Mary’s rejoicing and praising the Lord stemmed from her faith, her humility, and as shown in these verses, her knowledge of God.

Mary Knew God Provides
Verse 53: He has filled the hungry with good things

The spiritual climate of Jerusalem was not very healthy. While extremely religious, the people  were very hypocritical. In Mary’s life God had provided a righteous husband and faithful cousin, to help Mary in her situation. Still, her life was in danger and her future was very bleak, yet she trusted in God’s provision for the hungry. Her song of praise stemmed from her faith and knowledge  in God’s word (Ps 107:9).

God Cares and Provides
God cares both generally for all creation and men and specifically for the believer through their redemption in Jesus Christ. There are numerous examples of Scriptures of God showing care to the weak and needy and people acknowledging His care (Ps 27:10, Is 48:15, Lk 22:31-35, Lk 13:34).

God cares for your physical needs. In Matthew 6, Jesus says not to worry for God feeds the birds and clothes the flowers (Mt 6:25-31). This is one of the first truths we must realize of God. He is the one who cares and provides (Ps 24:10). It is fundamental to our attitude towards God that we trust in His provision in all areas of our lives.

Spiritually Hungry
God also provides for those who are spiritually hungry. Like the eunuch trying to understand the prophecy of Jesus, God provides someone to explain. Just as Zaccheus was unsatisfied with his wealth, he found satisfaction in Jesus. We must realize as sinners, we are spiritually poor. Not just poor, but completely bankrupt, without a single spiritual cent. It is those who confess their poverty and hunger who will be blessed and inherit the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:3). Our first partaking in the gospel of Jesus is our admittance of our need for the Savior, our spiritual hunger. Take care to remember and remain spiritually hungry, otherwise we go astray and backslide in our faith (1 Pt 2:2).

Those who are spiritually fed will share Christ with those around them. Christians are silent because they are not filled with Christ. A healthy church is a church who is spiritually hungry and being fed with God’s word. A healthy church is filled with joy and growing as a true body of Christ. A healthy church is what we want to be.

Mary Trusts the Faithfulness of God
He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.

God is faithful to the promises of His word. The promise given to Abraham was not just to the Israelites but for many nations (Gen 12:2). Through Jesus, God fulfills His promise of mercy. Sin is most terrible and there is nothing worse. Any tragedy and hardship, any death any crime is because of sin. All pain and sorrow is due to sin. We do not hate sin as we should. We fail to grasp the pervasive devastation of sin and as a result, we fail to rejoice to Christ who saves us from it. Christ is the source of joy when sin is our enemy.

Wonderfully, God is faithful to His promises of mercy and salvation (Ps 98:3). He is not obligated to show mercy to any of us. Yet he remembers and is determined to show mercy to us who are sinners (Eph 1:4-6). Those who practice faith and bear the fruit of sanctification are counted as descendants of Abraham (Rom 1:16-7, 9:6-7).

Conclusion
Mary rejoiced because the baby she carries is the Savior! The Savior who would die on a cross and rise again to take away our sins. She trusted in God’s provision in her physical and spiritual needs and remembered God’s faithfulness to His promises. Let us also rejoice like Mary, who had faith, was humble and knew her God.

The knowledge of God is key to remaining joyful in all circumstances because God Himself is the foundation of joy. Despite Mary’s trying circumstances, she was able to rejoice because of her biblical theology. In these verses, we see Mary’s understanding of God.

Mary knew God as merciful. And His mercy is upon generation after generation…
Mercy and grace come through Jesus Christ. Just as faith is never without repentance, so mercy and grace always go hand in hand. Mercy and grace are distinct from one another. Grace is when God gives the sinner what he does not deserve- salvation and blessings. Mercy is when God does not give the sinner what he does deserve- punishment, judgment, and wrath. God’s ultimate display of mercy is Christ on the cross, who suffered and died in order to offer sinners God’s mercy and grace.

