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)

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).

"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).

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.

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).

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.

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).

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.

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."