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# He Hath Done Great Things -- The God Who Acts

*Series: Luke: An Orderly Account - Dr. Randy White*

## I. He Performs His Word (vv. 39-45)

### The Promises Met In One House
- Mary went **"with haste"**—with earnest promptness, not panic or flight—to the hill country and greeted Elisabeth. Luke leaves the city unnamed; Elisabeth's pregnancy, not a traditional site, was Gabriel's confirmation of God's word.
- At Mary's greeting, the unborn John leaped for joy and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. The promised forerunner was already responding to the presence of the greater One (Luke 1:15; John 3:29).
- Luke calls the prenatal John a **"babe,"** the same word used of the newborn Jesus (Luke 2:12, 16). The wording supports continuity of personal life, though John's leap was a unique prophetic sign.
- Elisabeth called the child **"my Lord"** and called Mary blessed because **"the fruit of thy womb"** was blessed. Mary's honor was real but derived from Christ's identity; the Holy Ghost disclosed His presence before Mary gave any recorded explanation (Psalm 110:1).

### The Lord's Performance Was Believed
- **"Blessed is she that believed"** quietly contrasts Mary's faith with Zacharias's unbelief.
- Faith did not create the promised event. Mary believed **"there shall be a performance"** because the Lord would perform what He had spoken. His word was visible in Elisabeth, recognizable in Mary, and joyful to John (Romans 4:20-21).

## II. He Regards The Lowly (vv. 46-49)

### Mary Magnified The Lord, Not Herself
- The Magnificat sounds like an Old Testament psalm and strongly echoes Hannah's song (1 Samuel 2:1-10). Mary understood her privilege within the language and hope of Israel's Scriptures.
- **"My soul doth magnify the Lord"** establishes the subject of Mary's song. Her privilege directed attention to the Lord rather than enlarging herself (Psalm 34:3).
- **"My soul"** and **"my spirit"** form poetic parallelism for Mary's whole-person praise. She rejoiced in **"God my Saviour,"** placing herself among those dependent upon God's saving mercy.
- God **"hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden."** Her low estate describes her humble condition; her blessedness came from God's gracious regard.

### The Mighty One Had Done Great Things
- All generations would call Mary blessed because **"he that is mighty hath done to me great things."** God was the actor and Mary the favored recipient; His might remained consistent with His holiness: **"holy is his name."**
- Scripture requires recognition of Mary's unique blessedness without making her divine, sinless, or an object of prayer. Neglect and excess are opposite errors (Luke 11:27-28).

## III. He Reverses Human Greatness (vv. 50-53)

### The Proud And Mighty Were Brought Low
- The repeated **"hath"** statements survey God's established pattern and celebrate the promised reversal as certain. Biblical songs can speak of declared victory as accomplished.
- God's mercy is **"on them that fear him from generation to generation."** Mercy welcomes reverent dependence rather than proud autonomy (Psalm 103:17).
- He **"hath shewed strength with his arm,"** scattered the proud, put down the mighty, and exalted the lowly. Messiah's coming confronts human independence; earthly rank never escapes God's sovereignty (1 Samuel 2:7-8; Daniel 4:17).
- God's **"arm"** pictures active power, while **"seats"** means thrones. The passage does not condemn authority merely for existing; it declares God's sovereignty over those who possess it.

### The Hungry Were Filled
- He **"hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away."** Acknowledged need receives from God; self-sufficiency leaves empty (1 Samuel 2:5; Psalm 107:9).
- Poverty is not inherently righteous, nor is wealth inherently sinful. The contrast is needy dependence against self-reliance: proud human power will not endure, but those who fear God will know His mercy.
- **"Good things"** means beneficial gifts, not everything desired. Possessions cannot make God indebted, and Mary's reversal anticipates Luke's later kingdom warnings (Luke 6:20-25).

## IV. He Remembers His Covenant (vv. 54-56)

### Israel Was His Servant
- God **"hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy."** The incarnation is presented as covenant help to the nation Scripture actually names (Isaiah 41:8-10; Psalm 98:3).
- God's remembrance is faithful action upon promised mercy. The Magnificat is not detached spirituality or generic social improvement; it interprets Jesus' coming through God's purpose for Israel.
- **"Holpen"** is the older participle of *help* and pictures taking hold to support. God was taking hold of His servant Israel in covenant faithfulness.

### Ancient Promise Governed The Praise
- God acted **"as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever."** Christ's coming advances the Abrahamic promise rather than beginning a plan unrelated to Israel (Genesis 12:1-3; 17:7; Micah 7:20).
- Christ is the promised Seed in the focused sense, but that truth does not erase the promise's stated connection to Abraham's descendants (Galatians 3:16).
- **"For ever"** most naturally describes the enduring mercy and help promised to Abraham and his seed, not endless speech to the fathers.
- Mary returned to **"her own house"** after about three months, still in her betrothal setting. Luke does not say whether she attended John's birth; he closes the visit without embellishment. Her song had declared the governing truth: He performs His word, regards the lowly, reverses human greatness, and remembers His covenant—**"he that is mighty hath done to me great things."**