21-22; 5:16; Luke 6:12-15; 9:18-21; 11:1-4.  Jesus emphasized the importance of prayer to His disciples. Mark 14:38; Luke 11:5-13; 18:1-8; 22:40.  And perhaps most relevant here, He exemplified a prayerful response to powerful temptations to deviate from the Father’s will. Matthew 26:36-44; Mark 14:32-39; Luke 22:39-44.  

Prayer

Holy Spirit, draw us to Jesus and His example of humble submission to the Father’s will. Draw us into prayer on a regular basis and especially when we are tempted to go our own way. We ask this in the name of Him who perfectly did the Father’s will, Jesus the Christ. 

 

Additional Resources

Additional scriptures considering humility are collected at Wisdom Principles: God Loves Humility and Hates Pride.  

Another meditation on today’s reading is found at What We Can Learn From Jesus' Nativity: The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-53) .

Other meditations on other aspects of Jesus’ nativity are collected at What We Can Learn from Jesus' Nativity: The Annunciation through Simeon & Anna .