Mary understood she was a sinner who received God’s mercy. This understanding was the spring that brought forth joy, even when she faced a difficult trial. We see that joy is not circumstantial, but spiritual, and only believers who experience God’s mercy and grace can experience joy. When you are suffering under various circumstances and are tempted to be in despair, think deeply about God’s mercy and grace and you will find your footing again as you see God’s mercy sovereign over all difficulties. Your salvation could not be bought or earned- it was given by His choice. His mercy has extended from man’s Fall to today; it has never and will never cease.

Why do we fail to experience joy in God? God’s mercy is towards those who fear Him. We must check our hearts- what do you fear? Or in other words, what idols do you have in your heart? God pours His mercy on those who fear Him, who hold a high view of His majesty and holiness. A right fear of God comes through knowing that God is love and God is just. His love stirs us to be thankful, and His justice compels us to give homage to Him. In any situation, if you fear God, you will find refuge in His mercy. He will be greater than whatever you face.

Mary knew God as mighty. He has done mighty deeds with His arm…
Every earthly kingdom rises and falls by God’s might and will. He is above all kings, rulers, and authorities. By the power of God, Mary the virgin conceived. There are only two types of religion in the world- false salvation by man’s achievements, or salvation by God’s accomplishment in Christ. By His sovereign might, God has done the impossible- He saved us.

Why do we fail to experience God’s power? God’s power is upon humble men. Humility is self-denial. It is to think nothing of yourself, and to see God as greater than whatever you face. God has His own purpose for you. Wherever you go, there is never a shortage of people who need the gospel and your service. If you are humble, you will be useful to God. Even our Lord was humbled when He was baptized by John the Baptist before He began His ministry. Humility is a mark of a true child of God because Christ was humble. When you think nothing of yourself, God’s power is yours, and you will therefore have joy.

Dwell upon the mercy and might of God in Jesus Christ. There you will find joy.

True and lasting joy comes from faith. Mary praises God in her unfavorable circumstances because of her faith. She accepted God’s will for her faithfully and was able to receive the joy of the Lord. Christians are also joyful for the same reason. Our joy is not based in our circumstances but it is a supernatural  fruit of God’s salvation received by faith. This is why joy is internal and that joy is an offering in worship. We worship what we know, and if we don’t truly know God, we cannot worship him. It is only through Jesus, we know God, and worship joyfully.

Joy Must be Obligatory
From these verses, we learn the source of Mary’s joy. She has a proper knowledge of God. Her theology is sound.  Mary’s knowledge of God is not only true but applicable. It’s just information, but wisdom. Her theology results in praise, ‘my soul exalts the Lord’. Instead of blaming God for her unfavorable life situation, she praises joyfully. Mary fully understands who she will give birth to and submits to God’s will for her. Her theology is full of trust and obedience, leading to joy and praise (2 Ki 5:12-14, 15-17).

Mary exalts Jesus as Lord. She understands who Jesus is as Lord and who she is as a sinner.  Mary understands she also needs Jesus to redeem her. It is only in Christ a sinner can be saved. Mary called the baby in her womb as God and Lord who would save her from her sins.

Joy and Humility
Rightfully, Mary identifies her major problem. It’s not lack of finance or safety. Her biggest problem is not the circumstances but her sin. Consequently, Mary calls herself a ‘bondslave’, who has no rights or power. This is not low self esteem, but submission to God (Acts 20:22-24). Mary’s joy is paired with humility before the Lord and obedient to his will.

Are you humble? Are you submitting to God’s word (Phil 2:8). Those who are disobedient are not humble. They make excuses and defend their behavior in pride. Mary says, ‘according to Your word’ (Lk 1:38), which shows boldness to obey through whatever circumstance. Her humility shows self-denial, which is not merely a disciplined life or forgoing of pleasure, but rather an exaltation of God who is greater. To deny yourself, is to see yourself as a sinner at the foot of the cross, in need of the gospel of every day (MLJ). Those who are biblically humble, will never have need to complain, for we understand we are the lowest beneath the cross, yet our lives are redeemed by His death and resurrection. The fruit of humility is joy in our Savior!

