Luke 1:53

For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. FOR HE THAT IS MIGHTY HATH DONE TO ME GREAT THINGS ... Verse 50. AND HIS MERCY IS ON THEM THAT FEAR HIM FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. Verse 51. HE HATH SHOWED STRENGTH WITH HIS ARM ... Verse 52. HE HATH PUT DOWN THE MIGHTY ... Verse 53. HE HATH FILLED THE HUNGRY ..., [The aorists here - epoieesen (G4160), down to exapesteilen (G1821) - express a general principle, as seen in a succession of single examples; according to a known, though special application of that tense.] Mary here recognizes, in God's procedure toward herself-in His passing by all those families and individuals whom He might have been expected...

39-56 It is very good for those who have the work of grace begun in their souls, to communicate one to another. On Mary's arrival, Elisabeth was conscious of the approach of her who was to be the mother of the great Redeemer. At the same time she was filled with the Holy Ghost, and under his influence declared that Mary and her expected child were most blessed and happy, as peculiarly honoured of and dear to the Most High God. Mary, animated by Elisabeth's address, and being also under the influence of the Holy Ghost, broke out into joy, admiration, and gratitude. She knew herself to be a sinner who needed a Saviour, and that she could no otherwise rejoice in God than as interested in his salvation through the promised Messiah. Those who see their need of Christ, and are desirous of righteousness and life in him, he fills with good things, with the best things; and they are abundantly s...

Verse 53. _FILLED THE HUNGRY - THE RICH HE HATH SENT EMPTY AWAY._] God is here represented under the notion of a person of unbounded benevolence, who is daily feeding multitudes at _his gates_. The _poor_ and the _rich_ are _equally_ dependent upon him; to the one he gives his _affluence_ for a season, and to the other his _daily_ _bread_. The _poor man_ comes through a sense of his want to get his daily support, and God feeds him; the _rich man_ comes through the lust of gain, to get _more_ added to his abundance, and, God sends him empty away - not only gives him nothing _more_, but often deprives him of that which he has, because he has not improved it to the honour of the giver. There is an allusion here, as in several other parts of this song, to the case of Hannah and Peninah, as related 1 Samuel 1:2, c....

HE HATH FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS - This is a celebration of the general mercy of God. He hath daily fed the poor, the needy, and those who came to Him with humble hearts. THE RICH HE HATH SENT ... - While the poor come to him for a supply of their daily wants, the rich come not that their necessities should be supplied, but come with lofty hearts, and insatiable desires that their riches may be increased. When this is the case, God not unfrequently not only “withholds” what they ask, but he takes their riches away by fire, or flood, or disappointments, and sends them away empty, Proverbs 23:5. It is better to be poor and go to God for our daily bread, than to be rich and forget our dependence on Him, and to seek only a great increase of our property....

EXPOSITION THE origin of the Gospels—the four histories which relate in detail the circumstances of the foundation of Christianity—will ever be an interesting study. Here we shall never know the exact truth of the compilation of these writings, the foundation-stones of all our hopes and fears; a reverent, scholarly speculation is all that can be offered to the student of the Divine memoirs. The speculation, however, probably in this case comes very near the truth. After the Ascension and the events of the first Pentecost, which quickly followed their Master's return to heaven, the twelve and a few others who had walked in the company which followed Jesus during the years of his public ministry no doubt often met together and talked over the teaching and the acts of their risen and now glorified Master. As time passed on, a certain number of these acts, a certain number of the public and...

HE HATH FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS,.... Such as earnestly desired and longed after the coming of the Messiah, as good old Simeon, and Anna the prophetess; and those that looked for redemption in Israel, to whom she spake: and all such persons as heartily desire salvation by Christ, and breathe after the forgiveness of their sins through his blood, and thirst after his righteousness, and long for communion with him, and a greater knowledge of him, and more conformity to him, and pant after his word and ordinances; these are filled, sooner or later, with a sense of their interest in Christ, and his salvation; with a view of the full and free forgiveness of their sins, and with his righteousness they hunger after; and with every good thing they stand in need of, with joy and peace, with food and gladness, even to satisfaction; so that they can say with Jacob, they have enough, yea,...

Luke 1:5. _There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless._ There have been some good people who have lived in very bad times; never was there a worse reign than that of Herod; seldom or never a better man and woman than Zacharias and Elisabeth. Let no man excuse himself for sinning because of the times in which he lives. You may be rich in grace when others around you have none, even as Gideon's fleece was wet with dew when the whole floor was dry. God help us, in these evil days, to be «righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless»!...

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE Analysis and Annotations I. The Birth and Childhood -- Chapter 1-2:52 CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The Introduction. (Luke 1:1)_ 2. Zacharias and Elizabeth; the Vision. (Luke 1:5) 3. John the Baptist, his birth and ministry announced. (Luke 1:13) 4. Zacharias' Unbelief and Punishment. (Luke 1:18) 5. The Angel's Announcement to the Virgin Mary. (Luke 1:27) 6. Mary's Question and the Answer. (Luke 1:34) 7. Mary Visits Elizabeth ...

MARY VISITS ELISABETH. THE MAGNIFICAT. The passage links the two preceding incidents, and serves to show the inferiority of John the forerunner, to Jesus the Messiah. Mary (finding herself with child) proceeds to verify the sign. She seeks Elisabeth in a Judæ an village (perhaps Ain Karim, six miles west of Jerusalem, where a ruin called Mar Zacharias is shown). Elisabeth's unborn babe recognises the mother of the Messiah, and Elisabeth herself knows of Mary's honour, and praises her belief (follow _mg._ in Luke 1:45). The Song of Mary which follows is full of OT reminiscences, especially the Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1). But it is something more than possible that it should be ascribed not to Mary but to Elisabeth. Some of the Old Latin texts (_a_, _b_, etc.; p. 601) read Elisabeth in...

AN HISTORIAN'S INTRODUCTION (Luke 1:1-4)...