Protestants can be reticent about giving Mary too much praise as a reaction against Roman Catholics who go to excess, attributing sinlessness, prayers, and divinity to her, among numerous other assertions not found in Scripture. So although Mary’s role in redemption as mother of the Messiah is a unique and never to be repeated event, she serves as a grand illustration to all believers for all times. Though none of us will carry the Son of God as a baby in a womb, our bodies were fashioned as temples for housing His presence—”Christ in you, the hope of glory,” as Paul put it. The Word is made flesh in us, not after the flesh as Mary uniquely experienced, but after the Holy Spirit in a heart made new.
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,” the angel Gabriel explained to the surprised virgin, “and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). What kind of person does the Holy Spirit overshadow to birth the Son of God in? I first want to direct our attention to Mary as a treasurer. She treasured up God’s word in her heart. After the shepherds relayed their awe inspiring visitation of angels, “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19). Again this character trait is spotlighted after 12-year-old Jesus amazed the teachers at the temple, “And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:51).
After encountering Gabriel, Mary rushes over from Nazareth to see Elizabeth in one of Judah’s towns. Immediately following Elizabeth’s being filled with the Spirit and joyful outburst, Mary offers up her own song to the Lord that beautifully expresses how she treasured up God’s word in her heart. Now, the time in between Gabriel’s visit and her visit to Elizabeth was brief. “In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah” (Lk 1:39). Gabriel reported that Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy (1:36) and Mary stayed with her three months (1:56), right up until baby John was born. So the time in between Mary’s visit from Gabriel and her visit with Elizabeth was very short. Therefore, the Scripture references that bubbled up spontaneously out of her heart indicate a treasuring of the word of God, not like a college student cramming the night before a big exam. Many pieces of Mary’s song originate from the Psalms and echo Hannah’s prayer of praise. We’ll sample a select few of these that I hope will inspire us to cultivate the kind of heart that has more of Jesus in our lives.
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,”
Luke 1:46-47 ESV
For the one who treasures up God’s words and testimonies, there is great joy! Mary’s spirit rejoiced in God her Savior; she celebrates God as her Savior. Mary resonated with the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts” (Jer 15:16).
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
Luke 1:48-50 ESV
Mary is quoting from Ps 103:17: “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him” (NKJV). Mary identified herself as one who feared the Lord. Because she believed that the Lord is the same from generation to generation, she expected to receive His mercy just like anyone who fears the Lord would. Seven centuries prior, the prophet Isaiah predicted a new David from the stump of Jesse who’d be filled with the Spirit of the Lord, noting that “his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord” (Isa 11:3). The Spirit of the Lord who overshadowed Mary likewise produced the fruit in her of delighting in the fear of the Lord. Mary’s delight in the fear of the Lord opened the windows of heaven upon her to be filled with His mercy.
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
Luke 1:51-53 ESV
Now Mary is quoting from Ps 107:9: “For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.” Even as a young teenager, Mary had a hungry heart for God. I like Jesus’ response to the rich young ruler who appealed to Him as good Teacher—”There is none good but God.” The highest good is God Himself. Mary’s hunger for good had made room for God to fill her life. As we hunger for good as Mary did, we’re opening ourselves up to the Spirit’s power overshadowing us to fill us with God’s highest good—Jesus!
Let’s not overlook the power that treasuring God’s word had in Mary’s life or its tremendous potential in our own lives. We can diminish or misconstrue what accounts for the true blessing as did this woman in Jesus’ day:
As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Luke 11:27-28 ESV
In these praises we hear the prototype of later Roman Catholic theology about the virgin Mary. The well-meaning woman in the crowd emphasized Mary’s blessedness by virtue of being His mother, that is, her physical, natural relationship to Jesus. Jesus corrected her, instead shifting the focus upon that which comprised the true blessedness of Mary. “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” This all goes back to Mary as a treasurer of the word of God, the spiritual relationship over and against the familial relationship. The word for “keep” is phylassō (foo-las’-soh), which means to guard or keep watch. It’s the same word used of the shepherds out in the field, keeping watch (phylassō) over their flock by night (Lk 2:8). After these shepherds reported to Mary their angelic encounter, “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19). “Treasured up” is syntēreō (soon-tay-reh-oh), a compound word from syn (together) and tēreō, a synonym of phylassō, meaning to guard, take care of, or attend to carefully. So the vigilance Mary had in watching over God’s revelation to her that night is reminiscent to the shepherds’ vigilance in watching over their flocks. Mary’s blessedness, as Jesus pointed out, was her attentiveness to the word of God by keeping watch over it in her heart. Our true blessedness, too, is not from religious externals such as church attendance but hearing the word of God and treasuring it up in our hearts.
Mary’s shepherd heart in keeping the word of God was a welcome mat inviting Jesus inside. “Whoever has my commandments and keeps [tēreō] them,” Jesus told His disciples the night before the cross, “he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him… If anyone loves me, he will keep [tēreō] my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (Jn 14:21, 23). Mary’s treasuring of the word of God was an expression of her love for God, the first commandment. This was the heart posture that experienced Jesus manifesting Himself to her and making His home in her. These words of Jesus extend the blessedness beyond Mary to anybody willing treasure God’s word. A treasuring heart is a heart that experiences the presence of the Lord. The Lord Jesus feels at home in a heart saturated with His words.
What does Mary teach us about the heart we need to cultivate to have more of Jesus in our lives? Hungering for good invites God to satisfy us. Delighting in the fear of the Lord makes us recipients of abundant mercy. It’s all by grace, not what we deserve. His presence and mercy are gifts. Treasuring the word of God invites the Spirit to overshadow us and fill us. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (Jas 1:17). Faith is such a precious gift! Let Mary’s faith inspire you to experience more of the Spirit’s fullness and the presence of Christ.
Glory Unveiled: Discovering Jesus 