Joy and Holiness
Mary proclaims that God is doing a wonderful and holy work for her. (Lk 1:49). Her situation is under God’s holiness, so she could be joyful and appreciate. Her surprise pregnancy wasn’t a scandal or shameful or adulterous, but holy (Lk 1:34-35). Therefore she could be joyful.

Only by our salvation in the gospel of Jesus can we be holy. No works or riches can make us holy. (Mt 16:26). Tragically, all kinds of successful people will go to hell because they fall short of God’s holiness. (Rom 3:23, Gal 2:16) Man can do moral things and accomplish good deeds by God’s common grace. However, only by faith in Jesus can we become holy.

This is why our salvation is so great! Isaiah 43:25, Romans 8:31-35 The promises and blessings of forgiveness and holiness belong to every Christian (Is 43:25, Rom 8:31-35). What no man could accomplish, no matter how great, Christ has accomplished and given to us the reward. Even before kings, we can stand joyfully and proudly because of our salvation. (2 Cor 5:17, Acts 26:29)

Appreciating Salvation
Christians look miserable because they don’t appreciate their salvation. Like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, we forget the works of the Lord, the greatness of what God has done for us. Appreciating salvation is the gateway for all of God’s blessings. If we are discontent with Jesus the Son, and instead focus on what we want and what we feel like we need, if we look for something else to satisfy us rather than Christ, then what can God do? He has given us His Son and even still we want something else, then we are hopeless. It means we are not truly interested in actual salvation but rather our own desires (Rev 2:4, Mt 7:21-23).

If you are going through a hard time? Remember your salvation. Your hard time, while difficult, is nothing compared to your sin and it’s judgement. Christ has overcome our most impossible need and the joy of salvation is ours in Him.

In this verse, we see Joseph at the end of his life, similar to his father in the previous verse. Last week, we learned that faith finishes well. Through Joseph, we learn that true biblical faith is long lasting. From a young age, Joseph had received dreams from God and gone through numerous situations and was ultimately used by God to save his family and the world from famine. Throughout his whole life, Joseph faith was always active, present and lasting.

Many people understand faith as a means to overcome hardships. From a biblical and larger perspective, faith is actually a means to overcome sin. Only by faith can we see how large and dangerous sin is and also see that only God is able to overcome sin. By faith, we see that Satan is behind sin, but we also see God is sovereign and in control of all things, even Satan.

How to have long lasting faith?
Joseph ‘made mention’ which means, he remembered God’s promises. Joseph remembered God’s word to his father’s. A long lasting faith will always remember God’s word. The unfaithful and the worldly forget God’s word and seek after the new. We see the Bible emphasizing the importance of remembering what God has said (Joshua 4:5-6, Luke 15:17, Luke 17:32, Luke 22:19). In the Bible, those who remembered were saved, such as Rahab and Peter (Mt 26:75), while others forgot and were doomed, like Hiel (1 Ki 16:34) and Judas (Mt 27:7).

Do you remember God’s promises? In your daily life, do you remember the words you read from His word? What about the words you heard from last week’s sermon? For your faith to be active and lasting, we must know and remember God’s words (1 Jn 3:14-15) Joseph remembered God’s promise to Abraham, that his children would return to the land of Canaan. It was a promise made hundreds of years ago and promise which would not be fulfilled in hundreds more. The Israelites were flourishing in Egypt. Why would they leave? Yet, Joseph asked to be buried with his fathers, knowing that it was God’s word which had accomplished everything up to now, and God’s promise would also be fulfilled in the future.

Do we practice our faith in the same manner as Joseph? What hinders our remembering of God’s word? It is a love of the world and the things in it. We are slow, fearful and compromising because we love the world more than we love Jesus Christ. Even though the world crucified Jesus; we love that world. We don’t love Christ so we don’t remember Him. We are in need of a recalibration in our love. We didn’t start out this way.  Our beginning at conversion was full of passion. The gospel was fresh in our hearts. What have we forgotten?

Devotion to God’s Word
To remember God’s promises, we must devote ourselves to them (Acts 2: 42) Our days must be filled with deep meditations (Ps 1:1-2). When gathering with the church, our fellowship must be filled with the talk of Jesus Christ. Also, our prayers must be through the Scriptures we read.

Hope actualizes faith
Joseph gave orders concerning his bones. This order was based on the hope he held in God’s word. Hope is not wish thinking or a positive mindset. It’s not just delayed disappointment. Hope is the fuel for faith (Heb 11:1-2). Hope is given through faith because God fulfills His promises; and we see that Joseph is buried according to his hope (Joshua 24:32). Even the hopeless, who hear the word of God and believe have hope (Ez 27:15, 10)

The backbone of our hope is the resurrection of Jesus (Rev 20:5). There is hope in this life for eternal life and glory through Jesus (Phil 1:21, 1 Cor 15:57-78). Faith in Jesus comes together with hope. John Calvin says ‘Faith believes that eternal life has already been given to us. Hope waits for the day when it will be revealed Faith is the foundation on which hope is built. Hope feeds faith and keeps it alive.’  By remembering the past, our faith is present, leading to our future hope.

Apostle Paul says the Christian life is like a race or a marathon. Many racers start well, but many quit before the end. In general, there are two kinds of people, those with a promising start and weak end. And those with a humble beginnings but a strong finish. Lot is an example of the former. (Gen 13:8-23, Gen 19:29) Abraham on the other hand received all his promises from God in the future tense, yet he walked with the Lord and finished well (Gen 13:14-17, 25:7-9). Even in current days, it’s hard to find those who finish well. Statistics show that the only 1 out of 10 pastors will finish and retire as a pastor.

In this verse we find that Jacob finished well even though he didn’t begin that way.  Jacob did not have an ideal life or reputation. He was a thief, liar, deceiver and poor father. He even lied to his own father and stole from his brother. (Gen 26:43-27:29). He also manipulated Laban’s sheep and played favorites amongst his sons. (Gen 30:42-43) According to the world, Jacob may have found ways to get what he desired, but his sinful actions seemed to put his eternal fate in jeopardy.

What happened so that Jacob could finish well? Hebrews 11:21 says ‘By faith’. In the end, Jacob’s life was defined by faith. John Owen says ‘The only way to receive supplies of spiritual strength and grace from Jesus Christ is faith.’ (Gal 2:20) Faith is defining attribute of our relationship with Jesus Christ.

What is faith?
Faith is to know who God is and what He has done, and follow Him. The amount of faith is not important but the object of faith. If your faith is in the true God, then you will finish well.

When a deed is done by faith, it does not mean that your faith is what accomplishes it. ‘By faith’ means ‘by God’ whom you believe. ‘By faith’ means you know God, that He is with you and He does these things according to His word. (Joshua 14:10-11)

Jacob has confidence in the Lord. It was by faith, he blessed Joseph’s sons. Without confidence, he wouldn’t be able to bless Joseph’s sons in the manner that he did. Although Joseph was Jacob’s son, Joseph was also the most powerful man in the world, second to Pharaoh. Joseph was upset that Jacob was blessing the younger and not the older, and even physically tried to change Jacob’s hands. Jacob simply replied, ‘I know’. (Gen 48:17-19) Jacob knew by faith. By faith Jacob, left the land of his fathers and went down to Egypt (Gen 46:3) and by faith Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh.

Do you live by faith?
Are you confident in the Lord? Are you confident in His word? Are you like David, who seeks the Lord’s counsel first in the moment of crisis (1 Sam 30:50-6). David knew God is sovereign and in control of all things. He strengthened himself in the Lord. How does one strengthen oneself? By faith. To behave otherwise is a lack of understanding and disobedience of the living God. A lack of faith ignores God’s sovereignty and dishonors His word. The one great truth is God and His word, not our feelings and emotions. R. C. Sproul said ‘I don’t always feel His presence, but God’s promises do not depend on my feelings; they rest upon His integrity’ It is by faith in God’s promise that we will finish well.

Across the world, people celebrate Easter and many celebrate without necessarily believing history. To them, the death and resurrection of Jesus might be a story or legend of the Christian faith. However, Jesus did exist in history, and this truth is acknowledged by Christians and secular scholars. Not only did the Lord Jesus exist, but His life was abundant, full of miracles and signs (John 11:39, 43-44). The life of Jesus is historical fact, which also means that He is currently living, He is Lord and He is with you (Mt 28:18-20)

Jesus Really Died and Rose Again
We know that Jesus really died based on the support of various arguments. First, the Bible says so, and the Bible is God’s inspired and inerrant word. There is no higher authority of truth then the Holy Scriptures. When it comes to archaeological and historical events, the Bible has been repeatedly been found accurate after many accusations. Also, the Bible is not embarrassed of the truth, meaning it does edit or massage the truth. For example, it was the woman Mary who found the risen Jesus first and received credit, and not one of the male disciples.

Also, from the description of the events surrounding Jesus death, we can be assured that Jesus died fully but also quickly. He was flogged, beaten, crucified and then stabbed with a spear. The physical punishment was brutal at the hands of professional soldiers. To claim that Jesus did not die would go against the evidence.

False Theories
Still, there were many false theories slandering the Biblical account of Jesus death and resurrection (Mt  28:11-15) and are still some today.

• Jesus was just unconscious – no man could survive the suffering of Christ and many people affirmed Jesus’ death
• The disciples hallucinated – there were over 500 witnesses over the period of a month. They could not all have the same hallucination
• They went to the wrong tomb  – Mary saw where they laid His body, and if it was the wrong tomb, the priests would have just pointed out the correct tomb with the dead body.

Evidence of Jesus’ Resurrection
In contrast to the false theories, there is staunch evidence that shows that Jesus actually resurrected 2000 years ago. The first is that the disciples were loyal and faithful to the end. All the apostles and many other disciples were persecuted and martyred for the sake of Christ. There is no way they could have remained consistent and true unless they had witnessed the risen Jesus. Even a group of the most powerful and intellectual men could not keep corroborate a secret in the Watergate scandal for a week. A group of fisherman, who had run away in fear before Jesus died, remained faithful in all circumstances. They couldn’t deny what they had saw first hand and experienced every day in the love of Christ.

Secondly, the early Christians, who were religious Jews, changed their day of worship from Sabbath to Sunday. The reason for this change is because Mary found Jesus on Sunday. In Acts, we see Peter continually resist eating the unclean meat because of his Jewish custom. Only the powerful truth of the resurrection could have changed their day of worship.

There were also many trustworthy eyewitnesses to the risen Jesus. These men, like James (Jesus brother) or Thomas or Paul (who was formerly Saul), who either doubted or disliked Jesus, testified to His resurrection and His Lordship (1 Cor 15:7, James 1:1). These life-changing testimonies along  with 500 witnesses confirm the fact of Jesus and His resurrection

Application
It is undeniable fact that Jesus lived, died, rose again and is living today. Have you met the risen Jesus? In other words, are you truly Christian and follow Him? Or Do you still stand condemned and judged? (2 Peter 2:1-4). The resurrection matters and is life changing. We cannot remain unchanged and living as we used to, in our sin, if Jesus is alive.

Many false teacher will try to either deny or minimize the resurrection. They say it’s either made up or its in the past, like Hymaneus did. The resurrection is the essential part of the gospel and it is of first importance (1 Cor 15:3-4). We cannot afford to only focus on the cross, His death and sacrifice and neglect His Lordship and victory. Jesus is the risen Lord, and in the resurrection we receive joy and strength. Our hope lies in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a hope that overcomes death itself.